Television People -- A Series of Essays by Haruki Murakami

Author: (Japanese) Murakami Haruki, translated by Lin Shaohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-12-01
Features: This is a short story collection published by the author in 1990, consisting of 6 stories, all of which are humorous and highly readable. For example, "The TV People" tells the story of several tiny figures resembling normal humans but reduced in size and copied, who boldly break into private homes and companies. "Folklore of Our Time" features a girl who is unusually "rational" in love matters. She falls in love with her male classmate but refuses to marry him, arguing that according to "the general trend of the world," women should "marry someone a few years older." Meanwhile, she arranges secret rendezvous with him after marriage, reasoning that "marrying as a virgin means there will be no need to remain a virgin afterward." However, when the day finally arrives, he loses all enthusiasm. "Sleeplessness" tells the story of a married woman who suffers from insomnia for a whole month but finds pleasure in it, as her "life has expanded by a third." This collection showcases the author's extraordinary imagination, with each story being unexpectedly original and brilliantly conceived.