The Friday Face-Off: Current Read #33

                         

 Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe.  You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:

Current Read #33

I haven't done a Friday Face-Off in a while, so I thought it might be a great time to jump back in, and this week I've picked a book I've been very excited about: The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami! This book was finally released in English this week and I have been eagerly anticipating this book for years. I was extremely fortunate to receive an ARC of this one so I've been slowly working my way through it for a while and I'm having the best time being immersed back into Murakami's writing. Because this book was released in Japan in 2023 and has already been translated and released in other languages as well, there are already plenty of editions out there, so let's have a look at some of them!

2024 US | 2023 Japan | 2024 Dutch

2024 Chinese | 2024 UK | 2024 Persian

2023 Korean | 2024 Bengali | 2024 Spanish

2024 German | 2024 Finnish | 2024 Italian

My favorite(s):

These are all such cool covers! I am particularly drawn to the US, Japan, and Chinese editions this time around. The Chinese edition is actually really grabbing me, I'm really liking the style of it. The Korean edition is also really striking. Which cover(s) do you like the most!?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami & The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

    

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, trans. Philip Gabriel
Publication: November 19th, 2024
Knopf
Hardcover. 464 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"'Truth is not found in fixed stillness, but in ceaseless change/movement. Isn't this the quintessential core of what stories are all about?' — Haruki Murakami, from the afterword to The City and Its Uncertain Walls.

The long-awaited new novel from Haruki Murakami, his first in six years, revisits a Town his readers will remember, a place where a Dream Reader reviews dreams and where our shadows become untethered from our selves. A love story, a quest, an ode to books and to the libraries that house them, and a parable for these strange post-pandemic times, The City and Its Uncertain Walls is a singular and towering achievement by one of modern literature’s most important writers."

I am an enormous Haruki Murakami fan and I've been anxious awaiting the English translation of this book to be released for what feels like ages, so I cannot wait to finally read this one! I love Murakami short fiction, but I really love his long form novels and this one sounds excellent. I have this on NetGalley so I'm hoping to get to it soon (though I do love reading his books in physical form more so we'll see how it goes, haha).

The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso
Publication: November 19th, 2024
Orbit
Paperback. 384 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Follow a star investigator and her rival as they journey through layers of reality to save the world as they know it in this whip-smart adventure fantasy about rival guilds, reality-bending magic and unexpected mystery.

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy the party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She's a member of the Guild of Hounds, after all, and she can't help picking up the scent of trouble.

She's not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what's causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they'll need to rely on their wits - and each other - to unravel the secret of the clock and save their city."

I also have loved all of Melissa Caruso's books and I'm excited to check this one out. It seems quiet different from her previous series, so I'm curious to see how she tackles something new. 

Double Mini-Reviews, Murakami Edition: Ft. After Dark & What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

 

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

 Vintage
Publication: April 29th, 2008

Paperback. 244 pages.

About After Dark:

"The midnight hour approaches in an almost empty all-night diner. Mari sips her coffee and glances up from a book as a young man, a musician, intrudes on her solitude. Both have missed the last train home. 

Later, Mari is interrupted again by a girl from the Alphaville Hotel; a Chinese prostitute has been hurt by a client, and she needs Mari's help. 

Meanwhile Mari's beautiful sister Eri sleeps a deep, heavy sleep that is 'to perfect, too pure' to be normal; she has lain asleep for two months. But tonight a the digital clock displays 00:00, a hint of life flickers across the TV screen, though the television's plug has been pulled out. Strange nocturnal happenings, or a trick of the night?"

After Dark is one of the few full length novels from Murakami that I still hadn't read, and I'm sorry I didn't get to it sooner because it's definitely become one of my favorites. This novel takes place over the course of a single night in Tokyo and follows a few rather charmingly eccentric characters, as one might expect from any Murakami novel. 

The story's overarching narrative follows two sisters, Eri and Mari, though we spend most of time exploring from Mari's perspective as she encounters a variety of interesting people and takes part in some different activities over the course of the night. Each and every person mentioned in this book has some sort of connection to one or more characters, some expected and some entirely unexpected, and it is these connections that really allow the narrative to flow and tell of this night in Tokyo. We encounter a variety of stories and experiences shared by individual characters, tidbits from unique lives, pleasant (and unpleasant) conversations, musings on life, and some occasional chapters focusing on Eri's life that take things to a much more abstract and difficult to explain level. I wouldn't necessarily call it magical realism in this book, but there are certainly some odd observations in those chapters that added some incredibly complexity and depth to the overarching narrative. 

After Dark is not a fast-paced story by any means, but it reads incredibly quickly and I found it as engaging to read as many of Murakami's other novels. There is something beautifully simplistic about the translation and writing while also maintaining the ability to convey some incredible philosophical insights and insightful comments. The ending was perfect to me in the sense that it was exactly what I would've expected and wanted from Murakami. It's very much a more open-ended conclusion, so I can see why some people may not like it, but I think it worked and matched the tone perfectly for this story. 

Overall, it was an easy five stars from me for After Dark. 

Amazon | IndieBound

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
Vintage
Publication Date: August 11th, 2009

Paperback. 190 pages.

About What I Talk About When I Talk About Running:

"An intimate look at writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, from the incomparable, bestselling author Haruki Murakami. While simply training for New York City Marathon would be enough for most people, Haruki Murakami's decided to write about it as well. The result is a beautiful memoir about his intertwined obsessions with running and writing, full of vivid memories and insights, including the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in athletic pursuit."

I'd been meaning to pick up this book for a number of years, but for some reason only recently got around to it. This is different from Murakami's other work that I've read largely in the fact that it is a nonfiction piece with some heavy autobiographical notes. This book was written on the premise of Murakami keeping a journal of his thoughts and musings while training for a marathon (which, in case you didn't know–Murakami has completed numerous marathons and other competitions over the course of his life!). However, I would say that this book is so much more than that and truly stood out to me as a piece of writing that I will come back to over and over again in the future. 

You don't have to be a runner or a writer to read this book or take away some truly thoughtful ideas and insightful musings on life from it. For Murakami, running is a part of his writing process, and the idea of training for marathons and working on his running was vital to his ability to stay focused on his writing and meet regular deadlines. Because of this, we get a glimpse into his writing process and what it is that he thinks makes him a successful, steady writer. Murakami is one of the most honest voices I've read, and in doing so he is both humble and confident in his abilities. Everything he says is very much matter-of-fact, neither bragging nor denying accomplishments, and it is this voice that makes him such a compelling and admirable figure. It was affirming in a sense to read about his own struggle and how he has overcome the obstacles that pop into his life with dedication and determination. He has an incredibly frank view of life, and one that is full of wonder and respect, all of which really stood out to me. 

One theme that I didn't expect from this book was that of aging and Murakami's gradual acceptance of growing older and learning how his body and mind change. Many of the things he discusses are topics that I myself have worried about in regards to getting older, despite the fact that I am still in my twenties, and it was reassuring to see that I'm not nearly alone in dealing with these thoughts. His meditations on growing older, and on life in general, were very eye-opening and meaningful from me, and I really can't emphasize enough how much I appreciated and loved every page of this book. Although it is a translation, his writing is smooth, easy to read, and draws in readers easily with plain language and a voice that is friendly and approachable. 

It's another five stars from me for this book--what can I say, Murakami remains one of my favorite writers! What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a book that I still think about since finishing and that I think I will continue to think back on and revisit whenever I need a bit of a palate cleanser for my brain. Murakami is always the perfect reset for my mind!

Amazon | IndieBound

The Friday Face-Off: Movie Tie-In Edition

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe. You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:
 A cover that is a movie tie in

This was a hard one because I don't tend to like most movie tie-in covers, but eventually I stumbled upon the movie tie-in cover for Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood and I didn't hate it, so that was the winner! ;)
Since only one or two covers are the movie tie-in, I tried to pick out other editions that feature people ont he cover as well so they'd be on slightly more even ground while comparing them all.

  

2010 Vintage Movie Tie-In Edition | 2003 Vintage | 2006 Vietnamese

2006 Russian | 2008 Arabic | 2000 Vintage


2005 Czech | 2009 Spanish | 2007 Greek


My choice:

Well look at that, Ms. Indecisive is back! I've given up on trying to pick a single favorite these days (though I do still try, I swear!) because there's usually just far too many that I enjoy. The movie tie-in edition wasn't a favorite at first, but the more I look at it the more I like how it captures the atmosphere somewhat of the book. But... I'm also so in love with the middle Vintage cover edition series, and something about the 2003 Vintage edition also grabs me!

What cover(s) do you like the most!?

The Friday Face-Off: Upside Down

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe. You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:
“Ludo ….. down” – A cover that is Upside Down

One of the first books that came to mind for this week's 'upside down' prompt was The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Unfortunately, there only seems to be one cover edition that actually has the upside down element, but I decided to share a few different cover varieties anyway. And since only one Murakami book has an upside down element, I decided to share a small handful of other random books I thought of that have upside down elements as well at the end.

  

1998 US Vintage | 2001 Danish | 2004 French

  

1997 US Knopf | 2018 Turkish | 2015 US Vintage

2008 Swedish | 2007 Vietnamese | 2005 Greek

My choice:

I will always be partial to the early Murakami Vintage editions and I just love this design. When I first started reading Murakami back in the day, these were still the regular covers available, though now they've republished just about all of them with new covers. I like the new covers, but I'd love to finish up my collection with all the originals that I love (like this one!).

Which covers do you like best?


Bonus upside-down covers!

The Friday Face-Off: Fish

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme here at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe. You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:
‘Two little fishes and a momma fishy too’ – A cover featuring a fish/fishes or other sea creatures

I thought this would be a fun topic, and it was! I didn't remember that Haruki Murakami's After Dark had fish on some of its covers (and frogs!) until I came across while looking for books to use, so I was pleasantly surprised because I knew there'd be many covers to choose from. I picked a few rather different ones to give an idea of how wide-ranging in style some of these are.

  

2002 Alfred A. Knopf Hardcover|| 2003 Paperback Vintage || 2006 Romanian

  

2002 French || 2010 Czech || 2009 Greek

2014 Romanian || 2003 Croatian || 2006 Russian

My choice(s):

I'm torn! I like the Romanian one quite a bit for some reason, the Croatian one's fish looks cute, and the Russian and Greek ones are gorgeous! But...I also like the US Vintage edition as well, so...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Which covers do you like best?

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