Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami (1979)

I was very glad to be given a review copy of the republication in translations of the first two novels Huraki   Murakami (1949).  I had previously read and posted on Pinball, 1973 but not his very first novel, Hear the Wind Sing.  Along with The Wild Sheep Chase, 1983, they make up The Rat Trilogy.  I believe I have now read and posted on all of the longer fiction of Murakami, plus a few of his short stories.   In the long ago, he was my first Japanese novelist.  

Murakami in his new preface does not hold these two works in high esteem.  I think readers of his oevere will be happy, as I was, to have access to both these works in translation.

The central character in Hear the Wind Sing is s young man on summer break from college.  He hangs out with his friend Rat.  A lot of the brief work is taken up with his memories of the three women he has slept with.  During the course of the work he begins an ill advised romance with a fourth woman. The work is erotically charged and fun to read.  

In a perfect reading life world, I would suggest those new to Murakami start with these two works and read all his novels in publication order.  

Mel u