Book #4: Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami

Indonesian Translation of Hear the Wind Sing

This is my second Murakami's book after Kafka in the Shore. Different from the previous, it made me thinking less. Instead, this very first writing of Murakami made realize something.

I wasn't sure what Murakami wanted to say in this book. But let me, as a reader, interpret it in my way.

The story set in Japan told about a university student having summer vacation in his hometown. He met his old friend and spent his days in a bar. He met a girl too.

The story seemed has no conflict. It's just flowing without any surprising plot. Yet, it's a nice story that showed me one point of living:

Book #3: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of his Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of his Window and Disappeared

Just like the author, Jonas Jonasson, said about the title, I bought this book because its unique title. One full sentence that lead into such a great story. Simple but clear.

I know I would not find romantic stories but I didn't expect I would find this kind of story. Amazing, funny, imaginative, a bit brutal, and smart.

This book told a story of a  100-year-old man named Allan Karlsson. He 'escaped' from his care home by climbing out of his window. He walked away without any specific direction. Then, he ended up stole a suitcase from a criminal gang and his present adventure started there. Meanwhile, Jonasson invited us to look deeper at this old man's interesting and marvelous past life experiences.

If you know Forrest Gump, maybe you would recognize the similarities. A man on the right time and right place doing things he wanted to do without him being aware that he made such a huge contribution on human history. However, Allan story was darker than Forrest Gump: destroying buildings, making atomic bomb, or even killing people. He met

Book #2: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami: Personal Conclusion

I just read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. This novel made my brain hurts after I finished it because it made me think (something that I rarely do). It gave me many questions that I could not kick out of my head. And then, after day-long sitting and lying down while thinking, I concluded these things:

When they were on the hill picking mushrooms, the 'door' was open.  And those 16 children were ‘invited’.

Satoru Nakata. He went there, to the hidden village in the woods. He stayed there for 3 weeks, longer than the other students. It was because he was too shocked after being hit by his teacher and preferred to stay in the hidden village. He also got beaten by his parents at home. For him, living there was so much better. Finally, he came back but he left his half-soul there and lived in the real world as an ‘empty’ individual who couldn’t read and understand like others did. (It was explained that there’s no books to read. Nakata’s disability to read was connected with that explanation).

The ‘door’ opened again. This time, different person entered it.

Miss Saeki. She was extremely sad when her lover passed away. Her life ended when he died.

Book #1: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. This book was published in 2008, but well, the translation in my language was published recently (5 years later!) so maybe it's kinda late to make a review. But, hey, why not?

I found this book when I surfed the shelves on the bookstore.  Interesting title, I thought. I took it and then read the synopsis on the back cover.

A boy named Bod, short for Nobody, lived in the graveyard since he was a baby and raised by the ghosts. His guardian was neither the living nor the death. As he grew older, he discovered adventures in the graveyard and met many mystical creatures. In the other hand, the living world grabbed his attention but its danger still waited for him.

Since I am a huge fan of fiction-fantasy stories and