A review by sarahjjs
Birthday Stories by Haruki Murakami

5.0

I'm not sure why people hate on this, it's really good and so diverse. The majority of stories are realistic so it's a good change of pace and gave me the push I needed to pick up D.F.Wallace, even though I'm afraid of him haha. The collection is really short and only takes a couple of hours. I think people don't like it because they are not cheerful celebrations but then most birthdays are a big old disappointment that can lead to too much self reflection and sadness and that was so well captured here. It is worth saying that in general, I hate anthologies and this is the only one I've ever really enjoyed. The Murakami s.s at the end made me want to just re-read some of his novels. I love him so much.