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South of Pittsburgh, West of Anything Interesting

I think I've felt disappointed in the ending of every Murakami book I've ever read. At the same time I always sort of miss his protagonists after I finish the last page. I almost wish he'd write a series of doorstoppers with the same protagonists so you could spend more time with his heroes and never really have to worry about finishing it. It would be like one of those mediocre fantasy series with 15 books- but instead of having to put up with an endless imitation of Tolkien you'd  tag along with a group of sad but cultured people as they mope  around Japan for thousands of pages. I guess Updike's Rabbit series would be a closer comparison, only like with those pulpy fantasy novels I never liked them. Unlike most of Murakami's main characters  I never wanted to spend more than a few minutes with Rabbit and his sad problems. The world of those books isn't as appealing or as real to me for some reason (or the American setting makes it more relatable and thus too depressing to think about). It actually seems a bit jarring to me that you could visit every jazz bar in Tokyo and never actually find Hakime starring into space while sipping whiskey, or wander its streets without seeing someone starring intently at the sky like they're checking to see how many moons are up there.

His characters seem so settled, even the ones with a near complete lack of worldly success. They're comfortable with themselves and have environments they can function in, even if these environments don't extend beyond their one bedroom apartments. That's appealing and seemingly beyond reach, at least for me, though that's not really anyone's fault but mine. For all their lack of decisiveness most his creations at least seem confident enough to allow themselves to totally enjoy some small part of the earth.



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