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Wind/Pinball: Two Novels
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Wind/Pinball: Two Novels
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Wind/Pinball: Two Novels
Audiobook7 hours

Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

Written by Haruki Murakami

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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About this audiobook

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

In the spring of 1978, a young Haruki Murakami sat down at his kitchen table and began to write. The result: two remarkable short novels-Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973-that launched the career of one of the most acclaimed authors of our time.

These powerful, at times surreal, works about two young men coming of age-the unnamed narrator and his friend the Rat-are stories of loneliness, obsession, and eroticism. They bear all the hallmarks of Murakami's later books, and form the first two-thirds, with A Wild Sheep Chase, of the trilogy of the Rat.

Widely available in English for the first time ever, newly translated, and featuring a new introduction by Murakami himself, Wind/Pinball gives us a fascinating insight into a great writer's beginnings.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 4, 2015
ISBN9780804190282
Unavailable
Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

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Reviews for Wind/Pinball

Rating: 3.4948276331034482 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Murakami may be an acquired taste for some, but I've been a fan of his writing since I first encountered it several years ago. His books are always a nice combination of insight and playfulness, and if I had to categorize him into a genre I would call it experimental with a heart.This volume is actually two novellas that follow the same characters, but the stories are set apart in time. In the first story the main character is finding himself and searching for meaning, while in the second volume he's searching for his "holy grail" of pinball machines, which is a metaphor for a lost period of his life.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    These are murakamis first works and it shows. Although all the classic murakami bingo elements are there, from strange happenings, friendly bar men, erotic encounters, jazz and pop music, slacker protagonists etc the novels don't really hang together and not much really happens. Recommended for murakami completionists (like me) only and probably best skipped if you're not a rabid fan. However it's heartening to know that even superstars started from somewhere.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    You can tell this is Murakami's first works, the stories don't have the same energy or weight that his other books have. In both of these stories I felt I was meandering through a waiting area before you reach hell. Not a bad place necessarily just a washed out place with the only thing that's in focus is death, or rather the anticipation of death.

    These are the stories of Rat and possibly of Rat's friend. I was never very sure if it wasn't just an alter ego. But in this Marukami is consistent because, as in his other books, he makes you think and pulls you in as part of the story.

    Don't not read Marukami based on these two books because he has much better stories.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First of all, y'all should know that I'm a sucker for first novels. Like, serious hard-on for them. And that's very relevant with Wind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami. These are indeed his first two novels and, as is true of most first novels of eventual masters, they are deeply flawed. They're also so delicious and lovely in large part because I know where he's going. I know that he's writing this fiction that's a little too sweet and trying just a little too hard and is a little too self-conscious, and I know that all of these things are working against the genius that flows in his veins but god damn if it doesn't charm me.Would I recommend this as a starting point for people who've never read Murakami? Definitely not. But for those who've already fallen in love with him, it's like looking back at your beau's high school portrait and seeing him for the little naive, innocent, dork he was but through the blur of already loving the man he is today. It's sweet and lovely and endearing. At least it was for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nice personal story with great detail so can visualize the locations, like a diary of the authors thoughts.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "Verglichen mit der Komplexität des Universums“, sagt Heartfield, "gleicht unsere Welt dem Hirn eines Regenwurms."Dieses erste Buch Murakamis wurde lange Zeit nicht ins Deutsche übersetzt. Dabei ist es ein sehr schönes Buch, das viele von dem bereits in sich trägt, was Murakamis spätere Bücher ausmacht. Es ist verhältnismäßig einfach zu lesen und weniger komplex als manch anderes Buch des Autors. Aber es ist in sich stimmig. Der fiktive Schriftsteller Heartfield ist für den wie üblich namenlosen Autor eine Inspiration. Er lernt seinen Freund Ratte kennen und er hängt den ganzen Tag in Jays Bar herum. Ein Mädchen mit vier Fingern lernt er noch kennen. Das ist eigentlich schon alles, was in diesem 19 Tagen passiert. Und trotzdem ist diese schöne melancholische Geschichte voller Leben.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball are English translations of Haruki Murakami’s first two novels which were published together in a one volume edition in 2015. In a forward to this volume the author gives an overview of how he started writing. I found this very interesting and could relate some of his experiences to similar ones of my own, though mine were not related to writing fiction.One practice Murakami described which I thought a fascinating idea was his writing a first draft in English, a language foreign to him, and then translating it into his native Japanese. His logic for doing this was that he would be writing with a limited vocabulary so that when he translated his words back into Japanese the resultant text would be free of any extraneous detours or embellishments that one might be prone to include when writing in one’s own language. He claimed this practice helped him develop his precise style of writing.These two books work well together with Pinball being a sequel to Hear the Wind Sing.Taking the two books as one entity the common theme is growing up, moving on, and the temporary nature of our world, the relationships, places and situations. There are two main characters who spend much time together drinking and smoking. One heads off to college and the other stays in the home town. The novels follow the life, thoughts, feelings and experiences of both. I found the way characters in the story related to one another quite emotionless in many cases. There was an almost stoic, if not totally unemotional, acceptance of change and a reluctance, or should I say, no tendency, to become close to people, even people with whom one is spending a lot of time, even in very intimate circumstances. I find this different from my own environment, but perhaps it is a trait found in societies with a greater population density and level of mobility than one finds where I live. These early works of Murakami’s contain many of the topics, themes and attributes found in his later stories. To name just a few one finds, wells, cats, and Japanese everyday life. The only straying into the surreal that I can recall from these two books was a reference to the perception one character had, while a passenger in a car, of the three dimensional world fading into a two dimensional world and back again. This is an illusion I have experienced myself and I believe is more to do with one’s level of tiredness rather than any dimensional shift.I enjoyed reading these books and would recommend them to other Murakami fans, not that such a recommendation is necessary. Would I recommend them to someone who is not familiar with this author’s works? I don’t know. I like his style and his writing carries me along at a steady pace and I can relate to his digressions and detours while getting the overall sense of his message. The books are short so do not require much time commitment, but not a lot happens in them and someone new to Murakami may not be encouraged to read more of his novels on the basis of reading these two. Having said that, Hear the Wind Sing, won Murakami his first writing competition and it was his winning this competition that spurred him on to continue writing. For that, I am glad he won.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This will be refreshing for anyone who’s been disillusioned by Murakami’s output of late (the bloated, pointless 1Q84, the boring-yet-rapey Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki). According to Murakami’s introduction, Hear the Wind Sing was the first novella he wrote after his famous baseball revelation in 1970*, and Pinball was its sequel. You can see why Wind won the literary award that launched his illustrious career: both stories are as fresh as a golf course at dawn, as deep as a dry well, as simple as a pot of spaghetti on the boil - and yes, all of Murakami’s favourite tropes make an appearance even here in his earliest work; as do his allusions to the hard-boiled world of Raymond Chandler. Surprisingly, Wind also smacks strongly of Vonnegut - there’s a Kilgore Trout figure, and a radio station logo rendered in Sharpie. Nonetheless, at their hearts, both novellas are pure Murakami: the dreamlike settings (an abandoned chicken warehouse full of vintage pinball machines!), the crisp, understated voice, the loose-limbed felicity of his non-sequitirs; all here, fully formed, in miniature. *”In the bottom of the first inning, Hilton slammed Sotokoba’s first pitch into left field for a clean double. The satisfying crack when the bat met the ball resounded throughout Jingu Stadium. Scattered applause rose around me. In that instant, for no reason and based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel.” - from the introduction
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I sometimes find it hard to explain exactly why I enjoy Haruki Murakami’s writing so much. Part of the attraction is that the protagonists often seem slightly disconnected from the world, but are still real – they are people we have all met, and people we might not mind knowing. Part of the attraction is the surrealism (sometimes hints; sometimes smack on assaults) that are woven in the lives of these everyday people. And part of the attraction is the otherworldliness that permeates his writing. I am not sure if this is because of the way he writes, or if it comes from his works being grounded in the Japanese culture (one that is close to America’s, and yet so far away), or a combination of both.But all of these pieces wouldn’t really add up to something worth anyone’s time if it were not for Murakami’s style – one that is not quite like anyone else’s. Here’s a paragraph that opens the 13th chapter of Pinball, 1973, the second novel in this collection.“On any given day, something can come along and steal our hearts. It may be any old thing: a rosebud, a lost cap, a favorite sweater from childhood, an old Gene Pitney record. A miscellany of trivia with no home to call their own. Lingering for two or three days, that something soon disappears, returning to the darkness. There are wells, deep wells, dug in our hearts. Birds fly over them.In the introduction to this book, Murakami describes how he wrote these two novels – his first. His initial attempt did not work, so he began writing in English. He knew the language, but did not have as robust a knowledge as one would expect necessary for writing a novel. This forced him in to a more simple style. He then translated this back to Japanese. And, with that, he found his style. He never again needed to write in English and then translate back, but he had his style– the one that captivates so many readers today.So, one might expect that these first two novels (maybe closer to novellas, but let’s keep moving) would show the growing pains of a new author – one discovering his voice but still struggling with how to use it. (in fact, Murakami has not pushed for their release into English translations for just that reason.)Not the case. It is all here – the voice, the characters, hints of surrealism, the style. In fact, I found these two pieces stronger than one or two of his later ones. Maybe the subsequent longer pieces allowed him to be more self-indulgent? Whatever the case, these are both very good.Both novels cover periods in the lives of the narrator and his friend, the Rat. In the first novel, the narrator finds a girl passed out and takes her back to her room. The relationship starts poorly as she assumes he has taken advantage of her. But a few chance meetings result in a growing relationship. In Pinball, 1973, the narrator has started his own successful translation business and is now living with twins – two girls who just appeared in his life. He finds himself suddenly fascinated with one pinball machine (the basis for the quote above).There are more plot points and “things going on” in both novels, but these are not really important. Yes, the narrative drives the stories and, without them, we might not be compelled read on. But what really makes these novels worth reading is the discussion about culture and life that surround those plots, and the revelations those discussions provide about the characters. These are people that are continually sorting out their place in life. And, while such discussions can be quickly self-indulgent and boring, that doesn’t happen. Murakami’s craftsmanship and skills bring these people to life in a way that makes the reader care for them.There are stronger Murakami novels, but these are very good. And, if they happen to be the first you read, I don’t think you will be disappointed. They can serve as short introductions to the author or, if you are like me, they are nice pieces to add to the collection.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Murakami's first two short novels, not just by publication dates, but the first two things he ever wrote. and they're great; i consider them real finds. his style is completely formed. he has only two characters, the unnamed narrator and his friend The Rat (A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance can be considered sequels), both in their Twenties here. the form and language is a bit simpler than in later books, but that's intentional, and the pop culture detail, the sense of alienation and dislocation is wholly Murakami already. there's even an introduction that lays out how he got started writing these, almost randomly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The two novellas in this book are great stories written in typical Haruki Murakami fashion. They both don't really make too much sense and the plot is about as mundane as you can get, but it is written so well that it really sucks you in. Weird things happen to the main characters life, but it's not that weird. The contemplation of the characters are not that insightful. It is just a story about a regular guy doing somewhat irregular things. It makes it incredibly easy to relate to him, appreciate what is happening, and just enjoy the story. The books are good, my only qualm is that Wind ends rather quickly and has an even more pointless plot than Pinball.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was my introduction to Murakami. I can say with certainty that I will be exploring other more recent novels by this author but I did enjoy the opportunity to read these two previously unpublished novellas which is where his journey began.The forward is wonderful. In the authors own words, he takes the reader on a journey through his process and inspiration for writing. He also readily acknowledges that both works are raw - these were his first explorations as he picked up a pen and told a story for someone else to read. As such, readers, both those who know his work and those who don't, should be prepared for lack of polish and raw talent.Both stories revolve around an unnamed narrator who frequents a small bar run by a Chinese man. His friend and former roommate Rat also plays a role in each story. More in the first than the second. The setting is Tokyo circa 1970's. The more intimate settings take place in the bar and the narrators home."Wind" was the weaker of the two stories. It was disjointed and at times difficult to follow. There didn't seem to be any clear purpose except getting pen to paper. There were glimpses of interest - a paragraph here, a sentence there and just the beauty of language which translated well from Japanese to English.On the other hand, I loved "Pinball." The story contained better writing and there was a recognizable beginning, middle and end. The narrator lives in a small apartment with a set of twins that he is sleeping with. They provide a little comic relief throughout the book. He works with a partner translating books, essays and other written works into Japanese. In the bar, mentioned previously, the narrator becomes enthralled with a pinball game. He gets on a kick where he plays the machine repeatedly upping his score. Mysteriously one day, the pinball machine is removed from the shop. It turns out that the Chinese man merely had the machine on a lease.The narrator becomes almost obsessed with tracking down the machine. He goes to arcades all around Tokyo. Eventually he is introduced to an academic who is also obsessed with pinball and pinball machines. He directs the narrator to a large warehouse on the outskirts of Tokyo where a collector is housing all manner of pinball machines including the one from the bar.The writing in both is less story motivated and more about the big themes in life: loneliness, obsession, anomie and evoking emotions from the reader. I enjoyed this book but am looking forward to reading some of his more finished work.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hear The Wind Sing is my favourite out of the two novellas in this pairing. I've read both before, but in different translations. I enjoyed these versions. Pinball 1973 has some interesting ideas, but is quite stilted. Hear The Wind Sing feels more complete as a story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had a hard time pushing through to the end of these two stories - though the last half of 'Pinball, 1973' engaged me the most. I'm not sure I would have finished if it weren't for the great discussions among members of the bookclub I'm in. However, even though I didn't enjoy it all that much, it was fascinating to see that even from the beginning Murakami had his own style - he just hadn't polished it up yet. And, within the pages were some beautiful gems of descriptions, deep insights into ways to view life, etc.If you are not really into Murakami, I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but if you interesting in seeing his progression as a writer, it is definitely something to consider reading.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Most of what was in this didn't make sense or really seem like part of a coherent narrative. It was hard to follow and mostly disappointing. I did enjoy the storyline about the pinball obsession, though. Also, not that I've read more than a few of his novels yet, but Murakami seems to have a bodily integrity obsession, and particularly with having too few or too many fingers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wind seemed to take several dozen pages to find itself, but this early Murakami was vintage Murakami in the end. Bland, rather obsessive, everymen find quirky individuals to hang out with. Boy there was a lot of beer drinking and cigarette smoking in this one. Remove the word "beer" and these novels would be half the size. Overall, however, a light easy read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    There is a new edition and translation out for Murakami's first two novels, together in one book. They are both short novels. "Hear The Wind Sing" and "Pinball 1973" are the two early efforts which Murakami describes as his kitchen table novels in his lengthy introduction. I found his discussion of his personal history and how he came to be inspired to write the books more interesting that the stories themselves. The two are pretty bland things, and there isn't really much I can think to say about them. Familiar elements that we see put together much better in later novels by the author. Reading these I would never have expected anything great to come later from the author. I expected to find it interesting to read these first efforts by Murakami, but when I began "Hear The Wind Sing" I thought it pretty dreadful. In fact I wasn't even sure for a number of pages that I had even started the story. It read like Murakami ruminating on writing a novel. I persisted because I wanted to read these early works, but it took more than half the story before it gained any traction, and then when it seemed to get going it was over. I wouldn't blame anyone for having bailed out on this story. It all seemed rather a pointless, a slice of time in someone's life. Pinball started off like a pinball, banging around here and there with a bunch of nameless people and not going anywhere. It gets a little surreal and again we find the familiar elements of a Murakami story. I almost started skimming because I was bored, but I stuck with it because there are odd moments here and there that I liked. This story might have been marginally better than the first, thanks to the extra weirdness. Recommended for people who like to read about characters whose lives revolve around smoking cigs and drinking beer. To me these two stories read like a parody of Murakami. Every writer has to start somewhere. They have "Write like Bad Hemingway" contests. These would get my vote in a "Write Bad Murakami" one. I feel like I'm being very generous rating this two stars.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I started reading this book with a lot of expectations. I must confess the book fell short.It began well and when the writer made a comment, that if "it's art or literature you're interested in, I suggest you read the Greeks. Pure art exists only in slave owning societies," and explained this statement I thought there was more coming. At intervals there were gems but all in all my rating of thee two novels would be the same as Murakami's protagonist's professor who says, "Good style, clear argument, but you're not saying anything."
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Murakami's first two novels, newly-translated and widely available for the first time. Not his best work, but interesting to see him testing the waters for things to come. I found 'Wind' to be somewhat disjointed; 'Pinball' less so. Both lack some of the fantastical elements his later work displays. I think the introduction by Murakami might be the high point - he sounds like a character from one of his novels.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    His stories remind me of shadow boxes mixed with poetry. I love the 1970's haunting the background of their lives. The references to music of the time " when is the last time you heard a Jan and Dean song?", made these two stories resonate in my heart.Surreal and poignant. Sensitive and charming. Lyrical Hauki-esque sentences read like poetry.I read Norwegian Wood several years ago and was left with a similar satisfaction. Haruki Murakami is a voice that transcends generations and sex.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "What I was seeking by writing first in English and then 'translating' into Japanese was no less than the creation of an unadorned 'neutral' style that would allow me freer movement. . . . I wanted to deploy a type of Japanese as far removed as possible from so-called literary language in order to write in my own natural voice. That required desperate measures. . . . Some of my critics saw this as a threatening affront to our national language. Language is very tough, though . . . It is the inherent right of all writers to experiment with the possibilities of language in every way they can imagine - without that adventurous spirit, nothing new can ever be born."This description of how he began writing his first novel may help explain why Murakami's books connect so well with Western readers. Murakami's introduction to this book is fascinating, giving much more detail than before about the improbable events that led him to be an internationally successful author. Out of college he "hated the idea of working for a company", and he and his wife instead started a jazz bar, where they worked long hours but got to play their favorite music. (Murakami readers know the importance of music in his novels). His calling as an author came out of the sky at a baseball game (beautifully described). Other events of "synchronicity or some sort of divine intervention" contributed.It has taken a long, long time for these first two short novels of his to be translated into English (by Ted Goosen) and receive mainstream publication in English-speaking countries. (Apparently there was a small, difficult to obtain English version many years ago). Up until now, Murakami reportedly thought their quality didn't warrant Western publication. As he says in the introduction, while these two early books are "irreplaceable, like friends from long ago", he considered A Wild Sheep Chase to be "the true beginning of his career as a novelist." For the reader, it's somewhat hard to understand his previous resistance; Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball 1973, combined in Wind/Pinball, are definitely worthy and enjoyable novels, and even provide a good entry point to his body of work.The protagonist of both is unnamed, and his friend is called the Rat. Readers of A Wild Sheep Chase will recall the Rat, and AWSC actually is the third (after these two) of what has been called "The Rat Trilogy."In "Wind" the music-loving protagonist hangs out at J's Bar and talks with the Rat about past romances, while developing a relationship with a nine-fingered woman who at first mistakes him for a criminal. Not a lot happens, but Murakami's "free movement" in his writing, as described in the introduction, is combined with his characteristic digressions into strange trivia and a haunting tone of isolation. Pinball is more developed. The same protagonist has started a translation company with a friend, and is shacked up with a pair of amiable twins who have moved into his apartment. While at J's Bar, he is extremely successful playing a pinball game called Spaceship, with the relationship becoming almost romantic. When the bar is sold and the game (one of only 3 in Japan) disappears, he becomes obsessed with finding it. What's so important about pinball?"{P}inball leads nowhere. . . . Replay, replay, replay - it makes you think the whole aim of the game is to achieve a form of eternity.We know very little about eternity, although we can infer its existence.The goal of pinball is self-transformation, not self-expression. It involves not the expansion of the ego, but its diminution. Not analysis but all-embracing acceptance.If it's self-expression, ego expansion, or analysis you're after, the tilt light will exact its unsparing revenge.Have a nice game!"There are classic Murakami interweavings of the surreal, including at one point a realistic conversation with the Spaceship game, odd details like the nine fingers and the cheerful twins, and familiar weighted images that will bring a smile to readers of his other books, e.g. "Nothing is more soothing than hearing that small splash rising from the bottom of a deep well." Fans and newbies alike should enjoy these short works, and I'm glad they finally got published here.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball are English translations of Haruki Murakami’s first two novels which were published together in a one volume edition in 2015. In a forward to this volume the author gives an overview of how he started writing. I found this very interesting and could relate some of his experiences to similar ones of my own, though mine were not related to writing fiction.One practice Murakami described which I thought a fascinating idea was his writing a first draft in English, a language foreign to him, and then translating it into his native Japanese. His logic for doing this was that he would be writing with a limited vocabulary so that when he translated his words back into Japanese the resultant text would be free of any extraneous detours or embellishments that one might be prone to include when writing in one’s own language. He claimed this practice helped him develop his precise style of writing.These two books work well together with Pinball being a sequel to Hear the Wind Sing.Taking the two books as one entity the common theme is growing up, moving on, and the temporary nature of our world, the relationships, places and situations. There are two main characters who spend much time together drinking and smoking. One heads off to college and the other stays in the home town. The novels follow the life, thoughts, feelings and experiences of both.I found the way characters in the story related to one another quite emotionless in many cases. There was an almost stoic, if not totally unemotional, acceptance of change and a reluctance, or should I say, no tendency, to become close to people, even people with whom one is spending a lot of time, even in very intimate circumstances. I find this different from my own environment, but perhaps it is a trait found in societies with a greater population density and level of mobility than one finds where I live.These early works of Murakami’s contain many of the topics, themes and attributes found in his later stories. To name just a few one finds, wells, cats, and Japanese everyday life. The only straying into the surreal that I can recall from these two books was a reference to the perception one character had, while a passenger in a car, of the three dimensional world fading into a two dimensional world and back again. This is an illusion I have experienced myself and I believe is more to do with one’s level of tiredness rather than any dimensional shift.I enjoyed reading these books and would recommend them to other Murakami fans, not that such a recommendation is necessary. Would I recommend them to someone who is not familiar with this author’s works? I don’t know. He is so legendary that a first work at this point may not be the best entry point. But its a strong debut and follow-up so yeah. Read it first timers.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I gave up half way through Pinball, as its boring me to near tears. Narrated by a Kirby Heyborne.
    3 stars, as the first story Wind, isn’t too bad.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    “Hear the Wind Sing” is the first thing Murakami wrote, back in 1979. He just got the idea he should write a novel, then sat down and did it. The book is short and fairly undeveloped; hardly a novel at all. I’m really surprised it got published. He wrote “Pinball, 1973” directly after “Wind”, and the difference is amazing. That the author learned so much about writing so quickly is almost unbelievable. The characters in “Pinball” (some of whom are the same as in “Wind”; it’s a sort of sequel) are developed and have depth. It’s like “Hear the Wind Sing” was just an outline, whereas he actually got around to writing “Pinball”. The really odd part about these stories? Murakami himself doesn’t like them and really didn’t want them published in English. Both stories revolve around an unnamed young man and his friend, the Rat. Both are narrated by the nameless man in the first person, but the sections about the Rat are written in third person- the two are never even in the same scene in “Pinball”. There is little plot in either tale; they are simple strings of events. In “Wind”, the narrator is home from college for the summer and hanging out with the Rat in a bar run by J; in “Pinball” the narrator has graduated and set up a translating business with a partner. He is living with a pair of mysterious twin women who just sort of show up one day, and searching for a pinball machine he played obsessively in college. “Pinball” has that touch of surrealism that Murakami does so well. The characters are drifting through life, unattached to family, mostly content to let life happen to them- even if they are unhappy with it. I don’t think these stories would be good introductions to Murakami’s work, but for a fan, they are important to read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Wind/Pinball, Haruki Morakami, translator from Japanese, Ted Goossen, narrator is Kirby HeyborneThese are the first two novels/novellas written by the author, and they were supposedly penned as he sat at his kitchen table pondering the great effort it is to write one. Although separated by several years, the two novels are joined together. The first begins in August of 1970 and ends 18 days later in the same month. The nameless narrator of both, whom we shall call our friend from this point on, is a 21 year old college student whose feathers never seem to ruffle. He is calm and even tempered even as his friend is loud and overbearing. When the novella begins, our friend is in J’s bar sharing a rather raucous moment with his newly acquired good pal, Rat, a college dropout who resents his wealth but takes full advantage of it. They are both whiling away the time of their summer respite. Rat and our friend leave the bar in an inebriated state and are involved in a car accident which causes damages to a park and upsets some monkeys. When the car is totaled, Rat doesn’t mind because he will simply purchase another. However, both men are saddled with the burden of paying for damages sustained by the park, for the next three years, so there are consequences. Both of the young men are aspiring authors and when the second novella ends, in 1978 with the quote “How can those who live in the light of day possibly comprehend the depths of night”, our friend is 29, married and seems content, and both he and Rat are still writing. Rat’s novels have always remained free of any references to sex or death, and both subjects are still absent in his latest works. He dedicates his books to his nameless friend with a cryptic message which our friend understands, but would be meaningless to others. Our friend is even-tempered as he encounters and interacts with an odd assortment of characters that flit in and out of the narrative, through a revolving door which is often one way and does not return them. Only a few are recurrent and then only barely. Nothing of major import seems to ever get resolved. It is as if there is little meaning, in the end, to their lives or their interactions. Our friend has a mentor, Derek Hartfield, an author who jumped to his death from The Empire State Building, holding an umbrella in one hand and a picture of Adolph Hitler in the other. It is an unusual choice of mentor and an unusual image for the reader which foreshadows the rather inane narrative of both novellas. In conversations between Rat and our friend, Rat talks about his fear of death. If everyone dies, eventually, he seems to feel that everything, in its own way, is futile, perhaps purposeless. Since most do not leave a permanent mark and do disappear from view, vanish not only from sight but from the memory of others, might we not all ask, “what then, is our ultimate purpose”? Our friend, remains true to character, stays fairly quiet and neutral, emotionally, throughout both novellas, simply listening to his friends and acquaintances while neither condemning nor judging them. We learn that our friend has a brother, and both of them routinely are required to shine their father’s shoes out of respect for him, and yet, at certain times, he casually dismisses his obligation. True to form, nothing has major import as characters meander in and out of the narrative. Our friend tells about many of the unusual characters he meets. One is a young woman who has a twin. She has only 9 fingers, and that meaningless, missing body part is the only distinguishing feature that separates her from her sister. He speaks of a one time girlfriend who took her own life. Another friend died from alcohol poisoning. There is a teenage girl who speaks of being confined to a bed for the last three years, hoping for a cure for her debilitating neurological disease. Then there is the uncle who survives the war only to ironically die, after it ends, when he steps on a landmine he himself had planted. We are privy to a conversation on the radio. The MC calls our friend and informs him that a young lady wanted them to play a song for him. He remembers that he once borrowed that record from this girl, lost it and thus never returned it. He sets about trying to return a new copy to her, but even after a broad search, he is unsuccessful. This is another unfruitful moment.There are a series of conversations which bounce around and essentially go nowhere. Profound subjects are introduced but they are all, in the end, treated in a mundane manner. Subjects like life and death, truth and deception, trust and love are introduced but barely developed. Nothing is explored very deeply. Both novellas skirt around on the surface of life and sometimes I wondered if I was missing the author’s meaning, and then I wondered if there actually was a meaning other than the ultimate meaninglessness of everything we do, especially if we have no way to leave a permanent mark.The reader, Kirby Heyborne, reads the novellas in a deadpan voice which perfectly conveys the author’s meaning and intent, but I am afraid, much of it may have been lost on me.