Customer Reviews

Hear the Wind Sing

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many of Murakami Haruki's English reading fans, I read A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance without knowledge that the former book was the third in a trilogy and that the latter book was an addition that came a few years later. However, if the reader pays closer attention to A Wild Sheep Chase one can really see that the characters within the book seem to be established and that they already have their personal histories which are not coming completely new from the pages of A Wild Sheep Chase. Almost a year after picking up A Wild Sheep Chase for the first time, I read Jay Rubin's highly informative book Haruki Murakami & the Music of Words and learned about Murakami's first two novels: Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 both of which had been translated into English by Alfred Birnbaum. However, I also learned that they were only released in Japan. Yet, because of the wonders of the Internet, I was able to acquire both books and expand my Murakami library.

Hear the Wind Sing begins with the narrator, aged 29, talking about writing and how difficult it was for him to finally put down words on paper. It took him eight years in fact to put down his thoughts on the summer of 1970 and the people he was involved with during that year. Why 1970? 1970 was the year after the student activist group the Zenkyoto was forced out of the building they had commandeered and soon afterwards those who had been its greatest supporters were sucked back into the system to become automatons of mainstream society. For Murakami, the destruction of the student movement left a deep wound in his being and it pained him to see his fellows go to a more conservative, rightist path.

However, within the being of the narrator it might be hard to find a politically charged individual. This is instead found within the being of the narrator's best friend the Rat. Yet, the Rat's sense of aggravation towards modern society is quite impotent, so he instead fills his emptiness with beer and liquor. The Narrator, a more introspective fellow, spends his time consumed in the books of dead writers, the memories of his dead girlfriend, and pursuing the girl with four fingers on her left hand.

At the time he wrote this thin tome, Murakami owned a jazz bar called the Peter Cat and had little time for actual writing so his sentences within this volume tended to be quite pithy. Also, the short, pithy styles of Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan influenced his writing. The book itself is more a collection of vignettes than one coherent novel and the order of the book was originally quite different that the final version.

While it does not hold a candle to some of his later works, Murakami's first novel is quite important in his body of work and it shows his early interest in such subjects as language, memory, China, and the student movement. Definitely a book worth seeking for the Murakami fan, hopefully, one day, along with Pinball, 1973, it will be given a wider release to Murakami's English reading fans.

... (which was not released in the United States) is quite good for a first novel. I was a bit surprised to read in the other review that the

I won't speculate on the author's intentions. With the exception of Paolo Coelho, I think that the author's of books tend to be more closed-mouthed than readers expect, and their true opinions are too hard to discern to be worth parsing out in fiction, particularly since that isn't the point.

This novel takes place over the course of 18 days in August of 1970. In it, the narrator (whose name we are never given) spends his time as all of Murakami's characters do: Reading, eating, listening to music, and loving enigmatic women. In this case, that would be the girl with four fingers on her left hand.

Like all of Murakami's work, there is a minimalistic, surreal feel to this book. It is more clearly fleshed out in his later novels, and this one feels a lot like a precursor to Norweigan Wood, where I expect that Murakami finally told the story that he wanted to tell (he has expressed dissatisfaction with this book and with its sequel, Pinball, 1973).

This is clearly Murakami, though. I have read several reviews of this that called it tepid, but I wouldn't agree. Instead, I would suggest that in it, Murakami is restrained. He has not yet acquired the ambivalent voice that captures simultaneously the frenetic energy and the silent conservativism of modern Japan. Instead, we are treated to the story of two men who really only have each other. They are friends, but the kind of friends amongst whom silence acts not as a buffer or as a shield, or even as a gulf, but rather as a third member of the party. If you don't recognize that, you simply haven't had a friend like that.

This is definitely worth your time, if you can simply find it. It was translated by Alfred Birnbaum, who did many of the first American and British translations of Murakami's work, for one of the largest publishing houses in Japan, Kodansha, Ltd. I was surprised to discover that even this edition was not meant for Americans...instead, it was part of a series of books that were cheaply produced for the purposes of assisting Japanese with mastering English.

Pinball, 1973 is easily acquired in a PDF format on the internet, but this novel is not. And more is the pity. It is a good early novel by this influential and wonderful writer, but its limited print run, combined with the cheap production and the hordes of Murakami's fans are sure to make this item only increase with time.

A great book. Buy it if you can find it. Borrow it if you can't. And mourn if you can't do either. B+

Harkius

I first read Hear the Wind Sing a good number of years ago; however, like many others reviewing this book, I did not "discover" it until after reading (or should I say "falling in love with") several other works by Murakami: A Wild Sheep Chase (which happens to be the final book of the "Trilogy of the Rat", of which Hear the Wind Sing is the first novel; although, to be perfectly honest, I think Sheep Chase works just fine as a standalone novel), Dance Dance Dance (a sequel to Sheep Chase, although again it works as a standalone), Hard Boiled Wonderland (my favorite Murakami novel), Norwegian Wood, Wind-Up Bird (this seems to be Murakami's most popular in the US, although not in Japan), at least one or two short story collections ... in other words, I was a pretty experienced Murakami hand before coming across his first novel. At the time, I remember enjoying it but thinking that it did not stack up to these later works I had already read and been blown away by ... if anything it felt a bit like a poor man's version of Norwegian Wood, Murakami's best-selling work that also deals with similar themes and is notable for also being relatively light on the "magical realism" which is now Murakami's hallmark. However, still not bad as a first novel by the author that at that time I would've called one of my favorite authors (perhaps even my favorite author).

Over time, however, I became a bit disillusioned with Murakami's recent offerings. Kafka still entertained, but seemed to be missing a bit of the mojo and originality that characterized his earlier works. After Dark was shockingly bad. Reading the first two volumes of 1Q84 was laborious work, and until volume 3 came out a year later I was honestly unsure whether the book was complete after those first two volumes or after three (and indeed, there are rumors--fanned by Murakami himself--that there might even be a *fourth* volume at some point). These recent works were still receiving remarkable critical praise, but it felt like reviewers were reading a different book than I was; I hadn't felt truly gripped or moved since reading Wind-Up Bird (which isn't even my favorite Murakami work, in large part due to the large amount of unfinished and unconnected story lines). Reading the most recent work, 1Q84, didn't leave me hungry for what was next; it rather left me nostalgic for Murakami's earlier works: less polished, but more profound, more compelling ... more fun. I started to worry a bit whether it was Murakami who was slipping, or whether I had simply fallen out of love with the unique world and words of Murakami Haruki. So, in that frame of mind, I picked up Hear the Wind Sing this past weekend to see if the old Murakami magic could be rekindled.

I was pleased to find out that yes indeed it could be. Hear the Wind Sing is clearly unpolished and rough around the edges, but it still has that Murakami mojo and clearly foreshadows the wonderful works that would follow it. Although the "magical realism" aspect is much more limited than in most of Murakami's subsequent works, it is still there (most memorable for me was the excerpt from the made-up Derek Heartfield story about the wells of Mars). Honestly, the seed of just about every theme and motif Murakami would eventually nurture into maturity in later works appears in this novel: wells, enigmatic women (who are often "missing" something), drinking, loveless sex, disillusionment, detachment, the passive Boku narrator, Western music, music stores, death, World War II, China, mistrust of corporations, the moon, nighttime, water (be it the rain or the ocean), elephants, alienation ... I could go on and on (even the seeds of Murakami's short-comings as an author are in here, including his maddening tendency to start but often not resolve disparate story lines, which works in smaller doses such as here in Hear the Wind Sing but is a detraction, for me at least, in some of his longer works where the threads seem to fray and unravel a bit by the end). Even in this short work, one could literally open any page and find at least one notable "Murakami motif". Despite its unpolished nature--or perhaps because of it--it made me hungry to go on and re-read some of Murakami's other (and even better) works that followed it. It also left me a bit bittersweet as well--despite critical acclaim that works such as 1Q84 are Murakami's magnum opus, I can't help but think that when all is said and done, we will look back on Murakami's works from the decade or so spanning the mid-80s to the mid-90s (roughly from A Wild Sheep Case through Wind-Up Bird, including his excellent short stories during that time) as the height of Murakami's creativity and talent.

In the end, although not his best work by any means, Hear the Wind Sing is still the departure point for what would become the literary phenomenon that is Murakami Haruki. I think it is too bad that Murakami has fought to keep this work (and Pinball, 1973) all but impossible to find for the English speaking audience, but I have the feeling that at some point these works will see the light of day again, even if it is not until after Murakami passes away (the potential for profit will be too unavoidable for the publishers, I believe). Personally, I hope that the Murakami fan does not have to wait until his passing for that day to come, however. Rather than try to hide these early works, I wish Murakami would actually embrace them and even re-read and learn from them. I hope my prognostication about Murakami's golden age being long past is incorrect, but after reading every work since Wind-Up Bird thinking "is *this* the one?" (with the nuance changing from "is this the one that will be remembered as Murakami's greatest work?" to the more despairing "is this the one where Murakami finally gets his mojo back?") with the answer being "no" each time, I worry my fears may be true. If so, that makes his earlier works all the more precious. If you are a Murakami fan, do yourself a favor and track down this book to see where Murakami started; it is a short read that will be well worth your time.

It's shorter than I expected, (the book itself is about 5 x 3 inches, so good for a pocket, I suppose), but it's good Murakami. Offers some back-story on characters from Sheep Chase and Dance, and while nothing really mystical or surprising happens it's interesting to read through earlier work by the author. It struck me that his protagonist, who is the same as in Sheep Chase and Dance, is, like the author, much younger and with very different priorities than in the later works. He also has a different outlook, seems more human and vulnerable (not quite as Sam Spade as the author's later characters) which again gives the reader an interesting glimpse of the author as a younger, less experienced author. The translation's not as great as his newer stuff, which I've read he translates himself, but hey, it's "new-to-me" Murakami, so who the hell's complaining?

This is typical Murakami in his ability to describe everyday events in a manner that is totally engaging. The characters are familiar to anyone who has read "Wild Sheep Chase". The biggest difference is that there's no fantastic element. Some good character studies of both principal characters. This book hasn't generally been published in the West and this edition is obviously for Japanese speakers who want to read in English because there are translation notes at the back and all the formal stuff is in Japanese.

The review by Charles aligns well with my own views of both this book and Murakami's works in general, so I won't repeat those comments. My favorite Murakami has always been A Wild Sheep Chase and I was delighted to learn about Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, and to find them available in import editions.

The style is very much early Murakami, so I recommend it to those who enjoy Wild Sheep up through Wind-up Bird Chronicle. If you haven't read those, they are better places to start. The present text is very much style-driven, not plot-driven -- relatively little happens as it meanders through daily like of the narrator.

As other reviews note, the book is a thin, pocket-sized text with extensive English-idiom-to-Japanese translation notes in the back, for Japanese readers learning English. So the "words per dollar" count is quite low, and it feels like a book that should cost more like $5 (as it does in Japan). This was offset somewhat by the novelty of an import edition, and beautiful Japanese gift wrapping that the seller (presumably) added to it.

My review ends up at 3 stars for two reasons: (1) as literature, the book is good, fun, and interesting, but not truly great, so it loses 1 star there. (2) the import is certainly expensive relative to the length and print quality, so it loses 1 star for value.

In short, if you're an early Murakami fan, it's a fun read although expensive. If you're just starting with Murakami, start with A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel. Enjoy!

Granted it's not his best, but it's great to see how Murakami began. It definitely gave me perspective on the rest of his novels. And the shipping was right on time.

I think Murakami should just release this and Pinball 1973 in a single book. Why make us pay for the import versions of these books.

There isn't much information on Amazon about the particulars of this book. It is a tiny paperback about 6" high x 4" wide and 1/4" thick with 128 pages of text. It comes with a thin dust cover. It looks more like a pamphlet than a book and was apparently produced for Japanese students learning English. So if you are expecting a "normal" paperback, this is not. If I would have known this in advance I would not have bought it.

It is a Murakami book so it is most likely a good read as are all his other books.