Reviews

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami

coreys_catalog's review

dark funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Some of the stories were great, but some of them didn’t really do anything for me.

I think that the “must-reads” would be Barn Burning, Sleep, and The Second Bakery Attack.

blemishedhearth's review

reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

kimgutt82's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

ifollowedthatrabbit's review against another edition

3.0

This book contains 17 short stories. The first one is called "The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday's Women", which is a bit different from the fisrt chapter of the book "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", which I read years ago and really liked. Sadly, I can't say the same about the next stories. I didn't like them. I never thought I wouldn't like a story by Murakami, but here I am. Then, I started to enjoy the story called "Sleep", but I felt kind of disappointed by the ending.
Nevertheless, I really liked "A Slow Boat To China", "The Dancing Dwarf", and "The Elephant Vanishes".

corneliabull's review against another edition

koste meg veldig! Likte selvfølgelig noen fortellinger bedre enn andre, men alt i alt veldig fornøyd:) elsker også bøker med short stories<3

jenny_hedberg's review against another edition

4.0

Ten things I have learnt from this book:
1. Don't trust dancing dwarves, they're probably plotting to possess your body.
2. Hold on to those close to you if you ever meet a person who burns barns.
3. Not robbing bakeries when you were young can become a problem later in life.
4. Noboru Watanabe is everywhere.
5. Never ask your wife to buy you lederhosen, unless you don't like her.
6. Be cautious when there's something missing in your life; weird things may happen.
7. Murakami's Japanese men seem to have severe problems with self-confidence.
8. Silence is a terrible thing.
9. Don't bring up your Sherlockian obsessions when flirting - it will become really awkward.
10. Finally, people are prepared to do horrible things to feel superior, especially when they are afraid.

dilaraguney's review

emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

em8297's review

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

suvata's review against another edition

5.0

I was on a mission to read read all of Haruki Murakami’s works. This is the last one I had to read to fulfill my commitment. I connect to his writing in a profound way. I can’t wait for him to publish another novel but, alas, I am forced to.

alan_santos's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75