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The Strange Library

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A fine small work -- whose reading is likely strongly colored depending on which illustrated version the reader has. I have a confession to make ... The Strange Library is the first work of Haruki Murakami I've ever read. There, I’ve said it. One of my best friends, Srđan, kept pushing me to read something of Murakami's. To Srđan, Murakami is a mythic figure ~~ I'm certain he makes the sign of the cross every time the mere thought of Murakami enters his mind. Most of my friends love him as well. My mother has read nearly everything he has published. I'm awfully embarrassed to be so late jumping on the Murakami band wagon, but I'm glad I made the leap. He gets to read the books, but hardly under conditions he could have anticipated; despite the circumstances (and some rather unpleasant pressure put on him to get the most out of the books) reading, too, becomes an entirely new experience: In the dream world, everything is slightly askew. The rules of reality don’t apply. Two people can be one and one can be two. A person can be both himself and someone else entirely. In the dream world, all the logic of Aristotle gives way to irrational leaps of the imagination. One thing leads to another, not by cause-and-effect, but by thought and association. Somehow I felt at home in this world. At least most of the time. A boy visits his local library on the way home from school. When he asks to borrow a book, he is directed to Room 107 in the basement where a stern old man confronts him. Fearful, the boy says he is interested in tax collection in the Ottoman Empire and the man goes to fetch three large volumes.

The Strange Library is a children's illustrated novel written by Haruki Murakami. The story centers around a boy who finds himself imprisoned in a labyrinth-like library. The book centers around strange, dark themes and words for a children's book. Some regular Murakami-esque features are present here in their full glory. In February 2005 an illustrated edition of The Strange Library appeared in Japanese (図書館奇譚 toshokankitan, published by Kodansha). This was then republished in January 2008 as a Kodansha Bunko edition. The illustrations are by Maki Sasaki. [5] The Strange Library (2014 editions) [ edit ]

This dryly funny, concise fable features all the hallmarks of Murakami's deadpan magic, along with splashes of Lewis Carroll and the brothers Grimm." - Publishers Weekly And ever since I was little my mother had told me, if you don’t know something, go to the library and look it up. But despite the ladder coming down I felt a calm relaxation and sat at the bottom of the well for a few more minutes. It was quiet and dark. it was unusually comfortable. From cover to cover, Kidd’s illustrations, which comprise almost half the book, threaten to overwhelm Murakami’s text. The images respond to events in the story, but they aren’t literal depictions of scenes. Kidd takes an impressionistic approach, echoing the brooding atmosphere of the boy’s imprisonment and escape from the labyrinth. The illustrations overlap and compound, sometimes grainy, often magnified, always too close for comfort—insect-patterned paper and an origami bird, a leering moon and a sugary doughnut, obscured faces and staring eyes. The effect is disorienting, hypnotic and—dare I say?—dreamlike. You don’t read this book so much as you feel it.

In terms of the afterlife of the story, of its ability to linger over your mind and stay with you, this is quite potent. I read this last night and it has played on my mind ever since because it leaves you with questions. Again, like the writing of Kafka, nothing is particularly clear. It challenges you to imagine and fill in the gaps: it makes you wonder what the situation actually is beyond the surface of the writing. There are several references to birds, but I haven't read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, so I don't know how tenuous that is. And ever since I was little my mother had told me, if you don't know something, go to the library and look it up.

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Why did something like this have to happen to me? All I did was go to the library to borrow some books.’ A mesmerising and inventive tale reminiscent of Kafka, from the master of the idiosyncratic, the sinister and the nonsensical. Absolutely dream-like and extraordinary! 👏 Moriko lead me out of the laboratory and the doctors both gave me a bow. I returned a bow to them making sure it was as least as low as theirs. I remember that from something I have read. At the reception Moriko handed my some gift vouchers for Kinokuniya and thanked me again. She then called the elevator for me and wished me goodbye. Murakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上 春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka...

The doors opened directly into a reception area. It was beige and there was no signage. I was paranoid that I had the wrong place. But then the woman at the reception looked up and I knew that I was in the correct place. It is hard to tell what the moral of this strange tale is. It could be that: "Curiousity and the thirst for knowledge can land you in some difficult places". However, I had a feeling the book made a strong point of not giving in to submission when confronted with strangers. Unfortunately they do not speak English, so I will act as an interpreter through the procedure" said Moriko with a smile. "If you would follow me please."

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At the end of the fanciful journey that takes the young narrator from his holding cell in the library to the open air outside of it, he ruminates on his experience: “Did the [the mysterious girl and the Sheep Man] really exist? How much of what I remember really happened? To be honest, I can’t be certain.” The man on the left bowed first and then the one on the right bowed a little deeper. This earned a reproachful look from the other. Murakami’s plot might seem a gross-out, but the story is amusing enough for 10-to-13-year-olds and sufficiently resonant to appeal to adults with an affinity for fantasy. (...) Murakami does lapse into bouts of over-playfulness, but whether he is writing for adults or children, he remains a suspenseful and fantastical storyteller." - Joseph Peschel, The Washington Post

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