{"id":2836,"date":"2023-06-19T04:01:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T04:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2836"},"modified":"2023-07-19T07:36:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T07:36:44","slug":"book-recommendation-south-of-the-border-west-of-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2836","title":{"rendered":"Book Recommendation: South of the Border, West of the Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! June has been a slow month for me reading-wise. But, I did finish two books this weekend. I will write the review of The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley soon, but I knew I had to write the review of South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami right away! I hope my review convinces you to pick up this book!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~THOUGHTS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being in a Murakami book is like being in its own world. You lose sense of time, place & being when you are reading them. It\u2019s just you & the book. And when you put the book down, it takes a while to get acclimatized to your real life. During that transition, you are in so many places. You are in the real world. You are in the Murakami world. Your mind is in a dozen places thinking a dozen topics. And finally, when you are sucked back into reality, you kind of completely forget the Murakami world. This has happened to me in almost every Murakami book I have read. South of the Border, West of the Sun is not an exception. I read the book in two days & I am writing this review at the end of the second day, before all my somewhat hazy unformed thoughts get away from me turning into vapor.<\/p>\n\n\n

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South of the Border, West of the Sun is a mere 186-page novel with the usual characters. An average guy with a fascination for books & jazz living his ordinary life, in which women keep flittering on & off.<\/strong><\/mark> In this one, we have three women charmed by our male protagonist. There\u2019s his childhood friend Shimamoto, then his high school girlfriend Izumi & then his wife Yukiko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a bird\u2019s eye view, there isn\u2019t much to the story than that. But, from a worm\u2019s eye view, there is a lot to explore. So, in a sense, this story is about nothing and everything. For the most part, it\u2019s a coming-of-age story in its most subtle form. It\u2019s about growing up while leaving our older selves behind. <\/strong><\/mark>My 14-year-old self wanted to be a painter. My 16-year-old self wanted to be a professional Badminton player. My 23-year-old self wanted to be top of my management institute. And now, my 29-year-old self is a person who loves to paint and play Badminton on weekends while I work a corporate job during the week. We grow up & leave pieces of ourselves & our dreams in the past. We all have so many ghosts of dreams that were left unfulfilled. And, so many versions of ourselves attached to those dreams. So much so that these haunted past versions of ourselves & our dreams make us feel like something is missing in our lives. That constant feeling of something missing.<\/strong><\/mark> Is that just me? Or is that you too?<\/p>\n\n\n

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I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about this & I suppose that\u2019s why the world of Murakami is always special. It makes you question your life, your choices, your decisions. It makes you question things integral & foundational to you that you wouldn\u2019t have otherwise have thought about twice.<\/strong><\/mark> Isn\u2019t that power simply astounding? To have the reader\u2019s attention grasped in the book while they are reading it & then once again to have the reader\u2019s thoughts provoked after they are done reading!<\/strong><\/mark> I have read three Haruki Murakami books this year & in all of them I have found some life-altering lesson. It makes me wonder if I should re-read the books I read a few years ago to seek more wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am still quite amazed by how 186 pages of fiction can have such a real impact on readers\u2019 lives. Such is the power if literature! I have rated South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami at 4\/5 stars!<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hi Readers! June has been a slow month for me reading-wise. But, I did finish two books this weekend. I will write the review of The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley soon, but I knew I had to write the review of South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami right away! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[38,30,29],"class_list":["post-2836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews","tag-favorite-books","tag-haruki-murakami","tag-japanese-books"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230619_090750-02.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2858,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2858","url_meta":{"origin":2836,"position":0},"title":"2023 Mid-Year Reading Recap + Favourite Books!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Half a year has passed us by. As usual, it feels like time has moved slowly but passed quickly. I have had a hell of a year so far, with way too many ups and downs than are expected in a mere six months. 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The month of June was a long one for me from literally any given aspect. Be it work or books or outings. For an endless month, I read quite less. I think it\u2019s the least of any other months this year. I read FOUR BOOKS across 1034 PAGES\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230626_100756-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230626_100756-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230626_100756-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230626_100756-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/PSX_20230626_100756-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1840,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1840","url_meta":{"origin":2836,"position":2},"title":"Books I Read for January in Japan + Recommendations!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! 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