Reviews - 1973-iųjų kiniškas biliardas

434 reviews for:

1973-iųjų kiniškas biliardas

Haruki Murakami

3.35 AVERAGE

lynnie05's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

theadequategatsby's review against another edition

5.0

I read the translation by Ted Goossen. Enjoyed both this and Hear the Wind Sing.

dragonlilly's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

I think Pinball is just as good, if not better, than Hear the Wind Sing. Both stories have a strangely magical atmosphere to them, making them oddly beautiful, even through the sadder and more solemn moments. I loved the twins in this story, as I thought they were fun and had an oxymoronic sense of naive cleverness that allowed for interesting scenes. After reading the first book, it was easy to guess their ending, and I felt it was very appropriate. The structure of this book was great and improved a bit from the first one. While the narrator seems to encounter ups and downs, eventually obtaining a bit of clarity and peace, the Rat seems to make an unfortunate descent into his thoughts. I enjoyed all the little connections throughout the story, and all the unnamed characters. It feels obvious to me that the Spaceship pinball machine eventually becomes a symbol for Naoko, and through his furious search and eventual final meeting with the machine, he is able to meet with his girlfriend again which was quite lovely, and while he might not be fully healed, the story illustrates with a separate scene that he has obtained a much greater sense of clarity. The timeline also supports this. I also have to praise the author for somehow making the final meeting with the pinball machine subtlety sensual. I thought it was both funny and weirdly sweet as that was an important aspect of the narrator's relationship with Naoko, who also gets the only real name.