Mini-Comments

Here is one more post with minimal services... I might be able to write more about these two books, that is likely true, but what I can say will be enough if I summarize.

There isn't any common element between these books except the fact I've read them in recent days.

A (In)Felicidade de Sara Lisa can be literally translated as "The (un)happiness of Sara Lisa and is a short book - 178 pages - by a Portuguese author. I was given this book for my birthday last year and finally got to it, expecting a light and simple story about a heroine who would be looking for some kind of life lesson but I wasn't particularly impressed. The plot is quite simple, the heroine decides to become a writer and knowing how many famous writers did their best work while being sad or miserable, and her not being so, she decides to look for some reason to be miserable too. She meets by chance a homeless man and he helps her through some "tasks", but it seems she continues to be simply optimist...at least until the day something unexpected happens.

I had not heard of this author before, she isn't famous here, not yet, and I had no expectation. Honestly, I didn't really connect with the story, I failed to see the point and the end, which is where the whole thing makes some sense, was delivered in a rather impersonal way. It was a good enough experience but I cannot say I've become a fan.

Grade: 6/10

Murakami's book was my last read of 2025, actually. I got it at the library because it had already gotten on my radar but I had not had the chance to buy it and this felt perfect timing!

This wasn't my first attempt at a book by the author, I had mixed results reading other books, but I had loved Sputnik, My Love, and I hoped this one would enthrall me too.

The plot is centered on the narrator, a man who likes this girl but she works in a city guarded by walls, and the only way he can be near her is if he moves there, but the catch is that his shadow cannot go and he won't be able to leave. When they separate nothing major changes for the narrator but he realizes his shadow is fading with time. One day the shadow declares he wants to leave, and will the narrator go with him, even though it might be an impossible task? At last, after some introspection, the narrator agrees, but when they go for it, he suddenly wakes up and is living a completely different life. Still, part of him seeks the emotions he had when he was pursuing that girl inside the city...

I did like this book and had a great time reading about this magical realism world and the melancholic  reflections and content. I think a few situations weren't as easy to grasp but the tone, the mood were all there and captivated me. The end, in my opinion, should have been a little more explicit or, minimum, should have required a clearer final explanation.

Grade: 8/10