I’m on to my next audiobook, and this time it’s Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami, who I’ve heard many good things about but have never read.
The opening of this book takes place in an elevator. An extended elevator ride that is described repeatedly, in an overly-long and quite annoying way that made me say ‘come on!’ out loud. This was not a good first impression of the book.
But I wonder, was this a purposeful way to evoke the irritation of riding in such an elevator? The rest of the book so far, outside the elevator, has not been annoying at all, so I have to assume it must have been a desired outcome of the author.
This seems to me a very risky way to start your novel. Intentionally annoying the reader in the first pages? This guy must have supreme confidence in his ability to entertain.
I hope he’s right…
Jonas David 