Tag: Vintage International

Books

Book 263: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami

Geoff W

Murakami, Haruki - What I Talk About When I Talk About RunningIt’s funny how quickly things change. Back in May and June of last year I spent a good amount of time complaining about running and if you asked me then, if I’d ever read a memoir about running I would’ve looked at you like your face just fell off. Needless to say, I’m still not enamored with running, but I can say I’m incredibly glad I read it and it’s made me think differently how I will approach the future (both running and normal).

I stumbled across this book randomly and once I got it from my local library I read it in less than two days. I requested it because Murakami’s fiction writing is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever read and I wanted to know how it translated to nonfiction. Not only did it translate amazingly, but this was the exact book I needed to read at the moment. I’ve been struggling to make it to CrossFit and to keep up my training/running.

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2013 Challenges, Books, The Classics Club

Book 197: Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories – Truman Capote

Geoff W

Capote, Truman - Breakfast at Tiffany'sYay for another book that counts for multiple challenges (Mount TBR, Back to the Classics and The Classics Club)! (It’s a doozy, sorry for the length!)

Ever since I read In Cold Blood and Other Voices, Other Rooms, I’ve wanted to read more Capote, but I haven’t. Throw in the fact that Breakfast at Tiffany’s has such an iconic place in popular culture, I had to read it at some point. Now I just need to see the film.

I didn’t realize this when I bought this copy, but it contained the novella, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and three short stories: House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, and A Christmas Memory. So for my response I’ve just written a paragraph about each under a subtitle and you can see the opening/closing lines of each at the end of the post and my recommendation is for this collection as a whole.

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2012 Challenges, Books, Quotes

Book 140: Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami

Geoff W

You’ll have to excuse the language, but this book was a mind f*ck. Now, don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean it was bad, it is actually one of the best written books I’ve read this year, but my brain hurts trying to process the novel.

A friend in the UK recommended this book to me and I only just now got around to reading it and thus it counts for my Mount TBR Challenge (22 of 25).

I did a brief cursory search to see if I should save this novel for the Literary Others event in September and I should have with the amazing character Oshima, but I’m glad I didn’t. At one point he says this and it boggled my mind at how awesome he is. I mean there were a lot more awesome things, especially as to the reveal which happens pretty late in the book, but still definitely a great character. Click here to continue reading.