Today I read 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World' by Haruki Murakami. I have extolled the virtues of Murakami before, and for those of you who have never read his work before, I advise you to run to the nearest bookstore and pick up one of his books. Specifically, I always recommend 'A Wild Sheep Chase' to first-timers, although 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' is also a great book. The frustrating thing about 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' is that the story is split into two parts, and the chapters alternate between the two worlds/realities. Towards the middle of the book, as things are moving toward the climax, I definitely found myself wanting to skip the alternate chapters so that I could find out the rest of the story more quickly. I found myself desiring this today even though I'd read the book three or four years ago and so had some recollection of what was going to happen. But, the book is great for its extremely unlikely situations, its thoroughly unremarkable (yet amazing) nameless protagonist, and its unabashed fascination with food. That's the other thing about Murakami--few of his characters have real names, and I recommend reading his books with a good sushi place nearby, because you're definitely going to want to eat during/after the books. He also makes rather frequent reference to Russian literature, which I found intriguing.
All in all, start with 'Wild Sheep Chase', 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', or 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.' 'Wild Sheep Chase' is perhaps one of the most amusing books I've ever read, and the other two are very fun in a quieter sort of way. The protagonist in 'Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' spends much of his time at the bottom of a well, and there is a very long, almost novella-length, section in the middle about the Japanese in Mongolia in WWII. A word of advice, though--don't start with 'Norwegian Wood.' It's the most depressing book ever, and I just wanted to stay in bed for a week after I read it. All the others are good, though.
After I read the book, my parents, brother and I went in to town for dinner, and I had an awesome cheeseburger w/barbecue sauce. At $3.50, it was significantly cheaper (and just as good) as the overpriced stuff they serve at places like the Cheesecake Factory. Speaking of the Cheesecake Factory, it has finally invaded Iowa--a new mall opened in Des Moines last week, and it has a Cheesecake Factory, a P.F. Chang's, a WilliamsSonoma, an Abercrombie & Fitch, a J.Crew, a White HouseBlack Market, a Century 20 theatre, and all these other stores and restaurants that I never expected to see in the vast interior of our continent. I'm surprised, stunned, a little horrified, and of course curious. So, my brother and I are going up to Des Moines tomorrow to check it out. Our parents may meet us up there to play our traditional summer round of mini-golf, but we shall see. Apparently the place is absolutely packed all the time, which is sad because it's going to totally take out my previous favorite mall in Des Moines; they're pretty close together, so I see it going the same way of other dead and dying malls. Soon it will just be cellphone kiosks, Bath and Body Works, and elderly walkers, and no one will remember that it used to be the best mall in Des Moines. How sad. Of course, since I'm a fierce capitalist I wouldn't really want it any other way, but I'm still capable of a certain amount of nostalgia for things past. But hell, if they can kill off all the stores in my town, and make it so that we have to drive over an hour to buy clothes or appliances or anything else, then they might as well kill off my town with something that is worth going to. This is *way* better than a Walmart Supercenter, so I suppose I should be excited.
Oh, and our town celebration is this weekend, and apparently the carnies that we have always hired to bring their deathtrap rides to our town square have determined that our market is not big enough. So, they have gone to a different celebration this weekend, which means that we're stuck with an even dirtier, more unsafe excuse for 'entertainment.' If everyone in town survives the weekend, I will say that we were quite fortunate.
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