Haruki Murakami fans discussion

I am reading The Elephant Vanishes and I just finished Sleep. Wow!! That story was incredible and I wish Murakami would flesh it out and base a novel from it! I am so confused by the ending lol, but whoa!! Have you guys read that story/book? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I've read almost every one of his books, but this one not yet. I really like his short stories.

Oh, you should read it. I'm half way through and it's really really good! :)

I love Murakami and read many of his books but I couldn't make anything out of SLEEP. It is a big question mark to me.

After much thought over it, I think maybe she was asleep the whole time. Being free to be herself and do the things she hadn't done in years. In the end, when she is in the car being rocked by two men, maybe it's her husband and son trying to wake her up?? I'm almost done with the whole book and I love it! Some stories more than others, of course, but it's up there with my favorites.

Krist wow ! Thank you so much. You have enlightened me. Now it makes sense. And now I see that it's a great story.

I love this book. It was my first Murakami, a long time ago. My favourite was the story called "a window" I think that is what it was called in the English version of this book.

It definitely turned out to be my favorite short story collection by him. Also my third favorite book by Murakami overall.

Kristy wrote: "I am reading The Elephant Vanishes and I just finished Sleep. Wow!! That story was incredible and I wish Murakami would flesh it out and base a novel from it! I am so confused by the ending lol, bu..."

I was pretty wiped out by the ending of Sleep. I had to pause a bit before getting back to the next short story in the collection.

Jack wrote: "Kristy wrote: "I am reading The Elephant Vanishes and I just finished Sleep. Wow!! That story was incredible and I wish Murakami would flesh it out and base a novel from it! I am so confused by the..."

Barn Burning was the story that gave me that feeling. There's a few stories in here that really pack a wallop. Murakami's insanely good with implications.

Lysander wrote: "Barn Burning was the story that gave me that feeling. There's a few stories in here that really pack a wallop. Murakami's insanely good with implications."

I want to read this collection again in the next few months. I plan to put up one or more of his short story collections as a group read in 2025. Thank you for your thoughts on The Elephant Vanishes!

Table of Contents:
THE WIND-UP BIRD AND TUESDAY’S WOMEN

THE SECOND BAKERY ATTACK

THE KANGAROO COMMUNIQUÉ

ON SEEING THE 100% PERFECT GIRL ONE BEAUTIFUL APRIL MORNING

SLEEP

THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, THE 1881 INDIAN UPRISING, HITLER’S INVASION OF POLAND, AND THE REALM OF RAGING WINDS

LEDERHOSEN

BARN BURNING

THE LITTLE GREEN MONSTER

FAMILY AFFAIR

A WINDOW

TV PEOPLE

A SLOW BOAT TO CHINA

THE DANCING DWARF

THE LAST LAWN OF THE AFTERNOON

THE SILENCE

THE ELEPHANT VANISHES