#barn burning

Like other works by Murakami, words are selected meaningfully so that when you read between the lines, a different perspective of the story and the characters emerge. Even when you think you might have grasped the story, you're left with lingering questions about the reality of the events - foreshadowed at the beginning by the female friend's mime performance of Tangerine Peeling:

 "This? It's easy. It [miming] has nothing to do with talent. What you do isn't to make yourself believe that there are tangerines there. You just forget that the tangerines are 𝘯𝘰𝘵 there. That's all."⁣ ⁣ 

In written form, the story for me was highly engaging and probably a 4.5/5 for me. The film adaptation however was probably a 3/5 overall, as it is more explicitly drawn out - e.g. when the man speaks about his hobby, he says 'its a crime so to speak' - 'its explicitly a crime' (as compared to the short story, which is more subtle). ⁣ ⁣ 

Murakami's stories are difficult to adapt as a film though, as they tend to have a large emphasis on the mundane aspects of everyday life, so the plot moves slowly and relies on creative direction to replicate the atmosphere in his stories. Would still recommend watching the film though - but perhaps after reading the short story! ⁣ ⁣