Tag: Haruki Murakami

[Book Review] South of the Border, West of the Sun – Haruki Murakami

South of the Border, West of the Sun

South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read some Murakami’s book and I love them all. Especially for this book, it’s my personal favorite by far. Maybe because it appears to be such a personal story for me.

I’m a single child myself. Somehow I could totally relate with the description that Murakami wrote here, about the thoughts and feelings that a single child would have. I could feel the love, the confusion, the pain. I can understand the thought, the feeling and all the bothering questions. The feeling left behind after I finished reading this book was just similar with the feeling I had after watching Falsettos. There’s a void, a sadness that eats me up from inside, the weird satisfaction after having such spiritual event, and the feeling that lingers after experiencing a state of the art.

The story itself is actually very simple. But somehow it resonated so much to myself. I think because it’s so simple it feels right and real. It has all Murakami’s formula. So if you’re already used to how he describes everything in a beautiful detail, this book won’t bore you.

I’ll throw some of my fav quotes from this book. Either because it’s beautifully written or have some personal impact to my personal thoughts.

“…..the sad truth is that certain types of things can’t go backward. Once they start going forward, no matter what you do, they can’t go back the way they were. If even one little thing goes awry, then that’s how it will stay forever.”

Bitter truth, but still, we need a reminder of it

“some feelings cause us pain because they remain.”

Another bitter truth that needs to be reminded of.

“For a while” is a phrase whose length can’t be measured. At least by the person who’s waiting…and “Probably” is a word whose weight is incalculable”

For someone whom left hanging, these 2 words really resonates the struggle of Hajime

“I always feel as if I’m struggling to become someone else. As if I’m trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life, a new personality. I suppose it’s part of growing up, yet it’s also an attempt to re-invent myself. By becoming a different me, I could free myself of everything. I seriously believed I could escape myself – as long as I made the effort. But I always hit a dead end. No matter where I go, I still end up me. What’s missing never changes. The scenery may change, but I’m still the same old incomplete person. The same missing elements torture me with a hunger that I can never satisfy. I think that lack itself is as close as I’ll come to defining myself.”

This quote really strikes right through my heart. I felt like Hajime is the exactly the same type of single child like me.

I was no longer alone, yet at the same time I felt a deep loneliness I’d never known before

Again. Somewhat relate.

“Being stuck in the same environment, you grow dull and lethargic. Your energy level takes a nosedive. Even castles in the sky can do with a fresh coat of paint.”

I love this quote so much. It’s a beautiful metaphor for a reminder to us to keep polishing our dream, even when we already live it up.

The page turner escapes

Books are my bestfriends. I go “meeting” them every time I have an issue in my life. When I’m tired, stressed, or sad. When I need to relax and take some breaks. In short way, it’s my escape routes. My short getaway. Books help me to move my mind entirely to another life. To put myself in some characters’ shoes or to imagine merging into some historical events. Books are like a rest area in my daily life. Places where we can finally pull the hand break, take a deep breath and have a short walks enjoying the views.

I like a lot of books though I don’t read every kind of books. I mostly read novel, historical fiction, historical events, travel/journey stories and sometimes some autobiographies or books written by famous public figure.

Talking about novels, I read some of the pop culture novels such as Harry Potter, Hunger Games, LOTR & The Hobbit, GOT (haven’t finished the entire series) and Robert Langdon’s series. I also have a thing with dystopian novels. Some of my fav authors, the one whose books I ran into when I just need a short get away, are Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Andrea Hirata, J.K Rowling (also her being Robert Galbraith), Dan Brown, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Haruki Murakami and John Green. Their books rarely disappoint me because I just surrender myself and emerge to their fantasy. Most of their books are the real “rest area” that I mentioned above.

I also read some historical stuff. Fiction or non-fiction. The latest historical fiction I love is The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I got emotionally attached with the main character. My standard of a gentleman is changing way much after knowing Count Rostov. You can read my review of the book in this blog here. Meanwhile, historical events book that I recently love is The Choice by Edith Eger. This book is full of emotions and feelings that lets you swept away in it. It combines 2 of my fav things, history and psychology. Not only Edith told us about what happened during her being a prisoner war, but also how she struggle to thrive and heal from the her trauma. It gave me chills and inspired me at the same time.

I rarely read non-fiction books. Non-fiction books I read mostly is the one written by some public figures or their autobiography. I fell in love with Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, after reading his book Ride of a Lifetime. It taught me well that being success means being persistent and have faith. You don’t need to be that genius such as Mark, Steve, Elon, Bill or Jack. You may start your career from below. From an employee of a company. As long as you have faith on yourself, there’s always a way for success.

That’s what I like about books. Not only it feeds my imagination, but it’s also strengthened me. It opens my mind and gives me a different perspective. The more different perspectives and an open mind I have, the more calm, wise and humble I become. Some books like Buddha by Karen Armstrong and Filosofi Teras by Henry Manampiring really taught me how to sweep away my negative feelings, so I can think more clearly to face this busy and fast pace world. Exactly the strength I need.