Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

"Time goes by so damn fast."

As a small anecdote to tack on here for myself for later, I was reading my paperback copy of this book on my couch, and it's one of those duologies where you read half/one book and flip it over/around to read the other half/the other book. My husband walked past me perhaps two or three times before he finally asked if I was aware I was reading my book upside down.

These two are some of Murakami's earliest works, and it kind of shows. While the second book (Pinball, 1973) feels more like a cohesive book with some narrative direction, the first book (Hear the Wind Sing) just felt like scenes strung together until the book stopped having pages. Both feature the same two characters as main characters, Rat and our unnamed protagonist, just trying to make sense of the world in their early 20s, when things change, people move on, and they have to figure out what it means to be an adult. It's not quite angst these two are facing, but uncertainty about what to do with their lives beyond what they've always done (drink at J's bar, women, sit at the beach). Stagnation and moving on are common themes in Murakami's works, I've noticed. The second book has the only real magical realism here, and even that only comes in towards the last third of the book or so. It's not quite on par with some of his other books I enjoyed more, but I do like the idea of an advice-giving pinball machine.

I have the other books in this series at home, and I'm interested to see how more developed they are, since they're more full-fledged novels than these two were. Not bad books, but kind of forgettable.

It isn't as good as wild sheep chase but it's still a great read. The second Murakami I finished after Norwegian wood. The magical realism stuff isn't there yet, it's a straight forward book.

As Murakami's debut novel, Hear the Wind Sing shows hints of the aesthetic shine that would later become his trademark, and of the self-centered aloofness of his usual male main characters.

It was a decent one, not my favorite from the author.

In addition to the author's preface and his own life stories about how he suddenly came to a point to write a novel and become a novelist, I liked the part in Pinball which the university lecturer speaks about Pinball machine producers history! I had the feeling of an author under influence of Catcher in the Rye in the first book. In the second part we do not see any real connection between the narrator and the Rat other than their regular meetings with J and some small talks on Pinball machines. They seem more to be friends in the first book. Even when the Rat decides to leave the big challenge for him is telling his decision to J and there is no mention of telling or having problem telling it to the narrator.

These two short novels are Murakami's first works. “Wind” (actually, “Hear the Wind Sing,”) didn't grab me, but “Pinball, 1973” did. Both feature the narrator and his friend Rat who frequent a bar owned by J (which is perhaps Murakami's own bar, as that's what he did when he wrote these stories). Rat has woman troubles in both books and the narrator is at perpetual loose-ends, although he seems to come to equilibrium by the end of Pinball when he gets the wax cleaned out of his ears!

O livro merece 3,5 mais pelo que ele representa - o início da carreira do autor, as primeiras histórias - do que pelas histórias em si. Até agora ainda não aceitei que não fazem muito sentido, mas tem alguma coisa que me faz gostar nem que seja um pouquinho. Boa experiência.

Definitely early Murakami, but still, definitely Murakami. Pinball is the much stronger of the two novels IMO. It's been awhile since I read the rest of the Rat trilogy so I may have missed some of the continuity. Also really enjoyed his intro and description of how he decided to write a novel – literally out of the clear blue sky.

I found it hard to get into this one, probably in part due to the small pockets of time I had available to read, but while on holiday I had the chance to put more time in and halfway through Wind I found my stride. Of the two books I much preferred Pinball, which I would rate higher than Wind, and now feel like I want to go back and read Wild Sheep Chase to see if I get a different perspective knowing some back-story of the Rat.