Jim's good food and Murakami hurts my feelings

Is it just me, or has anyone else experienced getting a little more feminist woke than they used to be and now getting a bad feeling from some Murakami stories? Let me explain, after the jump, also there will be some pictures and discussion of eating at Jim's Good Food last night

So I haven't been reading Murakami much in the last few years. I have skipped his newer books. I tried to listen to an audiobook of that one he wrote about running but it was almost as dull as running.

This feeling started when I listened to the New Yorker fiction podcast, and author Andrea Lee had selected a Murakami story called "Barn Burning" from '92. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED the story. It is peak Murakami.

Then I read the newest issue, with a new Murakami story "With the Beatles". This one was not so great, but you know, he's 71 now so I'll cut him slack.

Both stories deal with male, writer protagonists. They are both about women they are somewhat infatuated with, largely for physical reasons. And both men are (more so with the Beatles story) largely incurious about the inner lives of the women. And then both men bond with another man in talking about the woman. Both women come to bad ends as well. One disappears, the other commits suicide.

In Burning he bros down in a frenemy way with the new boyfriend of the women he's infatuated with, and in Beatles it's the brother, many years later. In both cases the women seem like they are not very real or whole in relation to the male characters. They are like floating empty vessels.

Here's the second paragraph of the Beatles story:

"I think what makes me feel sad about the girls I knew growing old is that it forces me to admit, all over again, that my youthful dreams are gone forever. The death of a dream can be, in a way, sadder than that of a living being."

So he comes out and says it, these girls aren't real. They are representations of a dream of youth, and then when his dream dies, it's sadder than when the actual women, who he has little respect for and doesn't try to get to know, dies.

I don't know honestly this just hurts my feelings because I love his writing and I care. But I still recommend you read or listen to Barn Burning or watch the looooong Korean movie made from it called "Burning"

On to food!

 I got a new iPhone, the 11, honestly just so I could take better food photos and I do think this is better. It is somewhat dim in Jim's Good Food, so not bad! This was the cioppino special. That slab with grill marks is swordfish. I don't think I've eaten much swordfish in my life, but this steak was incredibly meaty and like a cross between chicken and steak. There are also clams, prawns and chorizo. The grilled bread  had a condiment that Thiemann said the name of but I don't think I had heard of it so I did not catch it. It was like halfway between a butter and a mayo, and it is yellow from saffron. I paired this with an Altamont IPA which was very delicious.

 This is the green tomato confit pasta. Smiller loved it and I had a good bite

Starter of avocado smash. That's a puffed up corn tortilla base and you can see Tajin on there, and pickled jicama and onion. This was so FRESH tasting. Without the chef's rec I probably wouldn't have thought to order it but I'm so glad I got to try it and would order again. Yay Jim's!