[Haruki Murakami]

Really?Well,I was kinda affraid of that,cos of the searching-for-the-lost-mother-and- sister-thing where he uhm ''likes'' random women,and then thinks ''oh could that be my sister?I better stop being pervy''.

 

Ah that Haruki

[Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist]

It's a book that some people will love, and others will hate.

 

So true.And it's actually true for Coelho's work in general.

 

I'm one of those who love the book,and it's for most of the reasons the author of the thread/review stated as negative.

I love the simplicity of it,I don't think the more complicated the message is,the better - on the contrary (in this case). In my opinion,Coelho left out all the unnecessary details (yes,I'm not saying description is bad or unnecessary,nor are details such as names,age etc,I mean,were it not important,what the hell would Proust do ) - unnecessary for him to get the message out.Also,for some strange reason,I enjoyed not knowing what year it was set in,it seemed to make the point timeless.

Like most of his books,it was very picturesque to me.I could picture everything,and it was vivid enough.

Yes the characters too are very,umm,how shall I put it,very 1D instead of 3D lol,simple if anything,but once again,I didn't mind.

 

All of the things I've mentioned are things I would probably appreciate in other writers books (details,deep and complex characters etc),but in PC's case,I enjoy the opposite.

The alchemist has all the characteristics of a typical PC novel (all the above^^ plus some more),but what I'd also like to point out - it's also one of his earliest works.So,he got even better with time

[Paulo Coelho - The Winner Stands Alone]

This is one of the books forming a huge pile on my desk,waiting to be read.And being a Paulo fan of course I'm looking forward to it,but I have to say I wasn't very amused with the subject he wrote about here,and reading the previous comment,well,that just scares me even more :/ But I'm still hoping Paulo will surprise me as always

[Haruki Murakami]

^^Actually,I agree with everything you've said here.

 

I think it's semi-autobiographic,about his college days (if I remember correctly),so yeah,how can you leave out the sex xD But I think it just seemed too annoying to me,constantly reading something happening-SS-something else happening-SS...They seemed boring compared to the other things he wrote about,so it didn't seem to fit in for me.But that's just me

 

Kafka seems much better than NW,so I guess I'm gonna like it

[Yann Martel - Life of Pi]

Oh how I love this book.I have to admit it did take me a while to get through the boat part of the book,but I got me thinking sooo many times.About life,and will,and hope,and religion and faith...God.My favourite part though is the one where learns about the Church,Christ,the ''pedestrian God'' part it's so simple,and human like and so honest it made me laugh and want to cry at the same time.

And the ending,I think I've read it 2 times just to see whether I got it right.It is a fantastic ending,isn't it.And painful,which ever version you choose to believe.

[Brida by Paulo Coelho]

Glad to see other people enjoying Paulo's work

 

And I'm also glad because you've mentioned it being well written,because most people who diss him say how his style of writing is very simple,and make it sound like a bad thing.Well,we all have different tastes

 

What I also liked about Brida was how,like most of Paulo's books,it's a bit like a fairytale,but still realistic.Realistic characters wanting to live in a specific,almost fairy tale-like world.Ok,I'm getting too emotional here,lol,so I'll stop now

[Haruki Murakami]

I'm currently reading Kafka on the shore,and so far I like it.Very much.I think it'll turn out to be a great book,but I'll just wait until I've finished it before I make that statement official

 

As far as Norwegian wood goes,I've read it some time ago,and I remember I didn't have a very good feeling about it before reading it, because Murakami just seemed to be so..Dunno.In I guess.Overblown or sth.But when I read it,it changed my opinion a bit,because the book was well written (of course,keep in mind I've read a translated version,not the original,so this statement is a bit silly,but you know what I mean),easy to read,and it seemed honest.What annoyed me was the sex scenes,they seemed unnecessary most of the time.But I've noticed the sex motif in his other books so...Guess he's just a teeny guy in an grown man's body Anyway,it seems to me that Norwegian wood is not one of his best books,but seems to be one of the most popular for whatever reason.