The Strange Library Books Feature
Paperback: 96 pages
Publisher: Knopf (December 2, 2014)
Language: English
Publisher: Knopf (December 2, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385354304
ISBN-13: 978-0385354301
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.3 x 8.4 inches
What an odd and oddly beautiful little book. A little boy enters a
quiet library “even more hushed than usual,” we’re told in the opening
line and is sent to Room 107, where he meets a creepy old librarian who
leads him deep into a maze of dark catacombs beneath the library. There,
we learn of the librarian’s ghoulish designs and the boy encounters a
small man wearing the skin of a sheep and a pretty young girl pushing a
teacart, their worlds now “all jumbled together.” Not even fresh-made
doughnuts can sweeten the boy’s nightmarish predicament as the
librarian’s prisoner. The Strange Library was designed and illustrated
by famed book jacket designer (and frequent Murakami collaborator) Chip
Kidd, whose moody and mysterious depictions of a child’s (and a
parent’s) darkest dream match Murakami’s surreal imagination. It’s hard
to discern the message. Maybe something about knowledge being free or
the value of libraries. No matter. This is vintage Murakami and, at the
same time, something entirely fresh. No one puts animal skins on humans
like Murakami. No one would dare. Read online The Strange Library book now.
The Strange Library Books Review
Reading “Strange Library” feels like a trip down memory lane … or
perhaps “down a well” or “into a dark basement” would be the more
appropriate analogy, given that this is Murakami we’re talking about.
Written in 1982, adapted as a illustrated, stand-alone short story in
2005, translated into English in 2014, it is important to remember that
this is not “new” Murakami, but rather very early Murakami–to put it
into context, the original short story was published at pretty much the
same time as “A Wild Sheep Chase,” just 3 years after his debut novel
“Hear the Wind Sing.”
As for the story itself, do not be deceived by the quick pace, young
protagonist, the illustrations, and simple vocabulary: this is not a
children’s story, but rather a “fantasy for adults” as the book cover on
the Japanese version states. The elements of magical realism are what
you’d expect from entering-his-prime Murakami, the themes of detachment,
loss, and coming-of-age (as well as the requisite mysterious, pretty
young woman) will be familiar to veteran Murakami readers, and the
ever-present menace, oppression, and threat of violence foreshadow the
darker parts of some of his later works. The combination of cute
pictures and whimsical elements with what really is a pretty heavy
storyline heightens the dissonance–and, I would argue, the enjoyment–of
this unique work. Despite being a quick read, it is one that sticks with
you and flits around the subconscious long after you close the cover
for the last time … like a dream … or perhaps a nightmare. Get online The Strange Library today.
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