Haruki Murakami fans discussion

Discussion thread for the new translation of End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland: A New Translation (Nov 2024) by Jay Rubin.
First group read wil be 04/2025.
Here is some background in the review from Scientific American Magazine: https://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
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You can see what members have said in their GR reviews by clicking on “view activity” where the book is featured as “Currently Reading” on the forum page. Since this is a new translation, most of the previous reviews are of the older, Birnbaum, translation.
r/Jack

Planning to read this for my April Murakami book? Anyone interested in a group read?

Admitting to some interest. Please keep me informed, it maybe a last second decision.

Ok, will do. I am about 3/4 way through the second read of The City and It’s Uncertain Walls, then I want to read at least chapter 3 of Who We're Reading When We're Reading Murakami. So, it will probably be near the beginning of April. It is also on the nomination list for April in the j-lit forum but I think they will select Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami.

News update.
Maybe for a lot of wrong reasons, I am in. I just bought the new translation and the https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Book.
Thing is , I went along with The City in Hard Boiled, but it seriously failed to win me over in The City. Maybe I do not get Murakami, and just go with the lovely words.

So I much want the benifit of other readers and their opinions.

This might be a second choice in the Japanese Literature forum also.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog wrote: "News update.
Maybe for a lot of wrong reasons, I am in. I just bought the new translation and the https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Book. ..."

There is a lot in Murakami, especially for those of us that are around the same age as he is; music, relationships, society.

Interesting that the review is from Scientific America

Any one started yet?

Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog wrote: "Any one started yet?"

Probably this weekend, I am finishing up some reading on Abutsu-ni for a Japanese Classical Writings discussion. Sorry for my slow start, I often get sidetracked and go down reading rabbit holes...
-Jack

Rabbit hole,s are a Murakami regular feature, more like the kind in Alice and Wonderland but there you have it.

I am about at the 2/3 mark

There some problems at the Meta level reading this a second time and having read more things like Who You are Reading.

In general I know what to expect, the concept of spoilers cannot be that important in any re read. Plus I know recognize the entire first chapter as a satire of the hard boiled detective. which sorta covers 1/2 of the title.

@ chapter 3. Introduction timeline of world, literary, author context was interesting. I am resisting the temptation to read the old and new translation side by side.

Some one, not me, should read them side by side. In the new Trans. I vaguely remember 2 or 3 awkward sounding translations, but by the end, what most sticks out is that A Lot more is explained.

It seems to be that the odd numbered chapters flow better in my reading. It could also be that I have changed as a reader since I first originally read the novel a while ago.

The Japan Times review and discussion of the new translation by Jay Rubin.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/...

I reread Birnbaum’s original English translation first and The City and Its Uncertain Walls prior to reading the new English translation by Jay Rubin. Chapter 27 is still hard to understand in the explanation of the “End of the World”. Chapters 36 and 38 flowed and stood out as a beautiful discovery of kokoro. I think that present tense worked well for the two parallel and converging narratives. Birnbaum made the decision to use a different tense for each of the parallel narratives. Neither is right or wrong since a translation decision was needed to covey the different versions of “I” used by HM. It would be interesting to compare the two translations side by side, but that is a big commitment that is beyond me.