The six stories in Haruki Murakami’s mesmerizing collection are set at the time of the catastrophic 1995 Kobe earthquake, when Japan became brutally aware of the fragility of its daily existence. But the upheavals that afflict Murakami’s characters are even deeper and more mysterious, emanating from a place where the human meets the inhuman. An electronics salesman who has been abruptly deserted by his wife agrees to deliver an enigmatic package—and is rewarded with a glimpse of his true nature. A man who has been raised to view himself as the son of God pursues a stranger who may or may not be his human father. A mild-mannered collection agent receives a visit from a giant talking frog who enlists his help in saving Tokyo from destruction. As haunting as dreams, as potent as oracles, the stories in After the Quake are further proof that Murakami is one of the most visionary writers at work today. Amazon.com Review Haruki Murakami, a writer both mystical and hip, is the West’s favorite Japanese novelist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Murakami lived abroad until 1995. That year, two disasters struck Japan: the lethal earthquake in Kobe and the deadly poison gas attacks in the Tokyo subway. Spurred by these tragic events, Murakami returned home. The stories in After the Quake are set in the months that fell between the earthquake and the subway attack, presenting a world marked by despair, hope, and a kind of human instinct for transformation. A teenage girl and a middle-aged man share a hobby of making beach bonfires; a businesswoman travels to Thailand and, quietly, confronts her own death; three friends act out a modern-day Tokyo version of Jules and Jim . There’s a surreal element running through the collection in the form of unlikely frogs turning up in unlikely places. News of the earthquake hums throughout. The book opens with the dull buzz of disaster-watching: “Five straight days she spent in front of the television, staring at the crumbled banks and hospitals, whole blocks of stores in flames, severed rail lines and expressways.” With language that’s never self-consciously lyrical or show-offy, Murakami constructs stories as tight and beautiful as poems. There’s no turning back for his people; there’s only before and after the quake. —Claire Dederer From Publishers Weekly These six stories, all loosely connected to the disastrous 1995 earthquake in Kobe, are Murakami (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Norwegian Wood) at his best. The writer, who returned to live in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, measures his country’s suffering and finds reassurance in the inevitability that love will surmount tragedy, mustering his casually elegant prose and keen sense of the absurd in the service of healing. In “Honey Pie,” Junpei, a gentle, caring man, loses his would-be sweetheart, Sayoko, when his aggressive best friend, Takatsuki, marries her. They have a child, Sala. He remains close friends with them and becomes even closer after they divorce, but still cannot bring himself to declare his love for Sayoko. Sala is traumatized by the quake and Junpei concocts a wonderful allegorical tale to ease her hurt and give himself the courage to reveal his love for Sayoko. In “UFO in Kushiro” the horrors of the quake inspire a woman to leave her perfectly respectable and loving husband, Komura, because “you have nothing inside you that you can give me.” Komura then has a surreal experience that more or less confirms his wife’s assessment. The theme of nothingness is revisited in the powerful “Thailand,” in which a female doctor who is on vacation in Thailand and very bitter after a divorce, encounters a mysterious old woman who tells her “There is a stone inside your body…. You must get rid of the stone. Otherwise, after you die and are cremated, only the stone will remain.” The remaining stories are of equal quality, the characters fully developed and memorable. Murakami has created a series of small masterpieces. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Views: 51
It is 1950 and the Liverpool reporatory theatre company is rehearsing its Christmas production of Peter Pan, a story of childhood innocence and loss. Stella has been taken on as assistant stage manager and quickly becomes obsessed with Meredith, the dissolute director. But it is only when the celebrated O’Hara arrives to take the lead, that a different drama unfolds. In it, he and Stella are bound together in a past that neither dares to interpret. Views: 51
Scandal's Splendor, A Romance Book by Collette Cameron Views: 51
AWARD-WINNING ACTOR AND AUTHOR BLAIR UNDERWOOD JOINS FORCES WITH TWO AMAZING AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS TANANARIVE DUE AND STEVEN BARNES TO DELIVER THE SECOND INSTALLATION IN THE STUNNING AND PROVOCATIVE TENNYSON HARDWICK NOVEL IN THE NIGHT OF THE HEAT. Threatened with death after acquittal for murder, football superstar T. D. Jackson asks struggling actor and former gigolo Tennyson Hardwick for protection. Tennyson has a reputation in Hollywood after solving the murder of rapper Afrodite, but politely turns Jackson down: His acting career is taking off with a new series, and he's trying to work out his personal life after a series of wrong turns. But Tennyson's life is upturned when his seedy past catches up to him on the set of his TV series. Then T. D. Jackson is found dead in his home, the victim of an apparent suicide. T.D.'s gorgeous cousin, Melanie, is sure the superstar was murdered, and Jackson's family offers Tennyson an irresistible fee to discover the... Views: 51
"Cute and cuddly on the outside, murder and mayhem on the inside . . . Totally adorable." —Duffy Brown on Bearly Departed As autumn air settles into the quaint small town of Silver Hollow, there's nothing more popular than Sasha's teddy bears—and murder in cold blood . . . Silver Bear Shop and Factory manager Sasha Silverman is cozying up to the fall season by hosting Silver Hollow's Cranbeary Tea Party, the opening event of the village's Oktobear Fest—a too-cute celebration themed around teddy bears. She barely has a moment to agonize over the return of her former high school rival, Holly Parker, whose new toy and bookstore in town could spell big trouble for the Silver Bear Shop and her cousin's small bookstore . . . But when Sasha discovers Holly's shop assistant dead with a knife plunged in her body, the unpleasant woman suddenly looks like a real backstabber. So does Sasha's ex-husband,... Views: 51
Ally Sloan's flattered when a gorgeous stranger seeks her out. Single again, after years in a loveless marriage, a heady night of desire is just what she needs to boost her confidence and remind her that life can be passionate. Off to the Bahamas the following day, Ally tells herself she's relieved not to be seeing Raul again—she is older than he is, after all! But more than one surprise awaits her in the sultry heat of the Caribbean.... Views: 51
Where do you run when your heart's breaking all the rules?When pillar-of-the-community Harry Stewart dies of a sudden heart attack, the whole village is devastated - except for his wife Karen, the only one who really knew the abusive alcoholic Harry had become.Suddenly freed from this oppressive marriage, Karen is nonetheless wracked with guilt about the circumstances of her husband's death, and sees the presence of her spoiled step-daughter, Sophie, as a suitable purgatory. Her only comfort in her grief and isolation is William, the sympathetic local vicar.As Karen shares her secret, William's listening ear soon becomes a shoulder to cry on, and before long Karen realises she is falling in love. But William has a wife and teenaged daughter, not to mention a parish to watch over - and be watched by.As the pressure becomes too much to bear, Karen flees to the seaside and to Mike Best's beach café. But when William suddenly turns up again in her life, can they... Views: 51
Nancy Jansen is the beating heart of her family.She is the centre around whom many lives turn.MotherTherapistDaughterSisterWifeBut Nancy has a new role:LoverEverybody can be happy, Nancy believes, so long as they can be kept apart.But when these lives start to overlap, collision becomes inevitable, with consequences for all... Views: 51
ON A KILLER'S TRAIL... Special Agent C. J. Jones looked forward to impending motherhood but cursed being sidelined on a serial killer case because of it. And her irresistible partner Byron Warrick made it hard for her to play it safe. Then, one night, C.J. went into labor with Warrick right beside her. And everything changed. The second Warrick saw the little girl, he knew he was in love with C.J. and her baby. And as he and C.J. hunted down a madman, Warrick ensured their safety and hoped they'd become a family--that is, if C.J. wasn't too stubborn to love again. One way or another, if they survived this assignment, Warrick would persuade C.J. to take on the mission of a lifetime--as his wife! Views: 51
