If I was in Thailand I would have finished reading 1Q84 volume 1 ages ago. The novel was published there last month. It is not long now until the English translation comes out in the UK and America. I don’t want to do anything at all except for reading my beloved Murakami’s new book.

“Rubin also remarked on Murakami’s ability to convey the commonplace in an extraordinary way. “What I love,” he said, “is how he can describe eating yoghurt at midnight or the best way to cook a hamburger or someone pouring ketchup into a sock drawer. He is very down to earth, but also has passages that are very comically detailed.”

“And it is not because he is writing about Japan that people love him. I’m not sure his readers are interested in Japan. It is about the moment to moment sensation of being in his world. Inside his head.”

Some people have said that he has never given clear and satisfactory answers in most of his stories. To me, this is just the way he treats his readers without being condescending. People who read his books should come to their own understanding and it does not really matter whether or not we can completely grasp what he means in the stories. In fact, we don’t need to try very hard to read his books, but if we can stay with each moment from the beginning to the end, the reward will be amazing. It is like a journey that we have chosen to embark on. We may not comprehend all the things that we have seen throughout the entire adventure, but the experience is simply worthwhile.

It is irrelevant whether Haruki Murakami is the greatest living author or not, but in the world of literature, he is undoubtedly a superstar. That is what I said on Twitter yesterday.

In the UK, the novel will be published in 2 volumes and have different covers from the US version. I would love to buy 1Q84 in one volume. However, I was not very impressed with one of Murakami’s novels which I bought from an American publisher. It was badly bound and unevenly cut. Hence I have pre-ordered the British version instead. The novel will also be published in Kindle format.

HEADSHOT is based on a novel called “Rain Falling Up the Sky” by a well-known Thai writer, Win Lyovarin. Initially, the author did not intend to write it as a novel, but rather as a script for an indie movie forming part of a film noir project. For some reason, it did not materialise, so the writer decided to transform the script into a novel instead; or as he called it, a film noir novel.

Every element of the book was written according to the concept of early Hollywood film noir: there is an investigation, murder, sex, corruption, crime, bad cops, prostitutes, gangsters or hoodlums, mafia, hitmen and so on, as well as a sexy sinister beautiful woman. The author also interspersed the story line with black and white images. The novel could easily be called a book noir with images, or a gallery novel. It is unsurprising that the novel is replete with a movie atmosphere such as the way the story develops, the use of flashback and a narrator voice over etc.

The movie version directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang is scheduled to be in the cinema in Thailand on 3rd November.

More details in English about the movie can be found via ThaiCinema.org: http://www.thaicinema.org/kits279headshote.asp

Note: WordPress would not allow me to link the web address to the website name above for some reason.

That’s it. I hope I have included all the books and the authors that were kindly and generously recommended by people who I asked on Twitter, apart from one person: @bangkokdave who is probably allergic to literature!   ^__^

And for me, it is pretty obvious which author and books I am going to recommend: Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. The first book is the only novel that has made me cry. The second is probably his funniest and most playful novel and the third is his most awesome and metaphysical book which I have in three editions.

To me, it does not matter if the party for which I voted wins the election or not. I just wanted to express my democratic right for once. If the party I don’t like wins the election, I will sincerely congratulate them. Everyone should accept the outcome whether they approve or not; otherwise the country will go back to the same chaotic cycle of Yellow and Red. Nobody likes corrupt politicians. But to address this problem, everyone should agree that it should be done within the democratic process. In a mature democratic society, everyone abides by the rule of law. That’s how society can move forward. We can have as many elections as we like, but when people don’t behave democratically and adhere to the law, democracy will be a dead loss.

I think Mr. Kermode was a bit harsh on the film. He needs to realise that this kind of movie was made for a certain type of audience. Those who like the film do not want to glean anything from it except for a cheap laugh although others might find nothing funny about it. If these moviegoers had to watch the competing movies that were shown in Cannes a few weeks ago, they might also have nothing nice to say about them. It is just a matter of different markets.