I wanted to make a list about which books I want to read. Later it turned into quite a series. Because— there are not just one or two, but countless books to read on the wishlist. So today I am doing the third list of this series.
In today’s post I will talk about a total of five books by three different authors. Here are three books by Haruki Murakami. Elif Shafak and Mary Shelley also have one book each on the list. I will collect and read each book soon, and later I will review these too.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
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| A cover of the book “Norwegian Wood”. |
Norwegian Wood (Original title: Noruwei no Mori) is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The novel is a nostalgic story of loss. It is told from the first-person perspective of Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo. Through Watanabe’s reminiscences, readers see him develop relationships with two very different women—the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.
Title: The original Japanese title, Noruwei no Mori, is the standard Japanese translation of the title of the Beatles song “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”. This song is often described in the novel, and is the favorite song of the character Naoko. Mori in the Japanese title translates into English as “wood” in the sense of “forest”, not the material “wood”, even though the song lyrics refer to the latter. Forest settings and imagery are significant in the novel.
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
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| A cover of the book “South of the Border, West of the Sun”. |
South of the Border, West of the Sun (Original title: Kokkyō no Minami, Taiyō no Nishi) is a short novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, first published in 1992.
Plot: The novel tells the story of Hajime, from his childhood in a small town in Japan to his adult years in Tokyo. He meets Shimamoto, a girl with polio and a fellow only child. They spend their time together talking about their interests in life and listening to records on Shimamoto's stereo. They are separated in their high school years, and grow apart.
They are reunited in their thirty-sixth year. Hajime is now the father of two children and owner of two successful jazz bars. Shimamoto gives no details of her own life and appears only at random intervals, haunting him as a constant “what-if”. Meeting Shimamoto again sets off a chain of events that forces Hajime to choose between his young family and the magic of the past.
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
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| A cover of the book “Kafka on the Shore”. |
Kafka on the Shore (Original title: Umibe no Kafuka) is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Its 2005 English translation was among “The 10 Best Books of 2005” from The New York Times and received the World Fantasy Award for 2006. The book tells the stories of the young Kafka Tamura, a bookish 15-year-old boy who runs away from his Oedipal curse, and Satoru Nakata, an old, disabled man with the uncanny ability to talk to cats. The book incorporates themes of music as a communicative conduit, metaphysics, dreams, fate and the subconscious.
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
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| A cover of the book “The Forty Rules of Love”. |
The Forty Rules of Love is a novel written by the Turkish author Elif Shafak. Her interest in writing this book was influenced by the degree she received in Gender and Women’s Studies. The book was published in March 2009. It is about Maulana Jalal-Ud-Din, known as Rumi and his companion Shams Tabrizi. This book explains how Shams transformed a scholar into a Sufi through love.
Plot: Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams’s search for Rumi and the dervish’s role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams’s lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mirrors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
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| A cover of the book “Frankenstein”. |
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.
Frankenstein is one of the most well-known works of English literature. Infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, it has had a considerable influence on literature and on popular culture, spawning a complete genre of horror stories, films, and plays. Since the publication of the novel, the name “Frankenstein” has often been used, erroneously, to refer to the monster, rather than to his creator/father.
Also, you can tell me what other books I can read in the comments. I will mention the selected books in the next post.
Information Source: Wikipedia, Goodreads{alertInfo}
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