Haruki Murakami

[Sakurahime]

I'm not much for literature, but I've had a go at reading some of Haruki Murakami's books. They're widely acclaimed and he's really popular in Japan, and I thought I might learn some culture or something, so I borrowed them from the library. The thing is, I didn't really like them. And the reason for that, I think, is because I didn't understand them very well. I don't know if it was a cultural thing or a literature thing, but I didn't identify with the characters or their journey very much. I wasn't even sure what the theme or meaning of the books was meant to be. I'm also not that keen on jazz, and he loves to mention jazz!
Can anyone help me to understand these books? One of them was Norwegian Wood.

[Kitsune]

That's a good book but you may want to start off by reading Kafka On The Shore instead. I think you'll understand that well and the mind of this guy. There are lots of books of his with a better translation now. The main theme of Haruki Murakami's books has a dark theme. On the way I interpreted them, it's due to the fact that there's always a sense of fatality or inevitability to the outcome of the story in such a way that it gives the reader the experience of seeing the darker side of one's life in the arms of humanity to which there is no escape because whatever will happen, as they say, will happen.