Travel Read: Murakamis

Friday, October 28, 2016

Hi guise,

I don't remember the last time I actually finish reading a book. I can't read physical book, you see. But anyway, during my trip to India, I actually finished reading one.

I contemplated a lot whether to bring Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 or Kafka on The Shore I bought few months ago. Bringing books to a road trip seems so pretentious. But better be safe than sorry. Considering the later being the lighter one, I brought Kafka on The Shore with me.



At first I was like, there's no way I'm gonna finish reading this book before this trip end. I had my watercolor set with me, full arsenal of my best pens, my trustworthy journal and of course my ever entertaining smartphone. There's no way I'm gonna have enough time to even touch the book.

I tried reading it as soon as we boarded MH0109. 2 pages and I was knocked out cold. I switched to sketching and poof, I was revived to life. Yeah, I'm never gonna finish reading this, I thought. Smartphone was useless as soon as we landed in India. I can't connect to the internet unless my sister turned on her hotspot and that thing drained up your battery like crazy. So I enjoyed few minutes of web surfing before my sister started complaining about her dying phone.

We had so many free time when car riding across the country. Bangalore to Dharwad took us 9 hours on sleeper bus. But it was a midnight bus, so sleep was the best activity. The trip from Dharwad to Goa took 4 hours. The road was bumpy. I couldn't write anything on my journal without risking stabbing our driver next to me. Let alone to read book. Huh! Flight from Goa to Delhi took 4 hours. After late dinner, I soon retreated to dreamland. There's something about sleeping on an aircraft. You just had to.

Our driver in Delhi, Rajiv Bhai was a careful driver. I could draw while in the car but I won't trust inking on a moving vehicle. By now my favorite pen busted due to aircraft pressure. All journal writing-drawing slowed down significantly. I shouldn't have use it in flight. As I said, my smartphone was practically useless the whole time. I finally picked up the book from the bottom of my bag pack. And that was when things picked up a pace.

The 4 hours drive from Delhi to Agra was filled with me reading few chapters of the very confusing book. The language was simple enough to understand but the theme remained chaotic for at least halfway through. I wanted to stop reading but there was nothing better to do so I glued my eyes on Kafka Tamura-Nakata story arc. When we set out for Jaipur, I was already at Johnny Walker's introduction chapter. Things got interesting. It was a slow burn but it was a definite burn. Another 4 hour passed and I almost wanted to skip dinner just to finish the book.

I finished reading the whole book on the last day in Jaipur. I actually regretted finishing the book so early since we still have 6 hours drive back to Delhi to catch our flight home. So when we arrived at Indira Ghandi International airport, I  raced to the bookstore, looking for anything by Haruki Murakami. The only thing on the shelves by the author was two copies of The Elephant Vanishes, a compilation of short stories.


I tried reading it but the excitement to board the plane rendered my focus astray. I don't know when I'm gonna pick up that book again. Probably never. Probably tomorrow. I don't know. But one thing I know, bringing books to a road trip is never just for a show. It's actually a very good idea.

Adieu

Terima kasih kerana sudi singgah dan membaca entry ini. Silakanlah merapu di ruang komentari bersama saya. Yeaha~

12 comments:

  1. Yeaaay Murakami! Yess, Kafka is one of my favorite among all his books. I read all of his works, and I even read some of his books several times. I can't even understand my need of reading a weird fiction from this guy :F

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    1. I've stalked your blog long enough to know that if I were ever gonna read a book, it must be by Murakami. Reading Kafka on The Shore has been traumatic, in a way. A compelling story telling. Engaging characters. But why can't he just explain the whole thing with fish and leeches falling from the sky? And what's with that Rice Bowl Hill incident? So many questions..

      I'm looking for Herman Hesse's Demian. I welcome a book review if you've written any on that. I might start reading more frequently in the future. huhu

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    2. Oh yes, too bad Murakami loves to end a story without an ending. Most of his fictions ended like that, so be ready! Something about his perception on "things that never actually end and some stories go on without explanation and even the writer who wrote it won't understand why" =.=

      Ohh, classic. My favorite Hermann Hesse book is Siddhartha *loved it.
      I also read his Steppenwolf - which I didn't quite like. Never found Demian, so hard to find his classics.

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    3. I'm gonna expect a whole lot of headache reading his work from now on. TT

      I went to Borders the other day and they don't have a single copy of Hesse's work. How sad.

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  2. yes kafka on the shore is very good, yet confusing. org cakap kene baca berkali2 baru bleh paham betul2. haha. aku baca sekali je mana ade nak baca dua tiga kali. elephant vanishes mmg xbest. top 3 murakami 1q84, kafka ngan norwegian wood. demian susah woo nak dpt lambat sampai. tp aku da baca dekat on9. boleh lah tahan. ada kaitan ngan christianity skit. german novel.

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    1. I've read few pages of Demian. Apparently my card doesn't work for Play Books purchases. I've got some idea how the story goes though would rather finish reading it in one sitting instead of re-reading the same pages over and over again until I can actually get a full copy of it.

      So yeah.

      Not finding a book you really wanna read sucks

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  3. Aku tak berapa in dgn murakami. Hahaha. Yes, dia buat kita berfikir, tapi berfikir stail deep deep gini aku tak berapa minat.

    Aku jarang bwk buku bila berjalan sbb aku ada motion sickness which is frustrating sbb aku bazirkan berjam jam tanpa buat apa2

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    1. Weird, I used to have motion sickness. Sekarang tak terus sangat. Depends on who's the driver. {leiknya motion sickness aku (kalau masih ada) hanya terjadi bila baca buku/majalah/surat khabar. Baca phone boleh pulak sampai bateri kiok

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  4. Welcome back to Malaysia monamieh~ X3

    What a pleasant coincidence, you just got back from your trip to Yindia just a few days ago, and this blog entry is about how you spent your time while traveling to/around/across/back from Yindia, and today is Deepavali. Happy Deepavali!!~ Hahah X3

    Murakami eh... okayh, it's been quite a good long while since I last read a story book or novel of any genre for leisure. I guess I could try Murakami's Kafka sometime later :3

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    1. Happy deepavali, love.

      I heard a lot of good things about Murakami so I just wanna try, I guess. Do read Kafka if you can find a copy. It was..an eye opener

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  5. cerita le labih details about your trip hehe.

    tak pernah baca buku dia. should try since i love reading but lately dont have ample time to do that. *sigh. tapi aku tak boleh baca time ada gerakan or bunyi bising *sigh again

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    1. Aku nak cerita gak tp nak cerita berserta travel log. Tunggu sat na..

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The way you comment is so telling...

Day,


Part time normal, most of the time comic enthusiast. Almost always borderline crazy. Still experimenting with comic blogging. An engineer with a vision to not be taken seriously. Everything you read on this blog doesn't represent my gender, religion or profession as a whole. Other name you might associate with me are Deaday, DayGoon, JaeminGoon and *cough* Mona *cough*