Silence Again

I'm listening to a Shusaku Endo's novel Silence in English again. I had a hard time to listen to the audiobook, so I'm trying to do it again.

I read the novel when I was in my teens. I was really hooked on his novels. I've heard the news that a famous American film director Martin Scorsese has made its movie. I look forward to watch the film.

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Listening to a Murakami

I'm listening to Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" with Audible. The story is 26 hours lond and I'm at 23 hours now. 

I once read the novel, but I didn't remember the story. The story is a typical  Murakami. I enjoy the world, but I can't understand the meaning of each episodes immediately. Maybe, when I finish it, I would feel something from the novel.

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New Audiobook Title

I started a new audiobook, "Good in Bed". The author was Jennifer Weiner as the same author of "In Her Shoes" which I previously listened to. 

The beginning of the story was really interesting. I was immediately hooked on the story and I'm looking forward to the rest of it. 

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A Poem in the Audiobook

I finished an audiobook, "In Her Shoes" by Jennifer Weiner. It was really nice. 

The last chapter, Maggie recited a poem like,

 'i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) ...'

I don't think I could understand well the poem, but I was really moved by the poem. No reason. It was a E.E. Cummings' poem. It sounded so nice. I think I should read his poems later. 

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Listening to an Audiobook

I enjoy listening to "In Her Shoes" with Audible. I'm at Chapter 19 of 60 now. I watched the film version of the novel and it has helped me to understand the audiobook. That was because the film was quite true to the original novel. 

To tell the truth, I tried to read the novel in English several years ago, but I quit that. I think I'll try to read the book later. 

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In Her Shoes

I finished an English audiobook, "Wayside School is Falling Down". The author was Louis Shachar and the story was for kids. He is a very popular writer. It was a collection of funny short stories. I sometimes laughed at the silly endings and sometimes I couldn't get the meaning of the last. 

I already downloaded the next audiobook from Audible. The title was "In Her Shoes". The story was made into a film with Cameron Diaz. I watched the movie because I was a big fan of her. It was a nice movie, so I'm looking forward to listening to the audiobook. 

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Finished Mockingbird

I finished an English audiobook, "To Kill a Mockingbird". The novel was for children or teens, but it was quite hard for me. Even so, I was really moved. And I really enjoyed their childhood episodes, these were somewhat funny. 

The narrator's father Atticus Finch was a real hero. The narrator, Scout and her brother loved each other so deeply. It was a heartwarming relationship. The whole story was based on the author's family and childhood. 

I'll watch the film version later. The movie was filmed in California. They couldn't make the movie in the south at the time because the story criticized southern racism. 

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Finished a Murakami

I finished an audiobook, "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" with Audible app. It was 14 hours long and took 10 days for me. Sometimes, l had lost while listening to Hard-boiled part, but I managed to through it. 

I really enjoyed the twisted story. It's far from realistic and of course, that was real Murakami's world. 

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The Wedding

I finished "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks in English with Audible app. I read the book several year ago. It was hard to read the novel then. That was why I didn't feel anything about the teller, Wilson. Since I misunderstood here and there, so I was just surprised the last and felt happy.  

This time, I could understand the story better than before and I found him, Wilson, was a bit too much. He had another way to show his love. That was too much. I don't think women like his way. Am I wrong?

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Finally Finished 1Q84

I finished a long story "1Q84" with its English audiobook version. The recording time is 46 hours and it took entire three weeks for me to listen to. It might be the longest novel of Haruki Murakami. 

The overall story was quite fantastic, but realistic in detail and kept in good suspense. The heroine who lived in 1984 strayed into the year of 1Q84 which has two moons. That was the start of the story. It might not be the best of Murakami, but you can't stop reading or listening to it. 

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Murakami Magazine

I bought a magazine called Haruki Murakami English Magazine published by English Journal. The magazine is for English learners. You can see the difference between Japanese are English via Murakami's works.

The most interesting part of the magazine for me is the interview with Jay Rubin. He has translated some Murakami's novels. He talked about the difficulty of translation especially between English and Japanese. For example, he worked hard to translate into English Kaeru-san and Kaeru-kun. He finally decided to translate as Frog and Mr. Frog. 

If you are English learner and a fan of Murakami, the magazine might be worth to read. 

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Seven Hours Left

I've been listening to a Murakami's novel "1Q84" with Audible, an appropriation for audiobook. The story is 46 hours long and I have seven hours left. 

The story is far from reality. That is because the author doesn't like realistic story. Only "Norwegian Wood" was a realistic one.

I'm into the unusual story almost three weeks. But it'll end soon. 

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Listening to 1Q84

I'm listening to another Murakami, "1Q84" in English with audiobook. 1Q84 is a long story. It takes over 46 hours to listen to, but I don't feel that long. 

I really like Murakami stories. In fact, I've read all of his novels. Listening to his novels in English is so much fun for me. 

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Finished "Kafka"

I finished English version of "Kafka on the Shore" with Audible. It took 19 hours, but I didn't feel that long. I wasn't bored at any moment while listening to the story.

One of the theme of the novel would be death, almost every novel has the topic though. "Death is not opposite of life, but a part of it". That really is. 

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Unstoppable Story

I listened to an audiobook in English for two and a half hours today. I couldn't stop listening to the story. The novel was "Kafka on the Shore" written by a Japanese writer Murakami Haruki. 

The story was unstoppable. I finished a half of the book now. Interesting characters appeared in the story, like Nakata-san and Jhonney Walker. The story has just begun to move faster and faster. I read the novel before, but I almost forgot about the remarkable story. I really recommend it. I think audiobook version would be good for the novel. 

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Original and Transportation

I'm listening to "South of the Border, West of the Sun" in English with Audible. It's the third time now. The original version is written by Haruki Murakami. 

The English translation is rather simple. Even I could understand with my English ability. The last time I read the original book was a long time ago, so I forgot about the details. I glanced it today and I found that the original was different from English version. Of course that's natural, but that's why we should read original text as much as we can. 

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Harper Lee Passed Away

Harper Lee wrote a remarkable debut novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," in 1960. The story was about justice and race. The novel become an American Classic and many high schools took the story as their text book. She died of age at 89 on Friday. 

To tell the truth, I didn't care much about the novel. I happened to see some tweets this week and I got interested in the story. I downloaded the title from kindle and started to read it. And the news came. 

I think many people might read the novel for the first time like me or again after knowing the news all over the world. Stories have such a power. 

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One Hour Left

I continued to listen to an English version of Murakami with Audible. I listened it two hours today. I really enjoyed listening to the novel in English.

The story is quite normal compare to other his works. Love and affairs. It seems normal, but a little bit different from others' novels. Only a little, but that makes Murakami's stories special. I can't describe it well, though. 

I'll have finished the audiobook tomorrow since I have only one hour left.
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South of the Border, West of the Sun

I'm listening to an audiobook, South of the Border, West of the Sun written by Haruki Murakami. I'm at a half of the story now. I read the book several times before, but even though I can enjoy listening to the novel in English. 

The story will be more interesting than the first half of it. I'm really thrilled to listen to the left of that. 

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Death and Lost

I finished listening to an audiobook, Norwegian Wood. It took eight days to listen to. I once read the novel, but I almost forgot about that. It was like a new story for me. 

The novel has full of deaths. The novel is regarded as a love story, but I think it's like a story of losing something or everything. Even so, there was a slight, only a little, feeling of regenerate. But it might be a misunderstanding or else. I'll listen to the story again for confirming that. 

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