Haruki Murakami

[Joel Weierman]

> There is a blurb on the back of one (or more) of his books that
> compares him to Pynchon but I really don't see too much of a 
> comparison. He's a decent writer but I've never been bowled
> over by his stuff. I've heard he's coming out with a 'big book'
> later this year.
> 
> -chris

His most recent book is a non-fiction work called
"Underground" about the sarin gas attack on the 
Tokyo subway line two years ago. He spent over a 
year and a half interviewing the victims personally
and getting their stories to comile in this rather
large tome that is a best seller in Japan now.

I've read quite a bit of it and its pretty interesting
but quite a far cry from Pynchon's fiction.

As for Murakami's fiction, there are some similiarities
but I think most of them are superficial (i.e.
lots of characters in a strange, somewhat
random plot)

-Joel Weierman
joel at typhoon.co.jp