Haruki Murakami
written by Stuart on March 22nd, 2006
I was never a great reader of books. I did read, but not often, and not with any great passion, sort of a last resort for when I had no net access or wet paint. That was until I stumbled upon an author called Haruki Murakami, having not long returned from Japan in 2002, I was browsing Waterstones bargain bin where I found a copy of 'Norwegian Wood', a snip at a fiver. I bought it, and read most of it it on the way home from college. For the first time I had become engrossed in a novel. Quite what it was that I enjoyed so much I don't know, references to Japan maybe, being a Japanese student I'm duty bound to be a bit fanboy in at least one Japanese artform! [1]
No, it was the way Murakami created characters, tangible people who you become sure have existed. I was an immediate fan. I have since bought just about all of his works of fiction, and I have yet to be let down by his work. Most recently, 'Kafka on the Shore' is a particular favourite, in which Murakami combines the mundane and the surreal in a way only he can.
If you're looking for something to read, and you haven't got any Murakami on your bookshelf, I would suggest you get the two I mentioned here and 'Sputnik Sweetheart'. Those three are a little easier to read than some of his more abstract works, which may seem a little difficult to read without having read any of his stuff before.
- For the record: I'm not a fanboy, however, a lot of my fellow Japanese students are, and people tend to assume that because I study Japanese I am a weirdo anime fan, or that I am overly keen on Japanese women. [back]
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Fanboys pwn and you know it Stuie baby.
..still, if you’re not bothered by the local ladies or their supreme animation style, then Murakami isn’t a bad place to start
.. Kafka on the shore was the best so far imho…
I love Murakami!
For me, it’s the elegant way he mixes the surreal with the mundane. And his novels always feel like the jazz he loves to write about so much, alive, unpredictable, soulful, leaving behind a heavy but wistful feeling in the soul.
Kafka on the shore was very good, not sure it beats Norwegian wood for me though.
Exactly Alvin, you said just what I wanted to, but in a much more poetic way.