Hear the Wind Sing (Rat #1) by Haruki Murakami

This is my first time to read a book by Haruki Murakami. It so happens also that Hear the Wind Sing is his first book and first in the Rat series. Rat is one of the characters in the story. Rat is his nickname and the story did not expound as to its origin. What prompted me to read Murakami is the fact that a lot of people seem to be reading his books, so I joined the bandwagon. I was curious. One other reason is I love finding authors who are not Americans or English or whose mother tongue is anything other than English. Just like Khaled Hosseini, Amy Tan, Paulo Coelho and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. There is just some unique quality about their works that makes me curious. Probably, it has something to do with their culture and because I love to travel, reading is one way for me to travel without having to spend for accommodations and air fare. And reading their books has been a really great cultural immersion for me.

I thought this book will take me to some deep and amazing journey with the backdrop of Japanese culture, hot springs or the majestic Mount Fuji but sadly it didn't. I am disappointed. I was set to be blown away but it never happened. I wished the story was cohesive enough but it failed to convey to me whatever it wished to say. I failed to comprehend what it was trying to tell me. It did not make sense at all to me. It felt like just random ramblings though there were a lot of things about life and on writing a story  that are right on the bull's eye. 

But, telling a story honestly is extremely difficult. As much as I try to be honest, the words I'm looking for always seem to sink into the dark depths.

- Haruki Murakami, Hear the Wind Sing -

I am sorry to say I give this book one star. I definitely failed to hear the song in the wind. All I hear is whoosh and whist, there was no melody or rhythm.  I can't even come up with a short summary of the story. It felt like it was scattered all over  the place. Being so, I would still want to read his other works. Maybe they will make sense to me.