the_book_de...
Price: £105.94
In stock
14 used & new from £1.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Birthday Stories
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Birthday Stories (Hardcover)

by Haruki Murakami (Editor, Introduction)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £105.94 11 used from £1.01 1 collectible from £12.00
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £5.08 52 used & new from £0.04

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

After the Quake

After the Quake

by Haruki Murakami
4.6 out of 5 stars (10)  £4.87
Murakami Diary

Murakami Diary

by Haruki Murakami
3.8 out of 5 stars (4)  £8.28
The Elephant Vanishes

The Elephant Vanishes

by Haruki Murakami
3.3 out of 5 stars (10)  £5.58
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

by Haruki Murakami
4.1 out of 5 stars (38)  £4.44
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

by Haruki Murakami
4.3 out of 5 stars (9)  £5.08
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 182 pages
  • Publisher: The Harvill Press (8 Jan 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843431599
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843431596
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.2 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 530,360 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #44 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Murakami, Haruki

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Product Description

This is a collection of 12 birthday stories from some of the most distinguished authors of recent years. The stories have been selected and introduced by Haruki Murakami.


From the Publisher

A collection of twelve birthday stories from some of the most distinguished authors of recent years. Selected and introduced by Haruki Murakami.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(7)
(7)
(6)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Birthday Stories
67% buy the item featured on this page:
Birthday Stories 4.0 out of 5 stars (5)
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
10% buy
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running 4.1 out of 5 stars (38)
£4.44
A Wild Sheep Chase
8% buy
A Wild Sheep Chase 4.6 out of 5 stars (44)
£5.08
Dance, Dance, Dance
7% buy
Dance, Dance, Dance 4.3 out of 5 stars (25)
£5.57
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Jackanory with Murakami, 1 Jul 2004
By Mr. Simon P. Faulkner "Simonf" (Sheffield, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is what all anthologies should be like.
Although there's only one story by Murakami, all the stories feel a little bit Murakami. There's a substantial introduction to the anthology as a whole, along with a short introduction to each author by Murakami. This made it feel like the stories were being read to you by Murakami. I'll certainly be hunting down books by the authors introduced to me by this book.

One of the best Birthday presents I've had!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping stories add up to a great read, 19 Sep 2004
By A Customer
I really enjoyed these - the theme of birthdays is a good idea and each contributor adds a different layer to the cake. All were worth sampling, but particular favourites (apart from Murakami's own of course!) were Canin's "Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath", a wonderful tale about an old woman and a bird - or several!, Carver's vintage "The Bath" and Keegan's "Close to the Water's Edge", a story about what you don't tell those you love and how you deal with it.

All good stuff, and all highly recommended.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Only one slice from Murakami, 24 Jan 2004
By Mo "mo79uk" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
  
2004 seems to be a bit of lean year for Murakami's text hungry English fans.
Sure, there's 2 new books out simultaneously (the other being Vintage Murakami, which appears to be a 'greatest chapters' collection), but both of them only contain one new short story each.

A considerable amount of time has passed since his last full English collection (After The Quake), and last novel (Sputnik Sweetheart - which along with his other books have been cruelly repackaged in very-unapt Mills & Boon type jackets), but I guess the wait for another substantial body shall have to continue. Still, Haruki is someone worth waiting for. I can't believe I'm a fan of five years now!

The good news thoigh, is that Birthday Stories is a great collection. Preceded by an introduction for the English specific audience, 12 stories, presumably to cover 12 months are presented here. One of them is Murakami's own, while the other 11 will be more than welcomed by Murakami's fans, if not more so than Murakami himself, as they all share a common thread.

As you'd expect, these stories aren't twee fairly tales. In true Murakami tradition, an ordinarity blooms into the entertaining. Highlights are down to personal taste, but I highly rate the selections from William Trevor, David Foster Wallace and Ethan Canin.

Murakami's own Birthday Girl reads familiarly. It's almost like a concentrated self-pastiche. The brief emphasis on a strange room, and an earlobe, remind of Dance, Dance, Dance and A Wild Sheep Chase. Murakami's words seems to have been overshadowed his own selections, but all in all, all 12 stories compliment eachother to create a fine body.

It is an enjoyable book which will definetly satisfy Murakami's eager fans, and even make non-fans burrow through any of the back catalogues of authors featured here. Recommended!

Now, when's that next novel coming out, hmm?

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Smooth kind of Bitter...
its perfectly painful to read... like some perfectly bitter dry red wine... or perfectly stronge smooth coffee... just perfect for my taste... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2006 by Linlinterrupted

1.0 out of 5 stars Is this the fall of Murakami?
In his previous works, Murakami has something to delivery for everyone and anyone: Humour, Pain, Horror, Surrealism, Culture, etc. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2004 by Lyna

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.