A review by danjit
First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami

2.0

I typically love Murakami's work, but I encountered some challenges with this particular collection. While there were a few standout stories such as "Cream," "Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova," "With the Beatles," and "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey" that seamlessly blended his signature elements of surrealism, absurdity, themes of loneliness and isolation, and his beloved musical references. I, unfortunately, found most of the other stories to be very laborious, especially "The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection" and "Carnaval". The frequent use of the word "ugly" in Carnaval felt excessive and somewhat distracting, detracting from my overall enjoyment of the narrative.