What the ....?!

Ok, so I am no snobbish intellectual. But I probably have a higher IQ than the average person who reads this blog. Shit, I know I contradicted myself there, let me try again.

"From now on, little by little, you must prepare yourself to face death. If you devote all of your future energy to living, you will not be able to die well. You must begin to shift gears, a little at a time. Living and dying are, in a sense of equal value." (Chauffeur to Woman, thailand)

This little gem of a quote is from a book, a collection of short stories, that I just finished reading called ‘After the quake’ by Haruki Murakami. But most of the time the book left me feeling a little stupid and bewildered. It was as if I wasn’t intelligent enough to fathom or decipher what the author wanted to say! Either that or Mr. Murakami (or the guy who translated the book) is a pretty dazed and confused guy himself. Let me give you a flavor of his stories, though you should avoid reading any further if you are planning to read him.

1. ufo in kushiro
Woman leaves man after 5 years of marriage. Man decides to take a break from work for a week. Man’s friend asks him to deliver a package to someone Far Away. Man delivers package to Woman2 in Far Away and ends up in bed with her, but can’t get it up. They both agree that he has come a long way. She also says it’s just the beginning. End.
dazedandconfused verdict- Are they planning to get married??

2. landscape with flatiron
Girl and Lover meet with a Male Friend at the beach where Male Friend makes a bonfire. Lover is a bum who plays guitar in a stupid band. Girl ran away from home when she thought her dad started looking at her in a strange way. Male Friend ran away from home to make bonfires. He is afraid of a fridge, which comes in his dreams. They talk. Girl muses about committing suicide along with Male Friend. He tells her to wait till the bonfire goes out. End.
dazedandconfused verdict- Now which one is more loony among them??

3. all god’s children can dance
Man follows old man who he believes to be his father from a train station to the ends of the city. (Flashback- His mom seems to have had ‘knowledge’ of many men). Where he proceeds to lose sight of him and ends up in a baseball field. Where he starts dancing. End.
dazedandconfused verdict- I think he had an incestuous relationship with his mom.

4. thailand
Woman in Thailand for holiday. She swims, reads and eats sandwiches. Before she leaves, her Chauffeur takes her to an Old Lady in a village. Old Lady tells her there’s a white stone inside her and that she should catch a snake which will eat the stone. She goes home. End.
dazedandconfused verdict- The Chauffeur’s gay.

5. super-frog saves tokyo
Man comes home to find 6 ft tall Frog at home. Frog tells him they have to fight Worm and save city from a quake. But before they can fight, Man is shot. Frog meets him later and tells him he averted the quake but couldn’t defeat the Worm. Frog explodes, worms burst out from within Frog and crawl all over Man.
dazedandconfused verdict- I loved this one, its really funny. No, really.

6. honey pie
Can’t make fun of this one actually. It’s just your regular beautifully written story. I was a little disappointed actually since by then I was already penning thoughts in my mind for this blog.

Overall verdict- Since I don’t do reviews, I will pick one which I agree with- "The stories here are well crafted and lyrical…They are sometimes absurd, sometimes quite funny, but they all have real epiphanies and real moments of feeling."- Rocky Mountain News

I think its about time that I watched a couple of Govinda movies.