First Person Singular — Book Review
A short book review of “First Person Singular” by Haruki Murakami.
This book is for the Murakami fans. Unlike his other novels or short story collections, this one is a bit softer and lacks the intensity which we usually expect from a Murakami book. All the 8 short stories are softly narrated touching the themes of nostalgia and longing. Murakami has continued with his signature style of centering his plots around music — jazz, classic and ofcourse the pop sensation Beatles.
“Cream” and ‘On A Stone Pillow” are stories of nostalgia, lost love and closeness with certain people. Narrated with a tinge of magical realism, these stories are a tad bit plain and I didn’t quite like them.
The next two stories — “Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova” and “With The Beatles” are thoroughly enjoyable. It’s always a treat when Murakami creates a musical aura where he’s the conductor and he takes the audience on a journey of his beautifully crafted stories. The girl carrying a vinyl record of The Beatles and how the protagonist recalls her after many years. A music album which didn’t exist once but magically appears in a record store in NY. Fascinating to say the least.
No Murakami story is complete unless we don’t hear animals talking, and in “Confessions Of A Shinagawa Monkey” reader is treated to a delight as we hear a monkey who, inorder to satisfy his love for human women, steals the names of the women he falls in love with. The ending of this story is remarkable.
The final three stories are also good, not really enjoyable but something for the Murakami fans to cherish. His magical style and extraordinary storytelling is evident in this book too.
