[Review] The Bakery Attacks
Happy 64th birthday to Haruki Murakami! That this year may be the year he finally wins that Nobel Prize in Literature (average age of the winners is 64) ;)
In honour of his birthday I read De broodjesroofverhalen, a little book compiling the two short 'bakery attack' stories. It was published in Dutch in November 2012 with illustrations by Kat Menschik (she also illustrated Sleep). Part of it already appeared as the short story The Second Bakery Attack in The Elephant Vanishes… and surprisingly it seems the English translation was originally published in Playboy, hah!
Anyway, the book is short, and although the story is perhaps nothing special I can’t help but love it. Two friends are so hungry they decide to rob a bakery, but despite leaving with full stomachs and bread, the robbery has 'failed'. And this has consequences..! With Menschik's illustrations this is a fun little book to have.
On another Murakami related note: Random House has released a Murakami Diary app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's a fun little app with Murakami facts and some exclusive short stories! Best of all, the app synchronises with the iCal your device, which also makes it functional. I must say I really like it and the design is excellent as well.
(Admittedly I wish they (or anyone) would also publish a 2013 paper Murakami diary again this year!)