The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday's Women: Entretenido, linda prosa. (3/5)

The Second Bakery Attack: Me gustó mucho. Atrapante desde el comienzo y con una trama divertida. (3.5/5)

The Kangaroo Communiqué: Relato ligero, sin nada de especial. (2.5/5)

On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning: Hermoso cuento. Muy corto pero inolvidable. Una pequeña joya. Es el mejor del libro, sin dudas. (4.5/5)

Sleep: Buena historia. Final raro. (3/5)

The Fall of the Roman Empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of Raging Winds: Mmm, pointless. Un desperdicio de tiempo. (1.5/5)

Lederhosen: Algo cómico, con un ritmo rápido y ameno. (3/5)

Barn Burning: Es de los que más me gustaron. Muy buen relato. Genial conclusión. (3.5/5)

The Little Green Monster: No me gustó. (2/5)

Family Affair: Otro buen cuento. Para pasar el rato; no le encontré nada de extraordinario. (3/5)

A Window: (2/5)

TV People: Este trabajito me hizo acordar a la Little People, de 1Q84. Ameno, confuso, raro. (3.5/5)

A Slow Boat to China: De mis preferidos de la antología. Gran pequeña obra. Excelente final. (4/5)

The Dancing Dwarf: Muy bueno. Cuento que tiene algo de terror y un toque del mito fáustico. (3.5/5)

The Last Lawn of the Afternoon: ??????? (1.5/5)

The Silence: Me gustó mucho. Me atrapó desde la primera oración. (4/5)

The Elephant Vanishes: El relato que le da el título al libro. Está bueno, pero esperaba un poco más del cierre. (3/5)

Не съм точно разочарован, но и не очаквах тези разкази на Мураками да са остарели толкова безвъзвратно.

Допаднаха ми само "Птица с пружина и жените във вторник" и "Мълчанието", въпреки че не харесах въобще книгата, в която се е превърнал първия разказ.

От останалите мога да отлича като интересни само няколко фрагмента, което по стандартите които имам за творчеството на Мураками е крайно недостатъчно.

Много повторения в сюжетите и доста дразнещи пукнатини/пропасти в завършека им развалят удоволствието от прочита, фантастичните елементи втъкани в част от текстовете също не ми се понравиха особено.

Закъсняло е издаването им на български, а и се чудя, доколко е добре да бъде превеждан през английски автора.

P.S. По един от разказите е направен чудесен корейски филм - "Burning".

3,75/5

Normalmente no suelo tener muchos problemas a la hora de puntuar una colección de relatos, pero está en particular fue... Rara (y estamos hablando de Murakami, así que ya os imagináis cómo de raro).
Ha habido relatos que han sido magistrales (El primero, el tercero y el último sobre todo), otros sencillamente buenos (el penúltimo y el segundo) y otros un pelín mediocres/demasiado extraños para ser clasificados (el de los chinos no tenía demasiado propósito, y el de los hombres de la tele y el del enanito saltarín eran DEMASIADO rarunos).
Muy Murakami todo. Un poco de sueño y otro poco de pesadilla. Mucho realismo mágico (del bueno). Mucha sugestión. Y una prosa y unos diálogos inmejorables.

Haruki Murakami’nin 1980-1991 yılları arasında yazdığı, ilk öyküleri olarak tanımlanabilecek 17 öyküsünden oluşuyor Ortadan Kaybolan Fil. Pişmiş Murakami'den ziyade ben bu yazarlık serüvenin başındaki Murakami öykülerini daha çok sevdim itiraf etmem gerekirse. 17 öykünün içinde benim favorim Lederhosen oldu. Büyük olaylar olmadan, kendine has garip gerginliklerle süslü öyküler, Murakami dünyasının klasikleşmiş hayranlarını tatmin edecektir diye düşünüyorum. İlk kez Murakami okuyacak olanlara ise naçizane tavsiyem yazarla tanışmaya bu kitap ile başlamamaları yönünde olacak. :)

Ek olarak çok ses getiren Burning filmine ilham olmuş Ambar Yakmak öyküsü de bu kitapta yer alıyor.

“

قزم راقص ، ومصنع لتصنيع الأفيال
لقد اشتقت لهذا المخيخ يا موراكامى

n  n

Murakami'nin daha önce yayınladığı 'Uyku,Fırın Saldırısı,Zemberekkuşu'nun Güncesi' kitaplarının başlangıç kısımlarının öykülerinin de içinde yer aldığı bir kitap Ortadan Kaybolan Fil.

Murakami'nin en sevdiği detaylar olan; çiftlerin boşanması veya birinin kaybolması,kediler vs gibi temalar bolca kitapta yer alıyor elbette.

Murakami'de sevdiğim aynı zamanda da zaman zaman nefret ettiğim tek bir şey var o da yazı üslubunu hiç değiştirmemesi ki bu bazen çok tanıdık bir arkadaşla sohbet etmenin verdiği hazzı veriyor kitabı okurken ama aynı zamanda sevdiğiniz bir yemeği art arda yerken ondan bıkıyorsunuz da bu iki detay bence çok tehlikeli bir yazar için.

Sonuç olarak 3.5'luk bir kitap ve okurken sizi asla zorlamıyor,üzmüyor ama hep bilindik olması can sıkıyor.

The Disappearing Elephant is a book that includes the stories of the beginning parts of Murakami's previously published books 'Sleep, Attack of the Furnace, The Diary of the Zemberekkbird'.

Of course, Murakami's favorite details such as the divorce of couples or the disappearance of someone, cats, etc. are included in the book in abundance.

There is one thing I love and at the same time hate about Murakami at the same time, and that is that he never changes his writing style, which sometimes gives the pleasure of chatting with a very familiar friend while reading the book, but at the same time, you get tired of a favorite dish while eating it one after another, and these two details are very dangerous for a writer.

This one was a mixed bag. Some of the stories were absolutely brilliant and others missed the mark.

Only one more short story collection and two more novels then I've read everything of Murakami's that's been published in English. What a journey it's been.

3,5

Ех този Нобору Уатанабе и всички негови превъплъщения ...! :)

Мураками атмосфера. Хем каканиже някакви тривиални неща, а успява да ти задържи вниманието върху историята. Създава странен уют. Хапване, пийване, среща, диалог, музика, проследява времето (този подход много ми напомня на Тарковски, който във филмите си винаги включва природата) и току нещо или някой изчезва..., смалява се, сънува наяве ... Фино свързва реалността с мистерията.

Всеки разказ приличаше на глава от различни книги, а The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women си беше чиста прелюдия за "Хроника на птицата с пружина". Повечето от разказите свършваха в нищото и ако в новелите му не се усеща толкова, в разказите това леко ме подразни. Иде ти да възкликнеш: "е, к`во сега?", "ъ!", "ега си!", "пръц!" - ей такива работи. Разбира се в разказите голяма част от нещата Мураками само намеква или достатъчно добре обвива с нещо необяснимо и фантастично.

Психология, социология, философия.

The Silence

People like Aoki don’t scare me. They’re all over the place, but I don’t trouble myself with them anymore.
...
No, what really scares me is how easily, how uncritically, people will believe the crap that slime like Aoki deal out. How these Aoki types produce nothing themselves, don’t have an idea in the world, and talk so nice, how this slime can sway gullible types to any opinion and get them to perform on cue, as a group. And this group never entertains even a sliver of doubt that they could be wrong. They think nothing of hurting someone, senselessly, permanently. They don’t take any responsibility for their actions. Them. They’re the real monsters. They’re the ones I have nightmares about. In those dreams, there’s only the silence. And these faceless people. Their silence seeps into everything like ice water. And then it all goes murky. And I’m dissolving and I’m screaming, but no one hears.
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The Elephant Vanishes

What good would it do to talk to people like that, who would not even consider the possibility that the elephant had simply vanished?
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Barn Burning

Интересно описание на класически сериен убиец.
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ПП. Муракамито си е супер, въпреки че ако си му чел поне една книга в следващите ще има моменти на доскучаване.

"Muka suami saya pelik, kenapa?Saya pun tak tau kenapa muka dia pelik" - Sleep, Murakami-sensei.

Selepas menonton filem Burning (2018) arahan Lee Chang-Dong lakonan Steven Yeun yang best giler. Dan selepas dapat tahu yang filem tersebut adalah adaptasi dari certot Murakami-sensei. Aku pun bacalah koleksi cerpen tersebut yang bertajuk "Gajah Itu Lesap" yang turut termuat certot "Membakar" di dalamnya yang best giler.

Aku selalu dengar nama japonais ni disebut2 tapi aku tak pernah teringin pun nak baca novel dia sebab aku tak boleh baca jepun dan tak minat novel inggeris, terlalu banyak novel2 melayu hebat yang kita ada kenapa perlu baca novel luar? (acah2 patriotik,padahal kat rak buku A. Samad Said pun ada je novel omputih).

So, orang kata Murakami-sensei ni terkenal dengan cerita2 absurd & surreal. Bila aku tengok kamus, absurd=mengarut, surreal=pelik. Pakar novel karut & pelik? Jadi novel2 Ridhwan Saidi & Lokman Hakim pun sama? Patut aku tak boleh faham (padahal baru baca Brazil & Jepun je, ok aku baca cekik dan Chaos nanti insyaallah)

Senang cerita, memang cerita2 dia best, kelakar, mengarut dan pelik. Memang kejepunan (kalau ko suka layan manga & anime ko akan faham). Aku suka bila Murakami ni suka timbulkan satu perkara tanpa sebab yang kukuh, kau boleh perasan di setiap cerpen. Contohnya:

1) Muka suami aku pelik, tak tau kenapa, just rasa pelik.
2) Aku tak boleh tidur, tak tau kenapa, sampai ke habis takde punca.
3) Aku tak suka budak ni, tengok muka rasa nak tumbuk. Sebab? Takde, aku just tak suka. Perlukan sebab ke.
4) Aku nak berpisah dengan suami aku. Sebab? Lederhosen. Kenapa? Aku pun tak tau kenapa./

Buat kau terfikir, perkara ni berlaku di dunia realiti. Tak semua perkara perlukan punca dan sebab, tak semua misteri perlu diselesaikan. Ye Murakami, kau memang pelik. Sebab? Novel kau.

3.8

The wind-up bird and Tuesday's women: ****
The second bakery attack: *****
The kangaroo communique: ***
On seeing the 100% perfect girl one April morning: *****
Sleep: *****
The fall of the roman empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's invasion of Poland, and the realm of raging winds: **
Lederhosen: ***
Barn burning: ****
The little green monster: ****
Family affair: ***
A window: ***
TV people: *****
A slow boat to China: ****
The dancing dwarf: ****
The last lawn of the afternoon: ***
Silence: ***
The elephant vanishes: ****

The Elephant Vanishes and so did my brain cells with this collection by Haruki Murakami. The more I read the guy, the more I come to understand what his stories are all about. The main theme of his work is how different people deal with certain situations, like marriage and their place in it, changes in the world, dysfunctional human relationships etc. Thing is, you have to train your brain to interpret his symbolisms. See, with Murakami, it's all about symbolisms.

Some of the stories in this book are perfect (Sleep and TV People had me screaming, for instance). Others are just good. None of them is bad. All of them left me wondering if there's ever gonna be a time when I won't praise Murakami. : /