Sean Barrs 's Reviews > Birthday Girl

After reading the literary disaster known as Killing Commendatore late last year and the very tepid Men Without Women the year before, I was just about ready to give up on Murakami.

However, this short story reminded me exactly why I love the author. What makes Murakami so great is what he doesn’t say; it’s the subtle suggestions and doubt spread across character encounters that gives his writing such depth. I always question everything when I read his words. Does that mean more? Is there some hidden point behind what is happening? There are always hints at the supernatural, but they are very rarely confirmed.

With his unique take on magical realism, Murakami shows us that something fantastical could be happening in the very mundane reality of life. And that's kind of special. His stories are about real people who encounter some (possibly) extraordinary things. Birthday Girl, though very concise and short, lingered on my mind for days. I’m still questioning it right now. It could have been nothing spectacular, and it could also have been something grand and magical. It depends how you view the world.

Birthday Girl has a basic plot but it really lingers. A woman on her twentieth birthday is asked to deliver her boss’ meal to his rooms in the restaurant where she is a waitress. Seems ordinary, but after an odd conversation the man offers to grant her a wish, any wish, as her birthday present. We are never told what the wish is or if it has been granted, though the woman’s life did change afterwards. I don’t know if it’s a result of the wish or by the random places life can take us. Murakami leaves us in the dark.

So, it’s an interesting story, and one that made me realise that Murakami still has much to offer me. I need to read another one of his novels soon.