LIT-Blog-Hop

Now The ladies  at The Blue Book case, have made the Lit blog hop fortnightly, I will have more time to peruse the vast cavity I like to call my head in search of an answer worthy of the ladies questions. For those of you not familiar with The Blue Bookcase’s mission, here is a quick explanation, their idea is the promotion of works of literature, (literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion). Whether, this is fiction or non-fiction & the ladies define this as  “Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure.” . So back to me and like some Knight Errant (Foolish Knave) on my Charger (meet my Charger - Glue factory, say hello) I accept this quest and will respond to

“What literary title (fiction or non-fiction) do you love that has been under-appreciated?  We all know about the latest Dan Brown, and James Patterson isn't hurting for publicity.  What quiet masterpiece do you want more readers to know?”

Luckily for me, this is an easy one & any one that knows me or has had the dubious honour of me commenting on their blog, can probably guess what I will choose.

Haruki Murakami’s Underground – Tokyo Gas Attack & The Japanese Psyche.

I have chosen this book because, even amongst the most fanatical Murakami fans, this book often gets missed, I know it’s a work of non-fiction, I know the subject matter is  not pleasant, in fact it’s down right gruesome. But for all that this book is shot through with the humanity & that questing nature that makes his fiction so readable, and by delving below the obvious surface horror he reveals a people lonely & alienated, trapped in a society enthralled by industrialisation & modernity. A people lost from their traditions, spirituality & the family ties of its past. In writing this book he questions his culture? Did it’s total acceptance of narrow conformity lead to the Aum’s  renunciation of society & it’s obsession with Armageddon, are the Aum a reaction to a culture so led by consumerism that the individual is permanently buried under a perpetual mountain of product? Some of these questions are answered, but most lead to more questions that his society & ours are will need to find answers to. For that reason this series of accounts acts as a moral compass, in a society in search of one.