Hear the Wind Sing by Haruki Murakami

Here is a classic coming-of-age tale, set in the 1970s, in Kobe Japan. Our unnamed narrator, whom I assume is Murakami, has just finished his third year of college. It was a tough spring for our hero, so he spends his summer drinking as much beer as possible, with his friend The Rat.

The Rat is a good friend, the best blent of privately rich, reckless, and ready to sink some cheap beers. But he's depressed. College is over for him, and he's deciding to become a writer, a tall order for the self. So Murakami makes the best of his situation, and happens to meet a couple women who equate his listless melancholy. But they don't stick in his life. Everything changes, even his favorite bar.

But the memories stick around, like the western rock tunes cited in frequent epigraphs, in rotation with bits from the local radio host. These are the things that stuck with our hero, not the memory of remembering. So would I recommend this book to you? Sure. It's short and it's a classic, with an understated, beige poeticism. Hear the Wind Sing will make you think of your own life, and remember how the hard times were far from the worst times.