A little belated, but sat down and discussed Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase and I battled gamely against two others who thought the paper the book was printed on would have served better as toilet tissue. Points made against it were its tendency to dwell tediously on details of the everyday happenings in the protagonist's life and the author's, shall we say, quirky use of language. Lack of a credible plot was also deemed a big fault. I would have been happy to concede, except I have read much worse that has flowed from pens of Booker Prize winners, and the fact that I still hold that the writing was both deliberate and was (probably still is) an accurate reflection of the rootlessness of the generation he is talking about. As one of the readers said, more of a 'Wild Goose Chase'. If that isn't an accurate description of the lives of the bubble and post-bubble generation of Japan, I don't know what is.
Posted by Joe at December 1, 2003 11:59 PMThose are indeed the marks of this art. You've made up my mind for me, Joe. I'm going to add it to the reading list.
Posted by: DJ at December 2, 2003 06:37 AMOh, how easily they succumb to the unseen salesman!
Posted by: martin at December 3, 2003 12:49 PMAs long as it's not the death of him!
Posted by: Joe at December 3, 2003 01:35 PMMore likely the death of the salesman (after DJ has read the book, that is).
Posted by: martin at December 3, 2003 02:02 PMIt _was_ the Miller-man I was referring to. ;+)
Posted by: Joe at December 3, 2003 02:12 PMGood. As long as we know that the purveyor is the culprit.
Posted by: martin at December 3, 2003 02:16 PMFear not! DJ well knows that in matters of taste, one man's tea is another's toad.
Posted by: DJ at December 3, 2003 07:38 PMWell, have your toad and eat it!
Posted by: martin at December 3, 2003 07:51 PM