I just recently finished the book After Dark by Haruki Murakami. His work is very postmodern and surreal. After Dark, for example, follows around various people between the hours of 11 PM and 7 AM and shows how their lives are all connected in some way. I've been a fan of Murakami for a while now, the first book I read by him was The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, which I found to be quite entertaining and enchanting. Murakami also leaves plenty of room for mystery throughout his books and oftentimes, the answers to these puzzles are not given by the end of the book - leaving plenty of afterthought for the reader.
I am currently reading a book of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, whose work I've always admired. Lovecraft writes in a genre described a "weird fiction" in which he blends elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy to create unique worlds with casts of strange, recurring characters and odd happenings. Lovecraft is credited as being a key inspiration to Stephen King, whose works reflect many Lovecraftian themes. His story "The Outsider" is an excellent introduction to his writing. He displays masterful use of the English language and paints vivid pictures of settings and characters. "The Outsider" has a brilliant yet simple twist ending, as most good short stories should.
After I finish the book of short stories, I plan on starting Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. I generally enjoy Pynchon's work and am looking forward to reading this.
- McConnell
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
nice evaluations sir
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot about The Crying of Lot 49.... very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI tried reading Murakami once. Felt like a crappy fantasy novel. I stopped reading really quickly, and then I found out he's really well-known. So I wondered, and a year or so later read a book of short stories by him. They were good! I don't think he should be nearly as famous, but I do think he is talented.
ReplyDeleteAhem, Dr. Berger, could you give me a definition of postmodern? I have heard numerous ones but it's still murky to me.
ReplyDelete