Comment by cpsempek | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cpsempek | Hacker News Reader

I'm skeptical of this person's ability to "know" what they don't want to read. E.g., they are recommended Shoe Dog and a King novel, which they claim they don't want to read. However, if other people have read similar books and rated them similarly to this person and have read Shoe Dog and that King novel and rated those well, then this person may like those books. It seems they are assuming they won't like them, but not for particularly strong reasons. One of my favorite authors is Haruki Murakami and I would have rated Colorless Tsukuru a 2 or 3. If that were the only Murakami novel I had read and I made the same assumptions this person made, I would have missed out on some of my favorite books.

I feel the same way in that I wonder if maybe I would like it if I read it.

For the King book, my wife read it and we talked about it and I just don’t want to read it. For the Knight book, I read the first few pages and know the Nike story and don’t want to read it.

Maybe I’m missing out and they are truly amazing. But I can’t read all that they recommend just in case they suddenly get great at recommending.

It’s a challenging problem and the risk of missing out is there. But I don’t know of any way to truly eliminate the risk unless I read every book recommended. And my life isn’t long enough.

Huh, I get recommended Murakami a lot but really didn't enjoy Colorless - maybe I'll try a different one.

Try something pre-2010. The 2010s aren't really representative of his other work nor, to be honest, quite as good as his earlier books.

If you are looking for more of magical realism Murakami has become known for, I highly recommend Hard-Boiled Wonderland, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. But really anything 1Q84 and earlier is good IMO.

Colorless is one of his worst books IMO. I would recommend Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or Kafka on the Shore.

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