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Murakami's first published works. While the language is wonderful, and the content is filled with characteristics you would see much of in his later works, these stories meandered and dragged way too much for my liking. Not bad, but not as gripping and enjoyable as some of his later stuff.

As a big fan of the Mahabharata, I enjoyed Rajagopalachari's telling of the epic. His writing style is poetic and lyrical, and he does a great job conveying the wonder and majesty of the story.

For those looking for a pure translation, this may not be the work for them as Rajagopalachari likes to add his own insights and point out the morals of various stories (I personally enjoyed these observations, but it isn't part of the original work). Something else to note is that illustrious characters (namely Krishna and Arjuna) are referred to by many many names, so it can be somewhat difficult at times to understand who is being spoken about (I think this happens in the original sanskrit as well, so I don't blame Rajagopalachari for this).

A beautifully written romance novel. I particularly adore Murakami's descriptive and sincere writing style and his ability to really set the scene and paint a picture. My first Murakami book, can't wait to read more.