| Title | : | Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2: The Second Bakery Attack, Samsa in Love, Thailand |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 4805317671 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9784805317679 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 128 |
| Publication | : | First published April 9, 2024 |
Haruki Murakami's novels, essays and short stories have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into scores of languages. Now for the first time, in this three-volume series, Murakami's best-loved stories are available in manga form in English.
With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami's signature themes of loss, remorse and confusion, the three stories in this volume are:
The Second Bakery Attack: A newlywed couple lie in bed, hungry. The man tells his wife that ten years earlier, he and his friend tried to rob a bakery. The baker told them that if they listened to Wagner's Tannhauser and The Flying Dutchman with him, they could take what they wanted. They did so and left with enough bread to feed them for two days. On hearing this story, the woman suggests they try the same thing. They drive around Tokyo looking for a bakery, but the only place open is a McDonald's. With a shotgun they demand 30 Big Macs. They find an empty parking lot where they eat until their fill. The man feels calm and satisfied after this experience.
Samsa in Love: is an extension of the tale of Gregor Samsa in Kafka's Metamorphosis. The main character wakes up finding himself transformed into someone named Samsa, and then falls in love with a hunchback woman who comes to fix the lock on his door.
Thailand: A middle-aged woman takes a break from her job as a doctor to go on holiday in Thailand. She learns from a spirit doctor that her sterile life and inability to forgive have created a rock in her gut, which will be all that remains of her after she is dead.
These new graphic versions of classic Murakami short stories will be devoured by his fans and will provide a new window onto his work for younger readers not yet familiar with it!
Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2: The Second Bakery Attack, Samsa in Love, Thailand Reviews
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This second volume of Murakami's manga was incredibly short and rather lacking in substance, consisting of 3 very short stories. My favourite of which was Vietnam, which follows a middle aged doctor as she leaves a highly stressful life in America to return to Japan, passing through Vietnam on the way. Here she befriends a chauffeur who allows her to open up her heart and her worries. I'm still not sure I entirely like the artistic style used, as the pictures sometimes feel a bit hurried and lacking in detail. However overall the stories are OK.
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I’ve always been a big fan of Murakami’s unique writing, so I was super excited to dive into one of his manga collections. This one in particular was made up of 3 stories.
The artwork was beautifully drawn, and so unique to look at. I spent so long taking in all the expressive details. As for the actual stories, they were very surreal and weird. If you haven’t read Murakami before, this is definitely a great one to start with.
Synopsis and Thoughts:
The Second Bakery Attack - In this a newlywed couple lies in bed hungry. The man recounts a time he and a friend robbed a bakery. After hearing this the woman suggests they try the same thing, but instead of a bakery, they end up robbing a McDonalds. This one was honestly just really fun and wild. I enjoyed how random the entire story seemed but would have loved for more to happen in it.
Samsa in Love - This one was definitely homage to Kafka’s story, Metamorphosis which was really interesting. The story is about a being that morphed into a human and ends up falling in love. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, but I was definitely surprised by this one. Such an intriguing story.
Thailand- Is about a woman who specializes in thyroid medicine. She ends up taking a vacation to Thailand where she learns she has a rock in her gut. This one had me on the end of my seat, nothing about it was predictable. This story was so unique and creative, probably my favorite out of the 3. -
This is the second book in the series, this time with 3 short stories by Murakami, adapted by Deveney.
I had already read Samsa in Love (in the collection Men Without Women (
https://wordsandpeace.com/2017/07/16/...).
The art style didn't work as much for me as in book 1. For sure, it's super expressive, but I don't like too much what PMGL does here with faces especially.
Still, if you have never read Murakami, that's a good way to try.
Not sure why the English translator's name is never mentioned. Sigh... -
had read all three stories over the years, but i enjoyed revisiting them in this darkly visual format
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Murakami manga of a few short stories, volume of 3 more. Quick and mainly enjoying the grapgical presentations of the stories read years ago. Very Japanese in style.
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I didn't care for the vast majority of these stories; only one of them were interesting. This may sound a bit harsh but I think I definitely prefer Murakami's works to be in novel form and not graphic novel.
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I enjoyed this less than the previous volume. I am definitely more familiar with the first 2 stories, so maybe I had higher expectations for them. Liked it but didn't love it. I hear there will be a 3rd volume, I'll still read it.
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5 Stars • Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2 is the second of three volumes, which will present a total of 9 short stories from Murakami's bestselling collections. With their trademark mix of realism and fantasy, centering around Murakami's characteristic themes of loss, remorse and confusion, the three stories in this volume are:
• The Second Bakery Attack A recently married couple, lying hungry in bed one night, decide to rob a bakery. Will this action bring them the satisfaction they seek?
• Samsa in Love In a reversal of Kafka's Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa wakes up as a human after living as a bug. The story follows him as he slowly tries to understand what it is to be human.
• Thailand Satsuki, a middle-aged doctor, travels to Thailand for a conference and then for a much-needed vacation. An unexpected encounter with a spiritualist causes her to re-evaluate her life. -
I have not read the three Murakami stories covered in this volume but I have a hard time believing they are as vapid as they come across in this adaptation. Nothing happens - no one fully reveals or solves their issues, there isn't any action, and in the end you're just left wondering what was the point. There's a lot of the onomatopoeia throughout all of the stories and while it's an interesting concept, it's a little distracting.
The art is interesting but not entirely one I enjoyed - body angles and imperfections are overemphasized. The first two stories are rather dully colored which doesn't help the overall sense that these stories don't contain much depth.
Not sure I'd bother going back to check out the first volume. I guess for Murakami fans this is kind of a "must see" but I don't think it's going to blow anyone's socks off. -
I really enjoyed this manga version of three of Murakami’s short stories. I just wish I’d read them before as I feel I’d have been able to concentrate on the pictures more and notice differences and nuances from the text based stories.
I was also a little disappointed by how quickly I read the book. I tried to absorb the pictures - and they were fabulous - but I still finished the whole thing very quickly. I will revisit it, and it is a beautiful book to keep,
and enjoy again, but still too short !
In terms of the stories … well they were surreal and very Murakami . I loved the characters and their ordinary yet entirely extraordinary lives . I loved the mythical style - the dreams - and the allegories and the pictures really did capture their essence.
Very pleased I found this collection and it was thoroughly enjoyed … just not for long enough . -
4.5
The art styles incorporated into the Murakami Manga volumes are dreamlike in their own right and perfectly capture the shaky vibe of his stories. The original onomatopeias aid in this othering. Each of these three stories had some twist which really kept me on my toes. "Thailand" in particular is the most fleshed out of any of the seven stories which has come out so far. I will certainly reread these in another year or two. For someone who wants to get an idea for Murakami in the most immersive way, this is a decent place to look! -
I always enjoy Murakami’s stories, so it’s no surprise that I enjoyed this comic book, too. And yes, it is a comic book, contrary to what it says on the cover (‘Manga stories’).
I could not have possibly given it five stars, though, for the following reasons:
1. I thought the first story was not that engaging and rather unpleasant (and not in the usual awkward and surreal way that Murakami’s known for).
2. The language just didn’t flow and the choice of words seemed odd at times. Maybe it’s the translation, not sure. -
Another nice representation of Murakami's stories in graphic form. The art in Thailand is particularly vibrant. However, there is a severe lack of content with only three brief stories. There's no reason why these volumes couldn't be combined into a larger one, other than to squeeze more out of the consumer.
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Definitely I prefer reading Murakami as novels rather then as Graphic Novels. The drawing style did not vibe with me , but I loved the stories.
In order of preference I would have to say
1- Second bakery attack
2- Thailand
3- Samsa In love
But it could change at any time . This is just how I feel at this particular moment -
The graphics were better in this one!! Samsa in Love is from Men Without Women, and it was the only story I had read previously. My imagination was similar to that in the graphics, and that was cool. Thailand story was my favourite.
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Excellent re-telling of Samsa in Love and Thailand. The illustrations in Thailand are superb and authentic. These Manga editions add a beautiful new layer to his work but I suggest reading the true short stories first.
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I'll be honest, I didn't really get any of these stories. Maybe that is on me, maybe not. I haven't read the short stories in their original format, so perhaps there is something lost for first time readers through this graphic novel adaption.
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i really enjoyed revisiting these stories (i have read them in print in the past), but the art style wasn’t my favourite.
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Fun!
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Hardly know where to start - weird stories, with weird pictures.
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That was weird.
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I only gave this 4 stars because 'Thailand' was so good! The first story was odd in a minimal interest kind of way, and the second story was just ....unfortunate.
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These adapted short stories are great!
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3.5
I liked this more than the first volume -
Metamorpho!
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Poetic and mysterious, just like me!
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Fine.
Knocked out the book in one sitting.
Not as fun as the first HM manga collection
