{"title":"Haruki Murakami","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"norwegian-wood","title":"Norwegian Wood","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in Japan in 1987, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorwegian Wood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Haruki Murakami’s quietly affecting novel of youth, memory and loss. When a familiar Beatles song brings back the Tokyo of the late 1960s, Toru Watanabe is drawn into recollections of his university years and the people who shaped them. Still haunted by the death of his closest friend, Kizuki, Toru finds himself bound to Naoko, Kizuki’s introspective former girlfriend, whose grief has left her increasingly withdrawn from the world. At university, he also meets Midori, spirited and unconventional, whose warmth and candour offer a different possibility of love and companionship.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSet against the unrest and changing social atmosphere of student-era Japan, the novel follows Toru’s uncertain passage into adulthood, exploring the fragile boundaries between intimacy and solitude, desire and responsibility, life and death. More realistic and autobiographical in texture than much of Murakami’s later fiction, it reveals his gift for rendering emotional dislocation through music, landscape and the small details of everyday life. A defining novel in his career, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorwegian Wood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e brought him extraordinary popularity in Japan and introduced many readers around the world to his distinctive literary sensibility.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I was always hungry for love. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like to be loved so much I could not bear it.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Haruki Murakami, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorwegian Wood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorwegian Wood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“This elegiac meditation on the impossibility (and terror) of love is chilling, but Murakami's true achievement lies in the humour and vision he brings to even the most despairing moments of his story.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ereview \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eof \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorwegian Wood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64192529727818,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"kafka-on-the-shore","title":"Kafka on the Shore","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in Japan in 2002, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKafka on the Shore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is one of Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious and enchanting novels, a mysterious journey through memory, fate and the uncertain boundaries between reality and imagination. At fifteen, Kafka Tamura runs away from home, seeking escape from a disturbing prophecy made by his father. Meanwhile, Satoru Nakata, an elderly man with an extraordinary ability to communicate with cats, finds himself drawn into a series of increasingly inexplicable events. Their parallel journeys unfold across Japan, connecting seemingly unrelated lives through strange encounters, forgotten histories and forces beyond ordinary understanding.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoving between the familiar and the fantastical, Murakami creates a richly layered narrative shaped by Greek tragedy, Japanese folklore, music and philosophy. Questions of identity, loneliness, destiny, memory and the unconscious run throughout the novel, while its dreamlike atmosphere gives even the most extraordinary events an unsettling sense of possibility. A landmark of contemporary Japanese literature, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKafka on the Shore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e brings together the imaginative freedom and existential concerns that define Murakami’s fiction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Haruki Murakami, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKafka on the Shore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKafka on the Shore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“An insistently metaphysical mind-bender.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— The New Yorker\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64192637436234,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"the-wind-up-bird-chronicle","title":"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in Japan in three volumes between 1994 and 1995, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is one of Haruki Murakami’s most accomplished and haunting novels. When Toru Okada’s wife, Kumiko, disappears, his search for her draws him into an increasingly strange world of mysterious strangers, prophetic dreams and unsettling encounters. A missing cat, an enigmatic teenage neighbour and a mysterious well become part of a journey that leads far beyond the boundaries of ordinary experience. As Toru moves between the everyday world of Tokyo and its hidden, darker dimensions, fragments of forgotten history begin to surface, including the brutal legacy of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlending psychological fiction, surrealism and historical reflection, Murakami explores loneliness, identity, memory, violence and the elusive nature of human connection. The novel’s extraordinary imaginative landscape is grounded in a profound engagement with Japan’s twentieth-century history, particularly the trauma of war and the persistence of collective memory. Widely regarded as one of his defining works, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e brings together the dreamlike atmosphere, existential questioning and narrative ambition that have made Murakami one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary world literature.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Every day it would come to the stand of trees in our neighborhood and wind the spring of our quiet little world.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Haruki Murakami, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“A major work bringing signature themes of alienation, dislocation, and nameless fears.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64192689307978,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"after-dark","title":"After Dark","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFirst published in Japan in 2004, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Dark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e unfolds over a single night in Tokyo, beginning just before midnight and ending with the first light of dawn. Nineteen-year-old Mari Asai sits alone in a late-night diner, reading, when she encounters Takahashi, a young trombonist who remembers her from an earlier meeting. Their conversation draws her into the hidden life of the city, where a Chinese woman has been brutally attacked in a love hotel and a series of strangers become unexpectedly connected. Meanwhile, Mari’s beautiful older sister, Eri, remains suspended in an inexplicable, almost deathlike sleep, while something disturbing stirs beyond the screen of her television.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMoving between neon-lit streets, empty restaurants and anonymous hotel rooms, Murakami transforms the nocturnal city into a landscape of isolation, chance encounters and quiet unease. Written with the rhythm of a film, the novel experiments with perspective and the passage of time, exploring loneliness, human connection, violence and the mysterious distance between people. More restrained and formally experimental than some of his larger novels, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Dark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals another dimension of Murakami’s fiction: a subtle, unsettling portrait of modern life in which the ordinary becomes quietly surreal.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the book\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Time moves in its own special way in the middle of the night.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Haruki Murakami, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Dark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Dark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“After Dark is a short book, hypnotically eerie, full of noirish foreboding, sometimes even funny.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e— Michael Dirda, The Washington Post\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardner's EU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":64192756121930,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/thelamppostparis.com\/collections\/haruki-murakami.oembed","provider":"The Lamp-Post Library \u0026 Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}