Until you’ve consumed all of the best Haruki Murakami books, can you even claim to be a true fan?
- 1Q84 (Vintage International) (2013)
- Kafka on the Shore (2006)
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel (1998)
- Men Without Women: Stories (Vintage International) (2018)
- A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel (2002)
- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) (1993)
- Norwegian Wood (2000)
- What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (Vintage International) (2009)
- Killing Commendatore (2019)
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2015)
- The Strange Library (2014)
- Dance Dance Dance (1995)
- Wind/Pinball: Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 (Two Novels) (Vintage International) (2016)
- Kafka on the Shore (2005)
- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International) (2007)
1Q84 (Vintage International) (2013)
“Murakami is like a magician who explains what he’s doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers . . .
Kafka on the Shore (2006)
Kafka on the Shore displays one of the world’s great storytellers at the peak of his powers.Here we meet a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who is on the run, and Nakata, an aging simpleton who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel (1998)
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force—and one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists.
Men Without Women: Stories (Vintage International) (2018)
Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are lovesick doctors, students, ex-boyfriends, actors, bartenders, and even Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, brought together to tell stories that speak to us all.
A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel (2002)
Quirky and utterly captivating, A Wild Sheep Chase is Murakami at his astounding best.An advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend and casually appropriates the image for an advertisement. What he doesn’t realize is that included in the scene is a mutant sheep with a star on its back, and in using this photo he has unwittingly captured the attention of a man who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel (Vintage International) (1993)
Hyperkinetic and relentlessly inventive, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is Haruki Murakami’s deep dive into the very nature of consciousness.Across two parallel narratives, Murakami draws readers into a mind-bending universe in which Lauren Bacall, Bob Dylan, a split-brained data processor, a deranged scientist, his shockingly undemure granddaughter, and various thugs, librarians, and subterranean monsters collide to dazzling effect.
Norwegian Wood (2000)
Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (Vintage International) (2009)
An intimate look at writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an illuminating glimpse into the solitary passions of one of our greatest artists.While training for the New York City Marathon, Haruki Murakami decided to keep a journal of his progress.
Killing Commendatore (2019)
When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he holes up in the mountain home of a famous artist. The days drift by, spent painting, listening to music and drinking whiskey in the evenings.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2015)
An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the remarkable story of a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present.
The Strange Library (2014)
Opening the flaps on this unique little book, readers will find themselves immersed in the strange world of best-selling Haruki Murakami’s wild imagination. The story of a lonely boy, a mysterious girl, and a tormented sheep man plotting their escape from a nightmarish library, the book is like nothing else Murakami has written. Designed by Chip Kidd and fully illustrated, in full color, throughout, this small format, 96 page volume is a treat for book lovers of all ages.
Dance Dance Dance (1995)
Dance Dance Dance—a follow-up to A Wild Sheep Chase—is a tense, poignant, and often hilarious ride through Murakami’s Japan, a place where everything that is not up for sale is up for grabs.As Murakami’s nameless protagonist searches for a mysteriously vanished girlfriend, he is plunged into a wind tunnel of sexual violence and metaphysical dread.
Wind/Pinball: Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 (Two Novels) (Vintage International) (2016)
NATIONAL BESTSELLERWind/Pinball, a unique two-in-one volume, includes, on one side, Murakami’s first novel Hear the Wind Sing. When you flip the book over, you can read his second novel, Pinball, 1973. Each book has its own stunning cover.In the spring of 1978, a young Haruki Murakami sat down at his kitchen table and began to write.
Kafka on the Shore (2005)
Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father’s dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. Their parallel odysseys are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Vintage International) (2007)
The twenty-four stories that make up Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman generously express the incomparable Haruki Murakami’s mastery of the form.Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, and an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us and the things we might wish for.
Best Haruki Murakami Books: The Ultimate List
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some haruki murakami books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Haruki Murakami and the Search for Self-Therapy: Stories from the Second Basement
Author(s): Jonathan Dil
ID: 3701527, Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, Year: 2023, Size: 562 Kb, Format: epub
Novelist as a Vocation
Author(s): Haruki Murakami; Philip Gabriel; Ted Goossen
ID: 3489436, Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Year: 2022, Size: 2 Mb, Format: epub
Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage
Author(s): Gitte Marianne Hansen (editor), Michael Tsang (editor)
ID: 3073351, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2021, Size: 3 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are really record-breakers according to Los Angeles Times, others are drafted by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.