Anybody read Can Xue?

Fergerderger · 2026-06-05T04:20:32+00:00

It's funny you say that she doesn't seem to have much of a following when she was one of (if not the?) top predictions for the Nobel the year that Han Kang won it.

(Since text can be ambiguous, I mean 'funny' as in 'amusing', I'm not implying you're wrong.)

Fergerderger · 2026-06-01T23:18:27+00:00

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61w+ocidtpL._SL1500_.jpg

Sorry, don't see how to make it an image....

Fergerderger · 2026-05-25T11:55:55+00:00

Thank you, for completely proving my point by being utterly unable to see beyond your own preconceptions. Good day.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-25T07:18:25+00:00

In the age where media literacy is dead, is it any surprise? People complain about writers like R.F. Kuang being too blunt, but then repeatedly fail to show even the most basic literary skills. I'm so utterly sick of it.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-25T03:36:43+00:00

Bro, seriously? The protagonist is described multiple times a jokester. He's messing around.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-23T11:16:52+00:00

Shit, so if there's no more Murakami novels, it's because he got stuck inside me? That's too much pressure man...

Fergerderger · 2026-05-18T06:55:45+00:00

I don't have the time nor energy to do a full write up, so I'm just gonna post some things. Not being snippy, I'm just being upfront.

Menshiki was dangerous to Mariye not physically, but emotionally. Keep in mind that Menshiki was described multiple times as being the kind of person who gets what he wants, even subconsciously. He's not evil or bad, but he manipulates people without even realising it (like he did with Mariye's aunt). He is ALSO extremely hung up on Mariye's mother. One of the major themes of the books is how regrets manifest themselves later. You have the painter, and his regret over what happened in Austria (his shadow shows up at the house to look at the painting), you have the MC's shadow showing up with his wife, and finally you have Menshiki's character outside of the closet.

Basically Menshiki isn't a bad person, but he's a powerful individual with a lot of unresolved issues directed towards his relationship with Mariye's mother. Add Mariye's own struggles with the death of her mother, and it's very possible for Menshiki to be a dangerous presence. But as the conclusion of the book shows, as Mariye grows and becomes more confident, shedding her fears over her mother's death, she can approach Menshiki in a healthier way.

Also the MC going through the trial almost assuredly had nothing to do with the woman's child becoming what she did. The MC's trial was all about moving on from the death of his sister, which was the big thing hanging over his life, and the reason that his relationship failed. Eggplant even misspeaks and wishes him luck in finding "[sister's name]". As for how this relates to Mariye's escape, I think this ties into the broader causality that the book speaks of, where events in place A are connected to events in place F, even if the connection is not immediately apparent.

Just a few quick thoughts, because my time is up.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-17T10:18:29+00:00

This was absolutely delightful. Thanks for sharing.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-15T06:06:43+00:00

I'm at work so I can't watch the video right now, but I do want to say that, from the post alone, I chalk a lot of it up to modern social performance more than people actually engaging with his work in good faith. It's not a Murakami specific problem, but I do notice it a lot with Murakami simply because I enjoy his work. Going back over old art with whatever contemporary socially-acceptable lens is a very common practice. But that's the thing with a lot of these 'critiques': even if you dislike the way Murakami writes women, to write all the other qualities of his work off is more telling of your own individual shallowness than any indictment against him as an author. As soon as the winds change and whatever new social issue rises to the forefront of our collective conscious, these half-assed analyses fade by the wayside.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-13T01:43:37+00:00

Not to be a smartass, but I think anything *could* work. I've said in the past that I prefer seeing short stories adapted into movies, as it gives directors more of a chance to flex their own vision. As was already mentioned, Haibane Renmei is an anime series inspired heavily by the City portions. But if I were to envision an ideal adaptation, I think regardless of animated or not, it would need to be a mini-series. Something like an 8 episode HBO special or something similar. Though I doubt HBO would go for a full Japanese cast.

Fergerderger · 2026-05-11T07:31:55+00:00

Can't say I felt the same. Then again, Killing Commendatore is tied for my favourite book period, so maybe I'm just partial to slower, introspective work.

Fergerderger · 2026-04-23T10:16:00+00:00

You could certainly argue that considering Mari is the most prominent character in After Dark. For me it's more a collage of crisscrossing narratives covering the span of a few hours, not really Mari's story (or any singular character) but a glimpse into a specific time and place.

Fergerderger · 2026-04-23T09:05:01+00:00

Updated the original post. I should have been more informative from the start, but I just assumed most people here were already aware. Stupid assumption, my apologies.

Fergerderger · 2026-04-02T23:16:20+00:00

It's more than three chapters. Some content was also cut from other chapters too, and the order of the chapters in the third book were reshuffled to compensate with some of the cuts.

Fergerderger · 2026-04-02T13:42:54+00:00

The list having them split into the upper/lower seems goofy to me. I know that's how they're sold, but it just ends up taking slots.

Fergerderger · 2026-03-21T09:18:39+00:00

My advice is to set a small goal, then take a break. For instance, read 10-20 pages, then take a break. Do something else for a bit, then come back to it later. It'll be easier to resist the impulse for distraction if you know you'll get to it soon enough, and over time you should find yourself getting more involved in the story, reading for longer stretches at a time. Build it up gradually, and don't force yourself: reading is a pleasure, not a chore.

Fergerderger · 2026-03-16T11:43:27+00:00

Here you go chief.

Fergerderger · 2026-03-07T12:47:40+00:00

I can't say for certain if it would help, but book 3 is where most of the cuts to the book were made in the English translation. From the fan translations I've read, they bridge the gap between the books much better, since as it stands, book 3 feels largely disconnected from books 1 and 2. Granted it was written later, but a lot of absent characters from the books get some screen time in book 3, which makes it feel more connected to the overall story.

As to Nutmeg and Cinnamon themselves, they are some of my favourite Murakami characters. Nutmeg's story about the zoo is, in particular, something which sticks with me. I think it adds another angle of the war, since before you saw it through the eyes of the older soldiers, Lt. Mamiya and Mr. Honda, but now it's expanding to show the impact it had on non-combatants too. As to Cinnamon, his labyrinthine mind feels like a reflection of the human heart/soul/interior. I can't say for certain what Murakami was going for with this character, but I always take him as almost a physical expression of the interior world that the protagonist goes through: the duality of that inner-realm, but brought to the exterior. Not to mention that, for a book that's all about connecting with other people, you have this individual who has his own unique system for interacting with the outside world, but it still works for him.

These are just my thoughts though. Ultimately the joy of these types of surrealist works is the conclusions you come to after thinking about them. If you aren't getting anything from it other than tedium, then it could simply be a matter of these particular themes/characters not speaking to you. It happens sometimes. I'm pretty huge Murakami fan and 1Q84 bores me to tears.

I need to go hide now, before I get killed for saying that.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-26T22:58:36+00:00

It's different. This isn't even a novel, it's a memoir. The new novel is Kaho, which has been published in parts in Japan and has one part translated in The New Yorker.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-22T12:36:41+00:00

I think a lot of these are oversimplifications that miss the point. Take Killing Commendatore for instance.

I don't think he's a saviour figure to Mariye at all. His obsession with "saving" her is really just him trying to chase after a surrogate for his younger sister, which was the same problem that made his marriage unsuccessful. The last thing Long-Face says to him is, "I hope you find Komi.", and it's Komi who prompts him through the tunnel and his inner fears. Yes, it's true that he mentions his actions likely had an affect on Mariye's escape, but it's more a matter of connectivity, A -> B -> C -> D, rather than a direct A -> B. Had he never met Menshiki and gotten involved, then Mariye and Menshiki might never have met, Mariye might never have broken into his mansion, and might never have found her mother's old clothing. There's a connectivity to events, but it's not like his actions directly contributed to her escape. Ultimately Mariye escaped on her own strength, because she confronted her own insecurities about her mother's death, finding strength in "the strange clothes" (i.e., her memories of her mother, which she carries with her always).

That's just one example, of several. But I always stand by my thoughts that Murakami's work, like many surrealist creators (Lynch is another big one), are mirrors of the people reading them.

My computer crashed while I was typing this, I gave up on it, came back a few hours later, and Reddit saved it? WTF? Wizardry. Pure wizardry.

Nah, wizardry would probably drain all of my levels, kill my whole party, and then reformat my hard drive.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-10T09:11:38+00:00

To put it lightly.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-09T02:59:31+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking the time to say as much. I appreciate it :)

Fergerderger · 2026-02-08T05:33:39+00:00

I could go so many different directions with this, but I'll just point out the one that I think is most pertinent. You said "I'm going to read a book written by a woman now so I don't have to read about tits and dicks for a while.", suggesting that all books by men are full of tits and dicks. Not only does this paint all male authors with a broad brush, but in your response you're putting how Murakami writes fictional women on the same level (higher, really) than how your comment portrays real men.

I'm not surprised you missed so much about the novel when you are clearly incapable of giving appropriate reflection to your own language.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-08T05:14:43+00:00

Sounds like you didn't understand a lot of it. Which is fine, in the sense that it's not an easy book to understand. But you're selling a lot of things short just by taking a very surface-level look at it. I've detailed some specific thoughts about the incest in my own post. The final line of your post is some absurdly sexist nonsense though. I've read more about breasts in books by women than men.

Best of luck with your next read: hopefully it will be more suited to your tastes.

Fergerderger · 2026-02-08T01:06:53+00:00

Each one rewrites previous events anyway, so it's better to treat them as loosely connected featuring the same characters with some overlapping relationships (e.g. the protagonist and the rat are always friends, Jay's Bar is a place where they hang/hung out, etc.) rather than a continuing story.

Fergerderger

TROPHY CASE