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robtwinem

runner

I live in Bristol UK literary fiction and crime are my books of choice and when not reading I like to run

Beautiful lyrical writing

South of the Border, West of the Sun - Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami

Hajime is a self made man. He owns two piano jazz bars has an adoring wife and two wonderful children. But Hajime has a problem he cannot get the image of his close childhood friend Shimamoto from his mind. One day many years later a beautiful elegant lady sits drinking in one of his bars. As he closely scrutinizes this lone customer he suddenly realizes that this is none other than Shimamoto. From that moment on Hajime is totally besotted with her and realizes even though he is happily married, Shimamoto is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with...So what happens when you have it all and temptation not only arrives but welcomes you openly with warm and loving arms.....

 

Haruki Murakami in his addictive writing style shows a deep understanding of the human condition, the relationships that we form and the allurements that entice us. He shows a world that is deceptively simple and introduces characters that are always slightly flawed (but surely we are all flawed) . It is therefore very easy for the reader to associate with the players in this wonderfully readable novel...."We were the two of us, still fragmentary beings, just beginning to sense the presence of an unexpected, to- be- acquired reality that would fill us and make us whole"......"Because everyone's seeking the same thing: an imaginary place, their own castle in the air, and their very own special corner of it."....."Things that have form will disappear. But certain feelings stay with us forever."...."Sometimes when I look at you I feel I'm gazing at a distant star"......"The special something I'd found ages ago in that melody was no longer there. It was still a beautiful tune, but nothing more. And I had no intention of lingering over the corpse of a beautiful song.".......

 

Beautiful lyrical writing and highly recommended.