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South of the Border, West of the Sun (Panther)
 
 

South of the Border, West of the Sun (Panther) (Paperback)

by Haruki Murakami (Author), Philip Gabriel (Translator) "My birthday's the fourth of January, 1951 ..." (more)
4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 188 pages
  • Publisher: The Harvill Press; New edition edition (1 Jun 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1860467172
  • ISBN-13: 978-1860467172
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 290,287 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

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

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
In South of the Border, West of the Sun the arc of an average man's life from childhood to middle age with its attendant rhythms of success and disappointment becomes the kind of exquisite literary conundrum that is Haruki Murakami's trademark. The plot is simple: Hajime meets and falls in love with a girl in elementary school but loses touch with her when his family moves to another town. He drifts through high school, college and his 20s before marrying and settling into a career as a successful bar owner. Then his childhood sweetheart returns weighed down with secrets:
"When I went back into the bar, a glass and ashtray remained where she had been. A couple of lightly crushed cigarette butts were lined up in the ashtray, a faint trace of lipstick on each. I sat down and closed my eyes. Echoes of music faded away, leaving me alone. In that gentle darkness, the rain continued to fall without a sound".
Murakami eschews the fantastic elements that appear in many of his other novels and stories, and readers hoping for a glimpse of the "Sheep Man" will be disappointed. Yet South of the Border, West of the Sun is as rich and mysterious as anything he has written. It is above all a complex, moving and honest meditation on the nature of love distilled into a work with the crystal clarity of a short story. A Nat King Cole song, a figure on a crowded street, a face pressed against a car window, a handful of ashes drifting down a river to the sea are woven together into a story that refuses to arrive at a simple conclusion. The classic love triangle may seem like a hackneyed theme for a writer as talented as Murakami but in his quietly dazzling way he bends us to his own unique geometry. --Simon Leake, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Hajime and Shimamoto, childhood sweethearts, would meet after school to listen to records, hold hands and talk about their future. Now in his late thirties, a married father and successful nightclub owner, Hajime is propelled into the mysterious realm of Shimamoto's life again.

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My birthday's the fourth of January, 1951. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (14)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars My favourite Murakami so far, 7 Mar 2006
By Ms. A. Voulgari "bookmonkey" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
After reading Norwegian Wood, I found Murakami an author I would like to read much more of. After The Wind-up Bird Chronicle and The Elephan Vanishes, I have to admit South of the Border, West of the Sun is my favourite.

Only 200 or so pages, this book is one of the most touching love stories I have ever read, although at no point does it become overly sentimental.It mixes together fate, love, duty and choice and one man's dilemma between the life he knows and the love he longs for since his childhood.

Enigmatic, beautifully written and utterly brilliant.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning novel, a must-read for all Murakami fans, 14 Sep 2004
By M. Massenzio (London (that's UK, not Kentucky)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If you have never read anything from Murakami you might just as well start from here (and then, once you are 'hooked' - which you will be - move on to Norwegian Wood and Dance Dance Dance).

Even the setting eventually reminded me a bit of Norwegian Wood (which I read after this one) it is an utterly magical novel, and if you think you would never read a 'love story', well, read this one and expect to feel deeply shaken.

This is not (only) about love, or lost opportunities, or the constant tension between marriage, love and friendship - this is a book about feelings, about life and, most of all, about everybody's sense of loss when we make "sensible" choices in life, that end up making us, in the end, deeply dissatisfied with our lives...

Really one is without words when it comes to review a Murakami book, all is that to be said is: thanks to those who initally got me to read one, and to those who have never read him, start today!

I have probably already said this on some other reviews, when it comes to Murakami, 5 star is not enough...

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Painful, rainy nights, beautifully presented., 31 Oct 2003
By A Customer
I had recently finished Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood” – this was my second experience of his writing. I adored this book too. Much shorter than “Norwegian Wood”, it was equally poignant, painful and exquisite. The premise is simple, the return in adulthood of a childhood sweetheart, and the consequences. The execution is beautiful. Murakami has a magical way of wrapping the reader in the pain of his characters.

I admit to having been frustrated by Shimamoto, a character about whom we never learn very much. This is the point though, neither does Hajime, who has kept her in his thoughts since childhood. It is powerful that their strong hold over one another is based primarily on the past and memory, as is so often the case in life. I agree with another reviewer that the strength of the bond seems disproportionate to the picture of the childhood that is portrayed, but I think this demonstrates that over time our memory distorts reality and turns it into something so much more perfect and desirable. Hajime admits to being nostalgic, and I think that’s the key to understanding the passionate hold Shimamoto still has over him in adulthood.

I like Hajime, I believe the character, I feel for his difficulties, because he is reasonably uncomplicated, steadily making his way through life without deliberate aims or purpose, like so many of us! I think his fixation on Shimamoto gives him purpose, for a while.

Murakami’s beautiful mastery of words makes poetry of his prose, and it flows fantastically, with some breath-taking moments. But the pain portrayed is acute, and readers cannot help but feel a proportion of this pain themselves.

This is a beautiful book that I would not hesitate to recommend.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Nebulous love story
This is without doubt my favourite Murakami novel and arguably his most accessible book to date. Essentially a love story; the novel focuses on main protagonist Hajime's fractured... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Binro The Heretic

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
I chanced upon this book whilst on holiday last year (2008)in Maine, USA.

I was so immersed I simply could not put it down - sheer poetry in the writing thereof... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. Kristien E. Massie

5.0 out of 5 stars Snow outside, a warm log fire inside
Reading this book is like being on a mysterious, magical and deeply moving journey through your own mind. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Harnek Johal

3.0 out of 5 stars Gabriel Vs Rubin- Rubin wins.
This is a quality novella/short story from Murakami. But as an avid fan I was disappointed by the translation. Read more
Published 10 months ago by A Reader

3.0 out of 5 stars A narcissist's middle-age crisis
South of the Border, West of the Sun is written in the first person [as far as I can tell quite characteristic of Murakami] and is the narrative of a Japanese man's love life. Read more
Published 12 months ago by the

4.0 out of 5 stars Melancholic view of modern contemporary life
This minimalist novel tracks the life of a middle aged man in Japan. Born in 1951, he grew up in a suburb outside one of Japan's great cities. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andres C. Salama

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Marvellous Murakami
I thought this was a beautifully written book. I have now read every single Murakami book (except the new one, waiting for that in paperback). Read more
Published 15 months ago by Donna Mcmanus

4.0 out of 5 stars Every Murakami novel is worth reading, this is no exception
Having spent his 20's drifting about lonely and in search of himself, Hajime has found love and security with his wife and two young daughters. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Sam J. Ruddock

3.0 out of 5 stars 5- for story, 1+ for translation
Just finished this book, and while I was very sceptical (and rightly so) about the translation by Philip Gabriel, I found the book very well structured, and I'm a sucker for... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Bonzo The goD

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth often hurts.
As always with a Murakami story echoes of the experience reverberate through the mind long after the last word has been read. And the experience is truly mesmerizing. Read more
Published 22 months ago by still searching

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