Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories

Like the 2 star review on here, when I first read one of his books, I thought I was getting one from Haruki Murakami and I was VERY taken aback by how different the 2 books were. Aside from that, our reactions were quite different.I read Hard-Boiled Wonderland by Haruki and picked up Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu right after that not realizing the name differences. Silly mistake on my part but I got an introduction to one of the most interesting writers I have ever come across. Certainly my all time favorite at this point. I own all of his English language books.While the two writers are in some ways a bit similar, Ryu's work can be darker and more violent. But, in my opinion it is also more thoughtful and complex.I really enjoyed this book. Like I said before, I am a huge fan of his and this is the first collection of his short stories I have had the pleasure of reading. I loved how the stories were grouped by publishing date from the 80's into the 2000's. Ralph McCarthy's translation is, as usual, on point and so well done. There is no one out there quite like Ryu Murakami. I don't usually write reviews but If you want to read something decidedly outside of the norm, powerful, and sometimes unsettling, you should buy this book. The synopsis above does a better job explaining what the book entails better than I can. I just wanted to vouch for this author and this books quality. It is a great introduction to a very gifted author that spans several decades of his work.Thanks a lot to Kurodahan Press for bringing this book to our shores. Ryu has a pretty big catalog and it is nice to see more of it getting brought to a wider audience. Fingers crossed we get some more English versions.

I am a fan of Ryu Murakami since I read Transparent Blue. But then in The Miso Soup and the rest of his books. Always highly recommended and this collection of short stories is a very enjoyable read. Do not miss this.

One of my favorite Murakamis - I love Ryu's, not the other one's, sick sense of humor and surreal imagination, besides being a Nipponophile since the age of ten. These stories had to have come from personal experiences, whether they are his own or his warped friends' life events. There's no way Ryu could invent the occurrences in all his books. Then again, he really could have such a twisted mind.I love reading reviews of fans of "the other Murakami," who order Ryu's books by mistake, and then, give them atrocious reviews due to the grotesque scenes of decadence described by Ryu. LOL! "The other Murakami" would write Ryu's dreams as nightmares.Truly Tokyo Decadence! A must for Ryu's fans. I am never disappointed as I wait for the next volume of Ryu Murakami to be translated. The wait reminds me of when I was in high school and anxiously awaited the publishing of Tolkien's The Silmarillion, my first experience as an impatient fan. I can't wait for the next Murakami.

He thrives in the short story. I've read maybe 5 of his books now and by far this is the best. I don't normally love short stories but this was incredible. Like nothing else I've read before.

Japanese author Ryu Murakami has published a number of novels in the U.S. like In the Miso Soup and Audition. We have translator Ralph McCarthy to thank for this collection of 15 Murakami stories taken from various collections. It appears to gather many of his "greatest hits" from 1986 - 2003, and the quality is exceptionally high throughout. I got an Early Reviewer copy through Librarything.The fifteen stories are presented chronologically and most have intriguing, somewhat oblique character overlap. The first four, beginning with “Whenever I Sit At a Bar Drinking Like This,” all refer at some point, from different angles, to the baseball player Takahashi Yoshihiko. The next three from Murakami's "Topaz" collection center around call girls. A number of the remaining stories seem to be autobiographical, and others share characters and tantalizingly invoke Cuban music.This book is not for the faint-hearted. There is gritty, matter-of-fact treatment of sex, some of it far-out-there, some agonizing violence, and various kinds of abuse and self-abasement. At the same time, at various times the stories convey charm, insight, longing, and often humor. Many of them are from the female perspective. It's all very well-written (tip of the hat to translator McCarthy) and an intriguing departure for a Western reader. Some of it is very Japanese:"Throughout her offensive, Mieko addressed me as 'anata", the most neutral term in the second person. For the past couple of months she'd been calling me Yoichi, and before that Sakurai-san. I didn't like her calling me "anata'; it worried me. I knew from past experience that suddenly changing the term of address for one's partner is a prelude to a storm. Mieko didn't have the courage to demand that 'Yoichi' redress her grievance; by calling me 'anata' she was attempting to put me in a separate box."The "Decadence" in the title is largely applicable. If you're in the mood, this is an intensely engaging collection provided by a reliable guide to Tokyo's seedy underbelly. I'm glad I finally read this author.

Although I have read most of Ryu Murakami's novels and watched his movie Tokyo Decadence I hadn't come across this collection of short stories including Topaz - the basis for the movie and Title of the Collection. It is a great selection of his work spanning several decades and shows why he is the master of his craft.

Absolutely love everything Ryu Murakami has written (what has been translated any way). Perfect if you like the darker side of human nature.

Hier sind gleich 15 wohlsortierte Stories vom Skamdalautor Japans.Obwohl auf Englisch geschrieben liest es sich dank einfachen Vokabulars leicht.Die Geschichten simd wirklich gut und Ryu Murakami an sich ist ein Autor, wie man ihn selten trifft.Weder in Japan noch sonstwo auf der Welt.

Tokyo Decadence consists of a set of stories that explores Japan's outcasts and the darker side of the human psyche. Many of these stories intertwine with each other, with some characters bleeding into other stories of the same books (think something like Pulp Fiction). Although I personally found the stories interesting in how it explores the depths of what many might consider a disconcerting view of reality, some of these stories come out feeling like too much of a reflection of the author's thoughts rather than characters built from the ground up.Overall, if you enjoy stories about outcasts and don't mind the somber rhetoric, this is worth a read.

Not normally a fan of short stories, but this one's an exception!