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'A cyberpunk coming-of-age tale' Japan Times Two babies are left in
a Tokyo station coin locker and survive against the odds, but their
lives are forever tainted by this inauspicious start. Raised amidst
the outcasts and misfits of Toxitown, they carve out vastly
different paths: one as a bisexual rock star on a desperate search
for his mother, the other as an athlete consumed by revenge against
the woman who left him behind. When their twisted journeys start to
intertwine, this savage and stunning story plunges headlong into a
surrealistic whirl of violence. 'Encapsulates the fin de siècle
cultural detonation of Japanese youth' Kirkus
It's just before New Year, and Frank, an overweight American
tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a guided tour of Tokyo's
nightlife. But, Frank's behaviour is so odd that Kenji begins to
entertain a horrible suspicion: his client may in fact have
murderous desires. Although Kenji is far from innocent himself, he
unwillingly descends with Frank into an inferno of evil, from which
only his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jun, can possibly save him.
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Sixty-Nine (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami; Translated by Ralph F. McCarthy
1
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R337
R273
Discovery Miles 2 730
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Murakami's 69, a side-splittingly funny coming-of-age novel set in
the Japan of the sixties In a small, inconsequential city in Japan,
all that matters to 17-year-old Kensuke Yazaki and his friends is
girls, rock music and, to a much lesser extent, school. Told at
high speed and with irresistible humour by Kensuke himself, this is
the story of their 1969, as they engage in heated conversations
about Marxism, Rimbaud, Godard, the Beatles and the Stones, set up
a barricade in their school, organise a rock festival and map out a
highly successful strategy in girl-winning. This is a young Japan
entirely turned towards the West, pervaded by Western music, where
the girls have nicknames pulled from famous British films, but
still locked in a fight with the rigid post-war conservatism of the
older generation. Translated from the Japanese by Ralph McCarthy
and published by Pushkin Press 'A light, rollicking, sometimes
hilarious, but never sentimental picture of late-sixties Japan.'
Library Journal 'A great deal of fun, and Murakami ... is a find.'
Kirkus Reviews 'The hero is a thoroughly engaging smartass.' Los
Angeles Times A superb and very funny bluffer, and one sympathizes
with him all the way. Atlantic Monthly 'A cross between The Catcher
and the Rye and The Strawberry Statement.' Review of Contemporary
Fiction Born in 1952 in Nagasaki prefecture, Ryu Murakami is the
enfant terrible of contemporary Japanese literature. Awarded the
prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1976 for his first book, a novel
about a group of young people drowned in sex and drugs, he has gone
on to explore with cinematic intensity the themes of violence and
technology in contemporary Japanese society. His novels include
Coin Locker Babies, Sixty-Nine, Popular Hits of the Showa Era,
Audition, In the Miso Soup and From the Fatherland, with Love.
Murakami is also a screenwriter and a director; his films include
Tokyo Decadence, Audition and Because of You.
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Audition (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami
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R337
R273
Discovery Miles 2 730
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Documentary-maker Aoyama hasn't dated anyone in the seven years
since the death of his beloved wife, Ryoko. Now even his teenage
son Shige has suggested he think about remarrying. So when his best
friend Yoshikawa comes up with a plan to hold fake film auditions
so that Aoyama can choose a new bride, he decides to go along with
the idea. Of the thousands who apply, Aoyama only has eyes for
Yamasaki Asami, a young, beautiful, delicate and talented ballerina
with a turbulent past. But there is more to her than Aoyama,
blinded by his infatuation, can see, and by the time he discovers
the terrifying truth it may be too late Ryu Murakami delivers his
most subtle and disturbing novel yet, confirming him as Japan's
master of the psycho-thriller.
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Piercing (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami
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R334
R269
Discovery Miles 2 690
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Every night, Kawashima Masayuki creeps from his bed and watches
over his baby girl's crib while his wife sleeps. But this is no
ordinary domestic scene. He has an ice pick in his hand, and a
barely controllable desire to use it. Deciding to confront his
demons, Kawashima sets into motion a chain of events seeming to
lead inexorably to murder.
An ambitious, epic dystopian novel - part political thriller and
part satire. From the Fatherland, with Love is set in an
alternative, dystopian present in which the dollar has collapsed
and Japan's economy has fallen along with it. The North Korean
government, sensing an opportunity, sends a fleet of rebels in the
first land invasion that Japan has ever faced. Japan can't cope
with the surprise onslaught of Operation From the Fatherland, with
Love . But the terrorist Ishihara and his band of renegade youths -
once dedicated to upsetting the Japanese government - turn their
deadly attention to the North Korean threat. They will not allow
Fukuoka to fall without a fight. Epic in scale, From the
Fatherland, with Love is laced throughout with Murakami's
characteristically savage violence. It's both a satisfying thriller
and a completely mad, over-the-top novel like few others.
Translated by Ralph McCarthy, Charles De Wolf and Ginny Tapley
Takemori, and published by Pushkin Press 'A troubled meditation on
the soul of modern Japan... Alarmingly pertinent in light of
current British politics... A morbidly funny comedy... Above all,
it is a phenomenal feat of storytelling 700 pages, dozens of
characters and scores of ideas woven into one gripping whole.'
Andrzej Lukowski, Metro 'This is a novel by the other Murakami. Not
Haruki... If Haruki is The Beatles of Japanese literature, Ryu is
its Rolling Stones... [From the Fatherland, with Love] has a
Tolstoyan cast of characters, from crack North Korean commandos and
hapless Japanese bureaucrats to a gang of hoodlums who eventually
decide to save Japan. It unfolds with the pace of a thriller...'
David Pilling, Financial TImes 'Massively ambitious and
uncompromising... prescient in unexpected ways' Joanne Hayden,
Sunday Business Post ''[Mixes] the thrills of a spy novel with some
national soul-searching' Lionel Barber, Financial Times, Summer
Books 'Definitely edgier and darker than Haruki [Ryu Murakami] has
a worldwide following and is regarded by many as one of the most
thrilling writers of contemporary Japanese fiction... [He] offers a
thrilling insight - with a geopolitical panoramic view - into
national character, human relationships, chaos and disorder' -
Tatevik Sargsyan, Hunger Magazine 'Like nothing else out there... a
Japanese Tarantino... Highly addictive' Morpheus Tales Born in 1952
in Nagasaki prefecture, Ryu Murakami is the enfant terrible of
contemporary Japanese literature. Awarded the prestigious Akutagawa
Prize in 1976 for his first book, a novel about a group of young
people drowned in sex and drugs, he has gone on to explore with
cinematic intensity the themes of violence and technology in
contemporary Japanese society. His novels include Coin Locker
Babies, Sixty-Nine, Popular Hits of the Showa Era, Audition and In
the Miso Soup. Murakami is also a screenwriter and a director; his
films include Tokyo Decadence, Audition and Because of You.
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Piercing (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami
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R385
R286
Discovery Miles 2 860
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"Mr. Murakami's novels are filled with entertaining psychopaths."
-- The New York Times A pulsating cult-favorite psycho-thriller,
the basis of the major motion picture starring Christopher Abbott
and Mia Wasikowska *One of Literary Hub's "Ten Works of Literary
Horror You Should Read (Even if You Don't Think You Like Horror)"*
Kawashima Masayuki is a successful graphic designer living in Tokyo
with his loving wife, Yoko, and their baby girl. Outwardly, their
lives are a picture of happiness and contentment, but every night
while his wife sleeps Kawashima creeds from him bed and watches
over the baby's crib with an ice pick in his hand and an almost
visceral desire to use it. One night, as this struggle unfolds once
more, Kawashima makes a decision to confront his demons and sets
into motion an uncontrollable chain of events seeming to lead
inexorably to murder. The follow-up to In the Miso Soup from a cult
favorite writer, Piercing confirms Murakami as the master of the
psycho thriller-terrifying, sickening, and utterly gripping
In his most irreverent novel yet, Ryu Murakami creates a rivalry of
epic proportions between six aimless youths and six tough-as-nails
women who battle for control of a Tokyo neighborhood. At the
outset, the young men seem louche but harmless, their activities
limited to drinking, snacking, peering at a naked neighbor through
a window, and performing karaoke. The six "aunties" are fiercely
independent career women. When one of the boys executes a lethal
ambush of one of the women, chaos ensues. The women band together
to find the killer and exact revenge. In turn, the boys buckle
down, study physics, and plot to take out their nemeses in a single
blast. Who knew that a deadly "gang war" could be such fun?
Murakami builds the conflict into a hilarious, spot-on satire of
modern culture and the tensions between the sexes and generations.
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Audition (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami; Translated by Ralph McCarthy
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R387
R308
Discovery Miles 3 080
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In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has
lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years
before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a
bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes
that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call
for a movie they don t intend to produce. As the resumes pile up,
only one of the applicants catches Aoyama s attention Yamasaki
Asami a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past.
Blinded by his instant and total infatuation, Aoyama is too late in
discovering that she is a far cry from the innocent young woman he
imagines her to be. The novel s fast-paced, thriller conclusion
doesn t spare the reader as Yamasaki takes off her angelic mask and
reveals what lies beneath."
A darkly satirical tale of the generation and gender gaps in
Japanese society, Ruy Murakami's Popular Hits of the Showa Era is a
literary karaoke act combining manga and street culture It's a
set-up like a video game: two rival gangs fight to death for the
control of a Tokyo district. In one gang, six young losers
committed only to drinking, voyeurism and karaoke singing, in the
other six tough independent older women. From ambush to revenge,
both groups are gradually decimated until the ultimate showdown. In
Murakami's inimitably brutal and brilliant style, Popular Hits
dissects the gender and generational conflicts of contemporary
society in a hilarious satire. Murakami is mercilessly funny as he
tracks his characters' evolution from twits to scholars of
guerrilla warfare'New Yorker 'One of the funniest and strangest
gang wars in recent literature'Booklist Ryu Murakami's Popular Hits
From the Showa Era is translated from the Japanese by Ralph
McCarthy and published by Pushkin Press Born in 1952 in Nagasaki
prefecture, Ryu Murakami is the enfant terrible of contemporary
Japanese literature. Awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in
1976 for his first book, a novel about a group of young people
drowned in sex and drugs, he has gone on to explore with cinematic
intensity the themes of violence and technology in contemporary
Japanese society. His novels include Coin Locker Babies,
Sixty-Nine, Popular Hits of the Showa Era, Audition, In the Miso
Soup and From the Fatherland, with Love. Murakami is also a
screenwriter and a director; his films include Tokyo Decadence,
Audition and Because of You.
An ambitious, epic dystopian novel - part political thriller and
part satire. From the Fatherland, with Love is set in an
alternative, dystopian present in which the dollar has collapsed
and Japan's economy has fallen along with it. The North Korean
government, sensing an opportunity, sends a fleet of rebels in the
first land invasion that Japan has ever faced. Japan can't cope
with the surprise onslaught of Operation From the Fatherland, with
Love . But the terrorist Ishihara and his band of renegade youths -
once dedicated to upsetting the Japanese government - turn their
deadly attention to the North Korean threat. They will not allow
Fukuoka to fall without a fight. Epic in scale, From the
Fatherland, with Love is laced throughout with Murakami's
characteristically savage violence. It's both a satisfying thriller
and a completely mad, over-the-top novel like few others.
Translated by Ralph McCarthy, Charles De Wolf and Ginny Tapley
Takemori, and published by Pushkin Press 'A troubled meditation on
the soul of modern Japan... Alarmingly pertinent in light of
current British politics... A morbidly funny comedy... Above all,
it is a phenomenal feat of storytelling 700 pages, dozens of
characters and scores of ideas woven into one gripping whole.'
Andrzej Lukowski, Metro 'This is a novel by the other Murakami. Not
Haruki... If Haruki is The Beatles of Japanese literature, Ryu is
its Rolling Stones... [From the Fatherland, with Love] has a
Tolstoyan cast of characters, from crack North Korean commandos and
hapless Japanese bureaucrats to a gang of hoodlums who eventually
decide to save Japan. It unfolds with the pace of a thriller...'
David Pilling, Financial TImes 'Massively ambitious and
uncompromising... prescient in unexpected ways' Joanne Hayden,
Sunday Business Post ''[Mixes] the thrills of a spy novel with some
national soul-searching' Lionel Barber, Financial Times, Summer
Books 'Definitely edgier and darker than Haruki [Ryu Murakami] has
a worldwide following and is regarded by many as one of the most
thrilling writers of contemporary Japanese fiction... [He] offers a
thrilling insight - with a geopolitical panoramic view - into
national character, human relationships, chaos and disorder' -
Tatevik Sargsyan, Hunger Magazine Born in 1952 in Nagasaki
prefecture, Ryu Murakami is the enfant terrible of contemporary
Japanese literature. Awarded the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in
1976 for his first book, a novel about a group of young people
drowned in sex and drugs, he has gone on to explore with cinematic
intensity the themes of violence and technology in contemporary
Japanese society. His novels include Coin Locker Babies,
Sixty-Nine, Popular Hits of the Showa Era, Audition and In the Miso
Soup. Murakami is also a screenwriter and a director; his films
include Tokyo Decadence, Audition and Because of You.
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In the Miso Soup (Paperback)
Ryu Murakami; Translated by Ralph McCarthy
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R438
R358
Discovery Miles 3 580
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"Mr. Murakami's novels are filled with entertaining psychopaths."
-- The New York Times From postmodern Renaissance man Ryu Murakami,
master of the psychothriller and director of Tokyo Decadence, comes
this hair-raising roller-coaster ride through the nefarious
neon-lit world of Tokyo's sex industry It's just before New Year,
and Frank, an American tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a
guided tour of Tokyo's nightlife. But, Frank's behaviour is so odd
that Kenji begins to entertain a horrible suspicion: his client may
in fact have murderous desires. Although Kenji is far from innocent
himself, he unwillingly descends with Frank into an inferno of
evil, from which only his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jun, can
possibly save him.
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