Short Stories - Emmett Glazer

Throughout this course we have read many of Murakami's short stories. After just now finishing Sleep, I am solidifying that I do really enjoy his short stories. Before the class I had only read some of his novels, and not the shorter one's (besides Norwegian Wood). It has been interesting being able to read his stories right next to many of the authors that inspired the works and to see where he draws influence from. 

For me, what stands out is actually how easy it is for me to quickly dive into his work. Within a couple of sentences he is able to quickly have me intrigued. I don't know if it is just his writing style or translation, but I genuinely find them easy to read. Maybe I am just not built for the more "intellectual" (confusing and wordy) writing some older writers entail, but Murakami's short stories so quickly and effortlessly keep my focus. 

Carver's short stories also stood out to me. I had never read his stuff before and so far he has been the author for me to read like Murakami. They both can build quickly build a character and make you understand their way of thinking. While some aspects can feel a bit surreal, overall they both leave you with a glimpse into a person's life for just a few weeks, days, or even hours. 

My favorites so far of Murakami's short stories have been: Drive My Car, Barn Burning, and Sleep. While the Norwegian Wood movie really blew, I have only heard great things about Drive My Car and Burning, so I am excited to sit down and watch those soon.

- Emmett Glazer

Short Films and Bakery Attacks -Krisha

 Man, what amazing examples of good and bad adaptations.

The first Bakery Attack short film really nailed the advantages of film as a medium, as the ability to hear narration while the characters acted help to make the absurd situation even more bizarre. Watching them critique the woman's choices while music plays in the background truly helped to make the scene work. Speaking of music, having Wagner actually play while they slammed bread into their mouths at Mach speed made the scene so much better. It made their hunger feel that just more all consuming, and really highlights their desperation to eat something. Being able to combine the music of a Murakami scene with the visuals really made that adaptation come to life.

The Second Bakery Attack is memorable for the really weird moans where the couple were watching burgers. Also while it makes sense to cast an American film with American actors, it made the film just a little too American. Part of the weirdness of the wife having a shotgun is lost when the actors look like modern Bonnie and Clyde. Here, the act of making people say the dialogue but not the narration really hinders it for me. The choppy discussions only work with that background of the unknowable subconscious imagery.

blog post #4 - laura

 The film adaptation of Norwegian Wood was (as we all know) underwhelming, and when we watched the short films of the first and second Bakery Attacks, I started to think that while Norwegian Wood itself might be a bad movie, the problem might have more to do with trying to translate Murakami’s writing to the screen in the first place. The voice of the narrator is crucial to Murakami’s work, and it is harder to see his typical disinterested narrator when we are only seeing what is actually happening, and not getting any inner thoughts. In this vein, the adaptation of “The First Bakery Attack” told the story better, as it implemented the narrator’s voice by having the actors narrate it within the movie. In a short form like this, I think the choice was successful, though I doubt it would hold up in an adaptation of a longer piece, mainly because film is meant to be such a visual medium, and it should theoretically be able to tell a story without needing such excessive narration, hence the problem when trying to adapt Murakami. 

The adaptation of “The Second Bakery Attack” got rid of the narrator’s inner voice entirely, thus removing the volcano motif. This significantly impacts the story—throughout the text, the volcano is an internal progression the protagonist undergoes. It becomes clearer as the narrator and his wife try to find the reason for their hunger, and goes away once they have robbed the McDonald’s, ending the curse. I’m not totally sure what the volcano is supposed to mean, but there is definitely some importance in the way it becomes more and more clear to the narrator and then vanishes entirely. Removing the ability to communicate the progression in the film adaptation makes the story much more surface level, reducing it to the physical actions. The narrator seems much more flat, a character who only acts and seems to have no internal life, and this does a great disservice to the depth of the original story. While I’m sure it is possible to execute Murakami’s ‘iceberg method’ through film, I don’t think we’ve seen it successfully—or even an attempt to. On a positive note though, I did think “The First Bakery Attack” was pretty wild, and the closest thing to capturing the spirit of the original story out of anything we’ve seen. I wouldn’t say I entirely hated it.

- Laura 

Blog Post #4 - Kara

After reading “Metamorphosis,” I felt somewhat unsatisfied with how the story ended. There isn’t really resolution for any of the characters, even for Gregor who dies. Though, I guess death is some sort of resolution. Throughout the story, Gregor’s situation gets worse and worse, and you can feel the humanity start to fade. Eventually, his entire family turns against him. It’s also frustrating as a reader to see no attempt at communication. Because he can’t clearly speak English, his family assumes that Gregor can’t understand them, despite his initial attempts at communication. Over time, they treat him more like an insect (which he is, granted) than a family member who somehow got turned into an insect. 

“Samsa in Love” provided me with some of the resolution I was looking for, and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I liked the call-backs to the original story and the little insect jokes like being afraid of birds. There’s no denying it’s kind of a weird short story, but I felt like Murakami did a good job of continuing “Metamorphosis.” However, I did want a little more from the story. I’m not sure how to explain it, but I feel like it’s lacking something. I also would have liked more references to the original story or a cameo from some of the original characters.

4th Blog Post - Hide Your Bread - Alanis

I wanted to write the blog post for the stories we had to read for class on 27 March for the blog due in a few days. 

The First Bakery Attack is one of those short Murakami stories that builds up to a conflict, has a simple resolution, and then people basically move about their business. I am personally not a fan of this format of story because I think it resolves too fast. This is the same kind of story that we saw in Sydney Green Street and other stories we had to read that day. I did like that The Second Bakery Attack was an extension on the first one, and I didn’t expect the wife to be the kind to be ready for some kind of crime, and the ending was funny. 50 BIG MACS? Wow.

The last story, A Small, Good Thing, was weird. It’s weird that Ann wanted to kill the baker but then the baked goods are enough to convince her not to, and Howard is just there. I didn’t really get a sense of time until the end when the baker said that the cake was three days old. Intentionally, it felt like the story was going on forever and time didn’t exist, which is some of the feeling I imagine a parent goes through when they’re seeing their own child on a hospital bed.

Norwegian Wood - The Movie (ahah) - Alanis

 When reading Norwegian Wood, there were a lot of scenes that were hard for me to picture. Upon seeing the movie though, I can say that the movie made me visualize some things, but it also left some things to be desired.

Coming into all of this, I wanted to enjoy the movie because I automatically go in and expect the movie to be worse than the book itself, since that has been my experience. I liked having a visualization of where things were happening, as I assume other people have said, but also I think that the inclusion of certain things just made no sense, and these additions were clearly made just for monetary value such as the sex scenes. While I did appreciate seeing how Kitzumi died, I sort of wish I hadn’t seen it so I wouldn’t imagine it (but that’s just a touchy subject for me, I am sure this is an amazing addition to the movie).

However, I feel like this movie could have helped me get into the heads (or an interpretation of the heads) of the main characters, but I didn’t really get that as much as I wanted to. I think some complex ideas from the book are hard to put into the movie, and while they tried, I just did not think it was there. I think in general this novel and many of other Murakami works just elevate one man and make women seem bad and they go through a lot of things, and I wish this was not the case every single time.

Norwegian Wood Movie - Blog #3 - Evan

Before watching the film, I thought that translating Norwegian Wood from a book into a movie would be an impossible task. This is a story so dense that I truly didn't think it could be done. After watching it, I fear that that assumption remains. There are definite improvements made to the book in the movie, but overall I feel as if the story is hurt by this change in medium.

One of the things I feel that the film improved greatly upon was the setting of the story. The University protests provided a very interesting background to the beginning of the film that didn't feel very important in the novel. I also think that some of the scenes in the story were better understood in a visual medium. For instance, one of the most initially pivotal scenes in the story, Naoko's birthday party, felt much more impactful in the film. For one thing, it seemed much clearer that Toru took advantage of Naoko in her vulnerable state, which really changed the way I viewed a lot of his actions later in the story as well.

I feel that most details in Murakami stories matter greatly, and although some scenes absolutely had to be cut in order to meet a time limit, it hurts the story. For instance, Stormtrooper's importance, in general, is significantly curtailed, to a point that he hardly seems relevant at all. This also means that the firefly scene isn't present, which I feel marked the first big shift in the narrative. 

Ultimately, I enjoyed watching the movie a lot. If it had one thing, it was an atmosphere, and I think that is one of the most important things to nail if you are adapting Murakami to film.