Thursday 9 April 2015

Book Banter: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami | #BB | my gift to you | peachsbeauty

hi there,

If you know me in real-like you'll know that I love reading and since this blog is all about my loves, where better than here to have a little bit of a book banter. This Book Banter series is all about sharing my thoughts on some books as a whole experience without getting into the plot or giving away any spoilers.

Quick disclaimer: I don't look up reviews before I read a book so this is purely my first impressions. I will sometimes read reviews after I have finished to see if people felt the same way as me, but only if I'm torn about something.

Image: Random House - I read on iPad.

I usually chose the books I read from recommendations, or their cover (because yes, I'm that kind of person), or if I have read something from that author previously, which is the case here. I read 1Q84 by Murakami quite a while ago now so I might not remember the plot exactly but I do remember the overall feel of the book and it's a very interesting read that makes you question reality through the idea of parallel universes. It's technically a trilogy but it's often sold as one book and really should be read together. Despite the extraordinary length of the book, I did read it in one go and loved it, which brings me to Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Colourless), which is what I'm going to call it from now on because the title is just way too long.

So, what did I think about Colorless? Like, 1Q84, Murakami makes you really contemplate the meaning of life events and the lessons that must be learnt. His writing can be described as captivating yet really gentle, which I feel is like a way of life for Japanese people. His ability to capture the emotional quality of the story is what sets him apart from any other author, in my opinion. Whenever I read his books, I can play out the entire story in my mind because that's what his writing encourages - to experience reading with all five senses. It may just be that I have a good sense of imagination or that I'm more of a visual person but even now when I think about 1Q84, I can recall vividly in my brain the way I pictured the characters and certain landscapes even though I may remember the entire plot.

I hate endings (period) because I never want anything to finish - think books, tv shows, movies, etc. That is, if I've made it to the end of something it means I really enjoyed it but it also means I never want it to end. The ending of Colourless definitely left me wanting more, not just to know what happened to Tazaki and his conquest for love but the other conundrums and mystical scenarios which had been brought up along his journey. Unlike 1Q84 where you know to blame all the weird things on the parallel universe, there is no 'other realm' in Colorless so you're left thinking well what the blimy was the stuff with the old man about??

BASICALLY... Self-help book meets Inception.

RECOMMEND... This for anyone whose after something a little bit different; not scared to dig a little deeper into the soul and the meaning of life; and open to learning a thing or two from a novel.

QUOTE... "Never let fear and stupid pride make you lose someone who's precious to you."

Amazon Affiliate Link: amzn.to/1EByzmI~

Hope you enjoyed my first Book Banter post. I'd love to know your thoughts on Colorless if you've read or any other books that you've read recently that you would like to recommend! Always up for adding more books to the 'To Read' list. Don't forget every comment on my April posts count as an entry into my birthday giveaway at the end of the month xx

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting. I appreciate your feedback :)