Every Haruki Murakami Novel, Ranked
Haruki Murakami is forever a favorite of mine. I absolutely worshipped him in high school and he helped rekindle a love of literature during that time. His ability to set a mood and explore outlandish concepts without seeming silly or childish has always been his strength in my eyes.
I’m personally a big fan of his short stories and would say my favorite of his works are in that medium. But, I’ve also read all of his novels that have been translated into English, so, without further ado, here is my personal list of the worst to best, accompanied by my reasoning.
Dance, Dance, Dance
Someone has to come last on the list. Dance, Dance, Dance simply didn’t wrap up the “Rat” saga as I wanted it to. While I adored the first half of the novel, with its suspense and absurdity, the second half of the novel felt forced. It’s very Murakami, but in the ways that simply don’t appeal to me — like the random tangents that take up considerable space in the book and interrupt the action or the uncomfortable preoccupation with a teenage girl.
Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore is a classic use of dual narrative in Murakami’s work. Such a setup will unequivocally leave you trying to piece together how the stories merge, and they always do in fantastic and often eerie ways. This work is frequently referred to as a masterpiece, and it certainly has a lot of reasons to be considered a highly skilled piece of literature. With little to do with the masterful writing in the novel, Kafka just didn’t grab me the way some of his other novels have. While I was completely in love with the character of Nakata and his strange abilities, Kafka’s story just didn’t pull me in. Kafka easily has some of Murakami’s most skillful and praised prose, but something about Kafka’s storyline didn’t click for me. That being said, this is one of his most popular works, so if this list was going to influence you to read or not read his work in any way, please still do give this one a go.
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle is without a doubt an absolute challenge of a novel. I read it initially when I was a relatively young and inexperienced reader, so much of the story went completely over my head. Based on that initial reading, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle maintained the spot of my least favorite Murakami novel for quite a long time.
But when I gave it a reread, I found a lot more to like in it. The story, however, is still intense and confusing, often following long tangents that are inarguably interesting but don’t seem to clearly fit into the timeline of the story. It’s also long, not only in the number of pages but in how little action can take place over chapters. Maybe I’m admitting I’m a bit dimwitted, but the intense focus this novel requires makes it more challenging than, in the end, I think it’s worth.
Hear the Wind Sing
Hear the Wind Sing is Murakami’s first novel. If you’re a fan of Murakami and his work, this is a must-read. You can really feel his naivety as a writer in this one, but it’s still very much his style. I see this novel as sort of a director’s commentary on a DVD set. It could be a bit uncaptivating if you’re not truly invested, but if you are a fan of the work it’s a real treasure.
South of the Border, West of the Sun
South of the Border, West of the Sun reminds me of his short stories but stretched out into a short novella. It’s charming and charismatic with a ton of ambiguity and mystery. This mix mimics what I love so much about his short stories — there are multiple answers to the questions the novel raises, and so many places to find yourself in the prose. The only real fault I find with this novel is that it just doesn’t stand out amongst my favorite novels of Murakami’s. It’s a charming and light read to complete in an afternoon in bed or at a coffee shop.
Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage
There are a lot of things that didn’t really captivate me with this novel, but overall I found the story arch to be very satisfying. Without giving too much away, the novel very skillfully builds a mystery, solves it, and brings the reader to a very touching ending. The premise, however, is a bit dull and I didn’t find a lot to like in Tsukuru. To be fair, he does stand out amongst Murakami’s often indiscriminate male protagonists, but not in, ahem, GOOD ways. Also, the quintessential weird sex dreams go a bit too far in this one for me personally.
A Wild Sheep Chase
My favorite bit of A Wild Sheeps Chase is really the end. But getting to that point is a bit arduous. If it wasn’t Murakami, the annoyingly detailed depiction of ears may have kept me from continuing. This novel is the heart of the Rat saga, and probably the one the most people read. It’s got a good bit of mystery, but it doesn’t feel totally resolved by the end.
After Dark
I really love After Dark. It’s about as close to crime fiction as Murakami has ever gotten. It’s mysterious and does an eerily good job at provoking the feelings of exploring a city of questionable safety at night. The office worker in this one, who seems to appear rather randomly, still haunts me. The sister of the protagonist who sleeps in an inexplicable coma also haunts me.
Sputnik Sweetheart
One of the major contention points with Murakami’s work, and why his work doesn’t always sit well with a young, often female, Western audiences, is his portrayal of women. As a young American woman myself, there’s no shortage of instances in Murakami’s body of work involving women or young girls that simply do not sit well with me.
At the same time, some of Murakami’s female characters are honestly some of the most relatable female characters that I have read. It’s as though Murakami fully embodies the male gaze so intensely that he can deeply understand what it’s like to be a woman in such a culture. These female characters are complicated and manage to embody womanhood even when it’s not flattering. Women are also frequently the instigators in Murakami’s imagined worlds. These women are the mediums through which supernatural events take place while remaining the fixers of problems in reality. Even when his work crosses the line of what many consider feminist or politically correct, I find it hard to argue that Murakami doesn’t have a deep respect for womanhood.
This is particularly clear to me in Sputnik Sweetheart. Sumire is a woman I can find bits of myself in. The novel also deals with her relationship with another woman, Miu, in a relatively mature way. Sputnik Sweetheart doesn’t have nearly as much street credit as some of his other works, but I really do believe it deserves much more attention, if mostly for being the home to some of his more enticing female characters.
Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood was the first book I read of Murakami’s, and I‘ll repeat many others’ sentiment that it’s a great place to start. My first reading of this novel was in high school, so I found the melodramatic female characters very relatable. On re-read, it’s not my absolute favorite, but it has a lot of nostalgia for me, which gives it some bonus points.
Pinball, 1973
Pinball, 1973 usually comes hand-in-hand with Hear the Wind Sing, but I do feel like Murakami really hits his stride a bit more with Pinball, it being his second short novel. In particular, I find the ending of this novel very memorable. This novel also builds up in a way you wouldn’t expect, which Murakami does a lot in his later work.
1Q84
As I said before, I love Murakami’s female characters. A lot of women my age can’t stand his depiction of women and the very male-centered gaze they’re portrayed through. His infrequent female protagonists usually get some heat too, but I personally love and relate to a lot of them. Aomame is definitely one of those female characters that really resonate with me.
1Q84 also has my favorite mystical imagery. It’s quintessential Murakami that I still think about years later. The two moons, Jazz music on a congested freeway, weird mystical communes, and the thin threads that hold us all together make this book magical. And memorable.
Killing Commendatore
I don’t think a lot of people loved Killing Commendatore, but I personally adored it. There were times when I was genuinely on edge as though I was reading an amazing piece of horror. A lot of Murakami’s protagonists sort of blend together and seem all like the same person, however, Commendatore’s protagonist really stands out in my mind, for whatever reason. Like with some of his other work, I have some reservations about how young women are characterized and used, but the story is captivating and even a bit scary.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World
Hard-Boiled Wonderland is easily my favorite Murakami work, for all the reasons things usually become our favorites. There’s the skill of the writing and the pace of the story, but there’s also the personal connection I feel with the novel that can’t quite be summarized or packaged into a way that can convince others of its majesty. It also happens to be his most mystical and detached from reality — it still has the very Murakami-Esque habits of scrutinizing every last detail of cooking spaghetti, lusting after women with at least one quirky trait, and listening to jazz or classical music in the middle of the night. But it’s also his most thorough attempt at world-building in the high fiction sense. It’s a duel narrative that starts about as far apart as they could then slowly coalesce. The ending is insanely bittersweet and incredibly memorable.
There you have it, my personal ranking of all of Murakami’s works. There is of course very little objectivity here, so feel free to disagree! I love discussing Murakami’s work and I always find it so interesting to hear others’ opinions.
