Birthday Stories, edited by Haruki Murakami, is a slight dose of morphine for those who are waiting for the English translation of his latest novel, Kafka on Shore. This "timeless anthology" of short stories brings the readers to see birthdays at different angles. There are sober birthdays, and also sweet ones. Stories are selected to provide a wide range of writing styles, from contemporary writer Andrea Lee and Ethan Canin to the famous Raymond Craver, Paul Theroux and Murakami himself. Personally, my favourite picks in the book include: "The Moor" by Russell Banks (a man meeting a woman accidentally on her birthday thirty years later and a love affair involving an age difference of decades is revisited); "Timothy's Birthday" (about how Timothy draws away from his parents after his homoosexual partner died in the previous year); "The Birthday Cake" by Daniel Lyons (a mother who insists on not giving away a cake for their children who are not coming home for celebration); "The Bath" by Raymond Craver (the parental worries on concern on the car accdient of their beloved birthday son; the ending is particularly thought-provoking) and "Close to the Water's Edge" by Claire Keegan (an eminent Harvard student failing to change his lifestyle on his birthday).
The first book I picked up by Ethan Canin was his collection of short stories called The Palace Thief. His writing style already haunted me at that time. What amazes me more in his "Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath" is his fast-paced plot and the delicate treatment of the psychology of a paranoid and ignored birthday mother. The dialogues are simple but powerful, short by revealing.
Let's talk about the dose of Murakami morphine. His story "Birthday Girl" is simple and consise to bring out the message that no matter what we wish on our birthdays, we are still what we are. Wishes for a change in fact do not, or cannot, change anything at all". This is similar to the everything-happens-for-a-reason theory in Wild Sheel Chase. The birthday girl in the story does not tell the narrator what she wished on her 20th birthday. Does it matter? Her life still goes on like normal.(Remind me of the ending shot in Lost in Translation!)
This anthology is a fast-read. All the stories in the anthology are very solid, nothing pretentious. It is definitely one of the books you may pick out if you have no dates on the forthcoming birthday - a great birthday companion. What should be mentioned here is the poem (or lyrics?) written by Paul Simon at the beginning of the anthology - "Have a good time". How many of us really had a good time on our past birthdays? Or how many of us expected so? Will we have a (un)happy birthday next year? We don't know. But the characters in the stories tell us that they have something to grasp on theirs - the readers.
有关生日的现代短篇小说选集,村上春树选,也有他的一篇。
每个人都有生日,生日的意义也许是对此生生而为人的一种祝福。因为无论一条狗还是一只猫,一只鸟还是一条虫都是没有生日的,因为它们是低等生物。我们这么想的时候,好像我们自己已经和动物脱离开来的一种幸福,还是为我们也失去动物自由本性的一种祭奠。 没有...
评分村上在序言里说到,他出生时的社会背景,成长过程中国家发生了哪些大事,国家乃至世界的历史背景是怎么样的,我不禁有些汗颜,我知道我出生时我的国家处在什么样的状况下吗?我知道在我成长过程中,世界和我所处的这个国家发生哪些对我产生影响甚至改变的事情吗?我可以说几乎...
评分因为接连读到威廉·特雷弗的《蒂莫西的生日》和拉塞尔·班克斯的《摩尔人》这两篇以生日为主题的杰出短篇小说,村上春树兴起了编辑一本以生日为主题的短篇小说集的念头。 《生日故事集》于2002年在日本出版了日文版,英文版则于2004年出版。这部小说集精选了十二篇英语文坛的短...
评分 评分本想待到生日月再拆,想想作罢,形式感过度会变矫情,本身人已经够矫情的啦!哈! 捧起红色封面的《生日故事集》,平白联想起红白封面的杜鲁门·卡波特的《圣诞忆旧集》,同是小小的开本。不过那本由于同样的矫情原因,还在书柜一角等待不知哪年圣诞会突如其来的宠幸。 村上...
太阴暗 弃了
评分很多作家作品的收录,有些没太明白,有些挺有意思的。
评分太阴暗 弃了
评分读这本书纯属偶然。本以为是村上的作品,拿到手才发现是他选取的英美短片。但读来着实有趣,和他自己的写作风味很合衬。
评分读这本书纯属偶然。本以为是村上的作品,拿到手才发现是他选取的英美短片。但读来着实有趣,和他自己的写作风味很合衬。
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