Reviews

Happy Birthday by Haruki Murakami

chairmanbernanke's review against another edition

3.0

Some entertaining birthday themed stories.

_misanthropologist_'s review against another edition

3.0

I'm not sure whether short stories are simply not my thing or I've had a run of bad luck in picking my reads, but no collection other than Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House seems to do it for me.

I wasn't exactly thrilled reading Birthday Stories. Not that they were particularly bad. They just failed to give me a reason to care. Most of them, at least. There were only two stories I would return to - the first one is Andrea Lee's Birthday Present, thanks to its unique and refreshing perspective. The second one would be Wallace's Forever Overhead, but that's no surprise really, since the man is a bloody genius (and I'm so thankful poor mortals like me who are not worthy of Infinite Jest can at least appreciate the shorter works).

Would I recommend this book? Nah, don't think so.

gimchi's review against another edition

3.0

Murakami's choice in short stories is far more dense and a bit depressing than I typically enjoy. Two stars. The best was the last, a story by Murakami himself, brings it up to 3 stars.

Also, it took me 2 years to read this?!?

nobita_1's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

kaceyymair's review against another edition

I don’t want to really rate this bc all the stories stood out to me at the time I read them or later on during the course of my bday - so here are my reviews from reading it on the plane 

The Moor - russell banks 

Good story - a product of its time which needs to be kept in mind.  Liked the twist to it and it was a very bitter sweet but full short story.

Dundun - Denis Johnson 

Dark - a lot darker than I was expecting.  This gave me similar energy to In Cold Blood, and made me feel quite uncomfortable.

Timothy’s birthday - William Trevor

Quiet and sad birthday story - it made me feel rlly deeply for Timothy’s parents and their situation.

The birthday cake - Daniel Lyons

This is my favourite story from the collection so far - the story arc made a lot of sense and I really got to feel for all of the characters and their individual situations - everything was so concise and tightly packed but carried so much feeling.

Turning - Lynda sexson 

This was such a weird and wonderful story - it sort of felt like what I expected and wanted angela carters short stories in the bloody chamber to be like.

Forever overhead - David foster Wallace 

Liked the more contemplative sections, but the bits on the diving board and the holiday just showed me the bits I don’t like from holidays lol

Angel of mercy, Angel of wrath - Ethan canin

Half of this felt unexplained with me and I can’t tell if it’s because it was the style, whether I’m missing context or whether it just went over my head.  So I wasn’t the biggest fan of this.  Murakami wrote that the reader should compare the birthday cake to this story - I much prefer this one.

The birthday present - Andrea lee 

Oh no, no, no, no.  This made me feel icky and weird and uncomfortable and sort of self conscious.  It felt like it was written purely for men who think women just want to exist for their gaze.  Really didn’t like this.

The bath - Raymond carver 

Um this was just weird and dark and I feel like the baker being so on it about the cake made the story tense and the lack of resolution on the end just made it feel quite eerie.  But like, it was an interesting story to read.

A game of dice - Paul Theroux 

Again this story was just weird and sexual and it sort of just made me think all the men in it were perverts in some capacity - it was just quite uncomfortable 

Close to the waters edge - Claire keegan 

I rlly enjoyed this story - it was a good balance of symbolic and deep but also keeping the characters true to their name and the flow of the events going.

Ride - Lewis Robinson 

This story was just a bit too bland for my liking - and at parts it felt a bit too much like a stream of consciousness

Birthday girl - murakami 

One of my favourites and I’m not surprised.  Especially with it being centred around your twentieth birthday and what you wish for at that point - it felt very relatable.

morvarid's review against another edition

3.0

Some people take their birthdays very seriously, and some also take other people's birthdays so seriously. All these occasions and reactions, plans, etc can tell us a great deal.
The book contains 13 short stories, selected by Murakami from contemporary American writers mostly and the last one he's written himself. An interesting theme for an anthology, birthday stories. I loved "The Moor", "The Birthday Present" and "Birthday Girl".

thesimplelibrary's review against another edition

3.0

A lovely, quick read. My favourites were by far “Forever Overhead” by David Foster Wallace and the final short tale by Murakami himself. The first is a story about a boy and his worries about growing up, written with great precision and a rich prose. The second is a work obviously murakamiesque in its mix of the fantastical and suspense and left me with a lot of questions as usual.

nazlideniz's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

rebeccaloveless's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

3.5

abibabibook's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0