Tag: book

Currently Reading: After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet1 Comment

WARNING: SPOILERS
photo source: amazon.com

I thought I would begin posting short reflections on what I am currently reading since I have extra time this summer to focus on my blog. I am thinking that I will do one of these posts once a week, since I have an ever shuffling stack of books that I am always reading.

This week I began reading Haruki Murakami’s ‘After the Quake‘ after a suggestion from my boyfriend who is currently reading multiple Murakami works. After reading a couple of the stories I found myself pulled into Murakami’s world, intrigued by his unique style of writing and the subject matter.

The stories revolve around an earthquake that took place in Kobe, Japan in 1995. Each story has some connection to the Kobe earthquake but is flexible and malleable in the way that it explores the characters personal responses to the earthquake. The stories also emphasize on loneliness and death which strengthen further the connection between the earthquake and people. How do people cope with loss and fear amidst a natural disaster that affects an entire nation? I think a more important question is, How does a writer cope with the loss and fear that surrounds such an event?

I love the way in which Murakami uses detail and emotions to build his stories. The essence that is built up as the stories progress portray the feelings of loneliness, loss, and death in multiple ways.

My favorite stories in the collection:

Landscape with Flatiron

Thailand

Super-Frog Saves Tokyo

Landscape with Flatiron, explores friendship and a connection with nature through bonfires and alcohol. The end result a suicide pact that has unknown results.

Thailand, emphasizes on loneliness and aging while dealing with personal conflicts and moving on with ones life.

Super-Frog saves Tokyo, a hallucination? or a dream? A giant frog implores help from a lonely middle-aged man to help save Tokyo from a possible earthquake caused by an angry subterranean worm.

 

Overall I enjoyed reading each short story and plan on reading more of Murakami’s work. I would recommend his work highly to readers that enjoy modern short fiction.

If you are reading this Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

Book Lists: Sample My Favorite Fiction

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Here are some of my favorite fiction books…just a taste.

Ulysses by James Joyce

Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

This Side of Paradise by F.Scott Fitzgerald

Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Fall by Albert Camus

Drive by James Sallis

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

I will be posting more lists soon. Expect a Summer 2017 Book List which will include books I want to read this summer with a follow up at the end of the summer on which books I read and my reflection on them.

If you are reading this Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

Writing Fiction: My First Novel

Book Review: Beautiful City of the Dead

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

‘Books I love’ is a sub part of my ‘Book Lists’ posts. It is a post that contains a review/reflection of one specific book that I have read.

 

Beautiful City of the Dead by [Watts, Leander]

(picture source: amazon.com)

Beautiful City of the Dead by Leander Watts (a.k.a. Th. Metzger) is a young adult novel about a girl named Zee in a band who battles supernatural forces (not entirely sure how to define it, supernatural or sci-fi?). Yes, sounds cheesy I know. But actually this story is written in a style that I recognize now to be closer to prose and poetry. Initially I remember being captivated by the very first chapter which discusses Zee’s obsession with fire (almost a pyromaniac frenzy but not quite) which always led me into binge reading half the book in one sitting (the entire book is only 254 pages). The sentences are often jagged but so clear cut that I can recall certain lines even today.

I think about this book often because of its ability to sear certain images and events (that take place in the story) in my mind. It is a strange synthesis of music appreciation and teen problems meets the unknown (other dimensions? fame? or a bunch of old geezer’s with super powers?). I can never quite put my finger on exactly how to categorize this book and because of this I also love it dearly. I have always wanted a sequel but I know that the book stands alone as a unique piece that needs no continuation, it is only out of my adoration that I’d love to read more about these characters and their extremely weird heavy metal life.

I’d recommend this book to anyone, teen or adult, and especially persons that read poetry on a regular basis. It also has wonderful references to the first ‘Heavy Metal’ bands in RocknRoll. Since I love both poetry, heavy metal music and bands, this book is one in a million for me.

 

If you are reading this, Thank You, for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina