Is Murakami a meme?

I've read Norwegian woods and I'm currently reading The Wind-Up Bird.
I think he is a meme and not a great author as everybody seems to be saying.
Have I drunk too much retard juice or is actually a mem'?

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Yea Forums has threads shitting on him pretty much weekly.

Oh, good. What are the actual criticisms?

the east doesnt produce literature of value
it
just
doesn't

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Mostly that many of his books are very similar and all seem to lack meaning or point. Norwegian Wood is quite different from his usual stuff, but you'll notice repeating elements if you read any more of him. And then there's some about how a lot of it seems like weird self insert fantasies with all the women throwing themselves at the boring protagonist.
On the other hand some people think his books are really comfy.

He just writes accessible fiction with a Japanese flavor while being extremely western.

Thanks, those are basically the things that annoy me. It seems to me that I'm reading a book about the same guy, just put in a different situation. Plus, in Norwegian wood I was okay with all the sex as it made sense: teens or still very young adults, crucial to the story. But in The Wind-Up Bird it seems so unnecessary and is somewhat distracting, why does everybody think so much about sex, all the time?

In general Murakami's main artistic flaw is that he combines the worst aspects of modern Japanese literature (the prioritisation of symbolism over meaning) with the worst aspects of modern English-language literature (the bland internationalism). You end up with uninteresting stories packed with symbolism heaped upon symbolism about nothing in particular.

There's also a very good essay pointing out just how internationally-focused Murakami is; the first chapter of one of his major novels was originally written in English before being rewritten in Japanese, and he's heavily involved in English translations of his work.

>why does everybody think so much about sex, all the time?
Read Houellebecq.

True Tbh, non-Europeans just aren't able to think.

It’s subjective tastes, man

>English language literature
>internationalism

bitch do you even Han dynasty

Something in particular?

Yes, stupid people enjoy different things than intelligent people. It's subjective.

Yes, to have an English-language translation of your work is generally meant to have become an "international" author, especially if your native language has fewer readers.

All of his books cover the same topics, more or less.

I think he's in a weird place where his output is now quite extensive, and if you narrowed it down to maybe 4/5 works he'd be very defensible. There's then a lot of going through the motions stuff which shares various superficial similarities with the good things. Wind-Up Bird is on the good list though.The best bit is the war sequence - I don't see how anyone could read that and not think there was something good about the author.

He started in '79, and, I'd argue, was good from around 1990 to the mid 2000s.

Ok, thanks

Orhan Pamuk is a better writer imo.

this man.. in my country . .he is nobody

What's the connection?

Writing about the connection between easy and west. Both are great but Pamuk does it better. Rushdie is too.

His stories, characters and structures are all the same in every single book. If you have read one murakami book you have read them all.
He can describe the shit out of a room I will give you that.

So which book should I read from?

The only people I've ever seen read or talk about Murakami are young liberal white women into hipster twee Adventure Time stuff. It's Twilight for a slightly different demographic.

I think your on to something

Jean fucking god awful man
Thank the Heavenly Father you’re cognizant enough to realize it- some people actually have students read his work

Murakami is the best of the worst. As far as something you'd pick up at a grocery store he's the finest available. He's not actual literature, though. Judge an apple as an apple.
what's it like being retarded? is it fun?

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Read two of his books now and getting a very establishment boomer vibe from him

>what's it like being retarded? is it fun?
>Murakami is the best of the worst. As far as something you'd pick up at a grocery store he's the finest available. He's not actual literature, though. Judge an apple as an apple.
>best of the worst
>grocery store he's the finest available
>He's not actual literature, though. Judge an apple as an apple.

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Dazai is complete garbage for angsty teenagers, No Longer Human is one of the most cringe-inducing books I’ve ever read

>repeats what i said with a funny picture
thrilling.

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What's the best jap book then?

Confessions of a mask

Snow Country

Thousand Cranes
Setting Sun
Wild Geese
Sound of Waves

Dogra Magra

Heike Monogatari

Dazai the goat

Not even the best Mishima.

its best you don't attempt at analogies ever again