I was able to finish another Haruki Murakami book, another borrowed book. It was a compilation of short stories. It was said that H.M. finds writing short stories a joy more than writing novels. Thus, I thought it won’t really hurt to give it a try.

Most of the time, I read inspirational books and novels. Honestly, its my first time trying to read a compilation of short stories and another confession is, I had a hard time finishing it. It took me few months to finish because of my busy schedule and because, short stories are just plainly difficult to read. If I stop at one particular part of the story, there’s a huge possibility that I may have forgotten what the beginning part was about. lol Aside from that, let’s just say shorts are anti-climatic.

I guess one very important technique in reading shorts is that read each story continuously from beginning to end. I did that half-way the book, and it went well and better. Half-way, I started enjoying the book.

My personal favorite was the Hanalei bay. It was rather dramatic, I almost cried and at the same time, it was very realistic and mundane. Second favorite was the Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes simply because it was very entertaining.

Anyway, in every book I read, I make it a point to collect memorable quotes or lessons in life and here are some from this book.=)

“No Matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves.” – Birthday Girl

“I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is guess from the what comes floating to the surface every once in a while”- Aeroplane

“What I saw wasn’t ghost. It was simply – myself. I can never forget how terrified I was that night and whenever I remember it, this thought always springs to mind; the most frightening thing in the world is our own self. What do you think?” – The Mirror

“They tell us that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but I don’t believe that’, he said. Then a moment later, he added: ‘oh, the fear is there, alright. It comes to us in many different forms, at different times, and overwhelms us. Bit most frightening thing we can do at such times is to turn our backs on it, to close our eyes. For then we take the most precious thing inside us and surrender it to something else. In my case, that something was the wave’- The Seventh Man

“Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.” – Firefly

“If you have to choose between something that has form and something that doesn’t, go for the one without form. That’s my rule. Whenever I run into a brick wall, I follow that rule and it always works. Even if it’s tough going at the time.” – Chance Traveler

“That’s the key. And you know this thing crossed my mind at the time: maybe, chance is a pretty common thing after all. Those kinds of coincidences are happening all around us, all the time but most of them don’t attract our attention and we just let them go by. It’s like fireworks in the daytime. You might hear a faint sound; even if you look up at the sky you can’t see a thing. But if we’re really hoping something may come true it may become visible, like a message rising to the surface. Then we’re able to make it out clearly. Decipher what it means. And seeing it before us we’re surprised and wonder how strange things like this can happen…”- Chance Traveler

“Whatever the ‘noble causes’ involved, people die in war from the anger and hatred on both sides. But nature doesn’t have ‘sides’. I know this is painful experience for you, but try to think of it like this; your son returned to the cycle of nature; it had nothing to do with any ‘causes’ or anger or hatred.” – Hanalei Bay (fave)

“Numbers aren’t the important thing. The countdown has no meaning. Now he knew: what matters in your heart to accept another person completely. And it always has to be the first time and the last.” – The Kidney-shaped Stone