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Preview — Birthday Stories by Haruki Murakami
This is a collection of 12 birthday stories from some of the most distinguished authors of recent years. The stories have been selected and introduced by Haruki Murakami.
Published January 1st 2004 by Harvill Press
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Jun 16, 2019Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: 21th-century, culture, japan, fiction, short-stories, literature
Birthday Stories: Selected and Introduced by Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami,and ... Birthday Stories is a 2002 short story anthology edited by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Despite the theme's happy connotations most of the short stories have a dark, melancholic atmosphere. Introduction: My birthday, your birthday, by Haruki Murakami — added to English ed. only Forever Overhead, by David Foster Wallace Turning, by Lynda Sexson The Birthday Cake, by Daniel Lyons Timothy's Birthday, by William Trev...more
Sep 27, 2017Giss Golabetoon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I love the genre of short story but mostly in Farsi. English short stories usually don’t appeal to me, but as a true Fan of Murakami, I knew he wouldn’t let me down and he didn’t, reading them as the girl who has her birthday tomorrow, made me think and i liked the different writing styles, so basically everyone should read these around their birthday
Mar 22, 2011Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
'Birthday Stories' is an interesting collection of stories, some that I enjoyed and some that I did not enjoy, my favourite stories were 'Turning' by Lynda Sexson, the story of a young boy being told a story by his three elderly ladies, a different kind of story to tell a young man but there was a message behind it which I really liked. 'Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath', the story of Eleanor Black who on her 71st birthday has crows flying into her apartment, which initially frightens up but leads...more
May 22, 2015Shaimaa Ali rated it really liked it · review of another edition
It was Murakami's plan to collect some short stories that their main theme is about birthdays to translate them to Japanese. I have read this beautiful anthology in my birthday & I've enjoyed Murakami's selection a lot. Not to mention that as expected, his short story'Birthday Girl' outweigh all the others .. But he introduced me to new, contemporary writers that I would have never heard about .. I truly liked 'the Moor: Russel Banks', 'The Birthday Cake: Daniel Lyons', ' Angel of Mercy, Ang...more
I do not like Murakami's prose. That being said, I appreciate that he has an incredibly imaginative mind. But, just like in fashion or in an art gallery, appreciating that something is a work of art doesn't mean that I would like to wear it, or that I would hang it on my wall. Murakami is a fantastic writer, but who isn't really my type. As for this compilation of short stories; they're...different, to say the least. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't expect a collection of soppy, fairyt...more
Dec 27, 2014Suad Shamma rated it liked it · review of another edition
I found this to be quite a strange collection of 'birthday' stories. Some were highly enjoyable, others were just a little bizarre. I cannot honestly say that any of them stood out as a favourite of mine, but I did like ones better than others. Murakami's story at the end, 'Birthday Girl', about a waitress who gets to make a wish on her 20th birthday was one of the stories that I enjoyed. A wish that is never revealed to us, which of course annoyed me to no end because I am an incredible curious...more
Dec 29, 2015Kunjila Mascillamani rated it it was ok · review of another edition
My ex roommate's ex boyfriend had gifted this book to her on one of her birthdays. When they broke up she left it here for me. It's much later that i realized that it was a collection edited by Murakami and not completely written by him. There are some good stories in the collection. 'Dundun' by Denis Johnson is one i liked. I plan to look the author up and read more by him. Some style that i liked which seemed cinematic to me, in the way words were put, 'You'd think the sky didn't have any air...more
Apr 19, 2017Morvarid rated it liked it · review of another edition
Some people take their birthdays very seriously, and some also take other people's birthdays so seriously. All these occasions and reactions, plans, etc can tell us a great deal. The book contains 13 short stories, selected by Murakami from contemporary American writers mostly and the last one he's written himself. An interesting theme for an anthology, birthday stories. I loved 'The Moor', 'The Birthday Present' and 'Birthday Girl'.
Oct 23, 2016Hákon Gunnarsson rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Haruki Murakami is the editor, and the author of one of the thirteen stories in this book, and I picked it up because him. I thought the idea behind it was interesting enough, all stories that somehow are about birthdays. It is not all 'Happy birthday' though. Most of the stories have a more serious undertone than that. I think I can safely say that I really like about half of the stories. I had actually read, and liked two of them before I came across this book, the stories by Murakami and Raym...more
Dec 23, 2015Ye Lin Aung rated it really liked it · review of another edition
In the introduction of the book, the editor (and in one case, the author), Murakami, himself, mentioned that he hoped the reader to find at least one of the stories in the book, gives you real pleasure and makes the reader to spend part of his/her next birthday re-reading it. I dare say it hit the spot. I am going to re-read some of the stories, if not the whole book, on my next ( 17th, if you believe me :p ) birthday. Honestly, I enjoy only some of the stories and I don't quite understand some....more
Jun 21, 2017Sonaksha rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I began reading this last year, but I just had to keep it to savour on my birthday, earlier this year. Not sure why I haven’t written this review earlier, but here we go: What a strange, lovely collection of stories selected by Murakami. People usually tend to force happiness down your throat on birthdays, but I often find that absurd and unnecessary. I loved how the collection was a potpourri of emotions and feelings. While some stories left a melancholic after taste, some were haunting, and so...more
Aug 26, 2017Samar rated it really liked it · review of another edition
This book was a gift from my best friend on my 31th birthday. The poem by Paul Simon made me fall in love with the book. The introduction was very interesting. Also the brief introduction to each author by Murakami was very informative. I liked some of the stories very much and didn't enjoy some much. The Moor, Angel of Mercy,Angel of Wrath were really enjoyable. Close to the Water's Edge touched me deeply, and I also liked its style. The ending of Ride is etched in my head. Timothy's Birthday a...more
Apr 04, 2019Sam rated it liked it · review of another edition
Out of the 13 birthday stories, including one by Murakami himself, I enjoyed more than half of them, whereas the rest were just meh, or too bizarre for me. I did love the different writing styles of all the authors, but none of the stories had a “happy” birthday feel about them. Most of them just dealt with the sadness of another year passing by. It was a little depressing... But Murakami’s short story “Birthday Girl” at the end managed to lift up my spirits a little. My favorite story would have...more
SPECIAL DAYS A few weeks ago, I wrote here (https://southernyankeewriter.blogspot...), for the first time, about my birthday. I suppose one of the reasons I’d been thinking about it more than usual was because of the reading I’d been doing. It was reading that had gotten me thinking, not only about my own birthday, but about everyone else’s as well—about what birthdays in general meant, if anything, and about how different people celebrate them, face them, shy away from them, ignore them, or cope...more
May 12, 2018Krystin rated it liked it · review of another edition
Strange birthday stories - most of them more dark and gloomy than you'd expect. But all of them leave you feeling like just did not get enough closure, which I think is the aim of this anthology. Makes you feel grateful for your ordinary birthday, somehow.
Mar 21, 2015Krishna Sruthi Srivalsan rated it liked it
This is a collection of stories, selected by Haruki Murakami, each one of them revolving around birthdays. Knowing the theme of the anthology, you would expect this to be a cheery, feel-good read. But nope. Almost all the stories have a certain melancholy about them, a feeling of loss, and loneliness, leading you to deeply contemplate. Some of them leave you feeling strangely haunted. I don't think this book will be enjoyed by everyone. But it did appeal to my introverted self, and I found myself...more
Sep 07, 2014Hani Abdullah rated it it was ok · review of another edition
This is one of a number of Murakami books I bought in one go and this being my third Murakami read, I can say it's the most disappointing up till now. I feel Murakami was infatuated with the concept, that being an anthology of shorts that revolve around birthdays, and somewhere along the way was more obsessed to finish it than make a good anthology. Not all concept good on paper do well beyond.Though it's a nice idea, the majority of the stories were a bit bland and tasteless. I found myself for...more
Sep 03, 2014Kitanov rated it it was ok
Really disturbing and hard to read stories. I didn't like a single one, they're so confused and not understandable. I adore Murakami, he's one on my favorite novelists these days but this collected stories aren't the cup of my tea and I must rate this book with two stars.
Feb 26, 2016Bjørn rated it it was amazing
My favorite short story anthology.
Birthday stories is a collection of short stories. The stories have been selected by Haruki Murakami that have been written by various authors. These stories revolve around birthdays, still each story feels different. This book introduces the reader to a new set of authors such as Russell Banks, Andrea Lee, David Foster & many others. Haruki Murakami's 'The Birthday Girl' is about a girl who made a wish when she was twenty, working her shift in a restaurant. This collection of short stories...more
Feb 19, 2019Nabilah Firdaus rated it liked it · review of another edition
Birthday Stories is a collection of twelve birthday stories from the writers of Western literature. Each story left you thinking, birthdays are more than just a mere celebration, sometimes not at all. A couple of them were pretty good but some were just okay. But overall, it was not my cup of tea - you could just read it but after you finished, there would be no lingering feeling - it just stop. Actual rating: 2.8/5 stars.
Feb 20, 2018Soumik Ghosh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
An amazing collection of short stories. True to Murakami's style, most of these are centered around the loneliness people feel at different stages of their lives - whether it's an old couple whose son doesn't come to celebrate his birthday with him anymore, or a young adult who feels alienated from his divorced mother, or a demented lady finding companionship with the birds who flew into her apartment. Curated from some of the more prominent writers, Murakami writes a short introduction before e...more
Dec 31, 2018ucha rated it really liked it · review of another edition
'No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. That's all.'
I enjoyed some of the stories in the book while others left me uncertain about how I feel. I particularly liked two of them. One being 'The Birthday Cake' and the other 'Timothy's Birthday'. Birthday Girl by Haruki Murakami himself is good too.
Feb 02, 2016Adli rated it liked it · review of another edition
The book started on a good and heartwarming note with Murakami's introduction. His notes on his own birthday made me think about my own birthday, and maybe that was the point on why Murakami decides to made a collection of birthday themed short stories, he wanted the reader to reflect on their own birthdays. His introduction felt close to my heart, it was very personal especially for me who have never read any of his works apart from his fictional works, it's like getting a new glimpse of Muraka...more
Jan 09, 2012Rich Gamble rated it liked it
Birthday stories is a somewhat hit and miss. Having already read and enjoyed Murakami’s own story contribution in blind willow sleeping woman and the Raymond Carver story in what we talk about when we talk about love I still felt it was worth a read having wanted to try some Denis Johnson and David Forster Wallace. The previously mentioned authors were highlights for me along with new discoveries Andrea Lee and Russell Banks. The rest were ok with some rather disappointing. I really enjoyed Mura...more
Aug 05, 2013Rikke rated it really liked it
A collection of short stories with one theme in common: they're all about birthdays - and yet they are nothing alike. The collection is dipped in a sea of melancholia and sadness, as birthdays are often associated with reflections and a profound outlook on the life that has passed by. People find themselves longing for closure, for hope, and for something more than they ever got. My favorite story was perhaps the first one in the collection. 'The Moor' by Russell Banks is lingering in the back of...more
Oct 26, 2016Novin is currently reading it · review of another edition
The introduction was pretty good, with a short memory from Murakami himself; He writes as smooth as water flows down a river. After describing how he managed to gather all the 13 stories, and saying a little about each -pointing out that most of them are not happy stories- I specially liked the last paragraph, quite heartwarming, that said: 'Finally, as editor (and,in the one case, as author), I hope you find at least one story in the thirteen contained in this volume, whether happy or not, that...more
Sep 03, 2007Ranee rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: all readers who think birthdays are cool
Recommended to Ranee by: a bystander in NBS who was laughing while reading this book
This is the first of the Murakami book I have read. It is not really his own book,he just introduced it. A bunch of great writers happened to have a short story made with a theme on birthdays and they sort of wanted to compile it. Though this is not wholly authored by Murakami,this was the book that made me so curious to find him and read him and it all too funny, it wasn't my birthday when I bought this book, at least not for the next 10 months! So what about birthdays? What makes them special?...more
My second attempt this month at a collection of short stories. The stories in this collection were by all different authors, selected by Haruki Murakami. I think that the multitude of authors contributed, in some part, to my increased like of this book over the other (Dave Eggers' How We Are Hungry). In addition, I liked Murakami's short introduction of the author and critique of the work before each story (as well as in the introduction). The stories themselves were interesting, as well, though...more
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Murakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上 春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka... Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by Am...more
“No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves” — 10 likes
“Sometimes I get the feeling that everything that happened to me was some kind of illusion. It’s as though something happened to make me think that things happened that never really happened at all. But I know for sure that they did happen.” — 3 likes
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