Read/reading: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Kraken by China Miéville.

Norwegian Wood was odd, even though it doesn’t really dive down the rabbit hole of magical realism that (apparently) Murakami usually does; it’s frank when it comes to depression, but the greatest struggle in reading it is knowing that the protagonist is hopelessly blinkered. Imperfect narrators are few and far between, so it can be a bit of a shock when you come across one; that said, it’s masterfully written and there are long, extended sections that blew me away. And plenty of others that were surprising - though I suspect by now I’ve seen enough anime to see where values aren’t always cross-cultural.

Very excited for the next one. I’ve heard it’s a Kracker. Um. Cracker. Heh. Don’t shoot me.

Read/reading: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.

This… didn’t impress me. I think that’s the first time I’ve said that in a while. I suspect part of it comes from the inevitable postcolonial reading you have to give this book - it’s horribly racist, and not in the sense where it’s satirising or highlighting the racism of others. There are still gripping moments, and the key moments regarding the (metaphorical) darkness of people’s psyches are still strong, but I suspect there’s a reason why people generally consider Apocalypse Now to have superseded the material upon which it’s (loosely) based.

In retrospect, I could have given this one a miss.

High hopes for Murakami. Either that, or Casey’s horribly wrong about everything.