Hard to say. After Kafka I would’ve said Norwegian Wood. And after NW I would’ve said Hard-Boiled. After hard boiled, I would say Wind Up Bird.

I do think Killing Commendatore breaks the mold a little bit. I do want to stress his short story collections. They really are fantastic.

The book is 336 pages, not the story.

Time Out of Joint is a fun one, as is Eye in the Sky.

This was my introduction to Murakami. I’ve read almost all his books by now, save for some of his earlier, less developed works. As you get through them, you see that he’s sort of making the same soup with slightly different ingredients. I really enjoyed Killing Commemdatore and 1Q84. My least favorite was probably Colorless Tzukuru. His short story books, particularly The Elephant Vanishes, is really good, as are his two nonfiction books about running and Writing as a Vocation.

Thomas Pynchon. I did a paper on The Crying of Lot 49 in college and was like “Ill read his other books now.” Not. I picked up Vineland. Nope. Mason & Dixon. Nope. V. Nope. Against the Day. Gravity’s Rainbow. Forget it. I’ve not like, all his books and have only ever finished Lot 49.