Guide books of Haruki Murakami: What special about them and why they should read
Books / / December 19, 2019
Haruki Murakami? What kind of a writer?
Haruki Murakami's not to be confused with his namesake Ryu Murakami. These are completely different people and writers. However, Haruki much more popular around the world. It was he who first and foremost associated with that name. Murakami - one of the major contemporary postmodern literature.
In all he wrote 14 novels, 12 collections of short stories, a book of fairy tales, and five works in the genre of non-fikshen. His books have been translated into more than 50 languages and sold millions of copies. Murakami has won many Japanese and international awards, but Nobel Prize yet avoids his side, even though almost every year he is one of its main leaders.
Is Murakami like other Japanese authors?
Murakami - the traditions Japanese literature and its founders like Natsume Soseki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa. However, with the filing of the Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata him the reputation of "European of Japanese literature." Indeed, the Japanese culture and tradition do not play in his books the same role that in the works of the same Kawabata, Yukio Mishima and Kobo Abe.
Murakami grew up heavily influenced by American culture, his favorite writers have always been Americans. In addition, Haruki lived for many years in Europe and the US, which also influenced his work.
For Japanese literature Murakami's books are a unique example of how a Japanese person looks at your home through the eyes of Western man.
Action Murakami books takes place mainly in modern Japan. His heroes - people era of globalization and mass culture. If you do not take into account the Japanese names, Murakami novels events could happen anywhere. The main characteristic of his artistic universe - cosmopolitan. In many ways, therefore, his books are so popular around the world.
What features of his work?
1. Almost all the books there are elements of fantasy and surrealism. Thus, in the novel "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World"Events occurring in the city, whose inhabitants have no shadows, and the narrator reads the dreams of the dead turtles unicorns. Very often in the books of Murakami describes perfectly ordinary people with whom extraordinary things happen. According to the writer, this story (ordinary people in unusual circumstances) is for him the most beloved.
2. Many works of Murakami - dystopia. The most glaring example - the three-volume book of the writer "1Q84", Whose name refers to the classics of the genre - the novel by George Orwell's" 1984 ".
3. Murakami novels - postmodern works. For whatever serious topic or undertook a writer, he will disclose it in stressed suspended manner, without taking any particular position, and allowing the reader to choose what is more important to him and nearer.
4. Music. The writer himself is a great connoisseur of jazz and is known for its unique collection of 40,000 jazz LPs. By his own admission, Murakami listens to jazz 10 hours a day for many years.
In the novel "South of the Border, West of the Sun"The protagonist (as Murakami himself before the literary career) is the owner of a jazz bar. But Murakami loves not only jazz, but rock 'n' roll, so his main novel "Norwegian wood"Named after the famous song Norwegian Wood group The Beatles.
5. In the novels of Murakami's always a place to animals, especially cats and cats. IN "Hunt for sheep"There is an old cat suffering from gases in the"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"The disappearance of the cat becomes a cause of mystical events, and in the novel" Kafka on the Shore, "the main character has a unique gift: cats understand the language and can easily communicate with them. Often, images of animals in the books of the writer directly associated with death and the afterlife.
Where better to start acquaintance with the work of Murakami?
If you belong to the category of those readers who are trying to capture the writer's work as a whole, it is best to start reading Murakami from the very first of his books to the "Trilogy of the Rat", which includes novels «Hear the Wind Sing», «pinball, 1973"And" Hunting for sheep. " A continuation of the trilogy is the book "Dance Dance Dance"By writing that Murakami got the most pleasure.
Novels series "Trilogy of the Rat" integrated character named Rat, which each time is a companion and friend of the main characters of these books. "Hear the Wind Sing" - the debut work of Murakami, in which he only feels his trademark style. In the book, there is no single story, but there is a lot of thinking and reasoning about life.
"Pinball, 1973" is more like a work of Haruki Murakami. At the main character of this book has a strange hobby - pinball, where he is given a special passion. The plot of this novel, unpredictable and surprising their turns.
In the novel "Hunting for sheep" in the body of different people dwell Sheep soul that completely replaces a person's identity, but grants him unlimited power and possibilities. Sheep goal - to establish the kingdom of chaos and anarchy in the world.
"Dance Dance Dance" tells of the events that unfold in a few years after the action "Hunting for sheep." Hero has lost touch with the world and its true "I" should be human-sheep's advice and begins to dance, dance and dance, to find himself again. This philosophical prose about the complexity of the human person.
However, most readers are accustomed to, to get acquainted with the author of any particular book. In this case it is better to start with hits Murakami "Norwegian Wood" and "Kafka on the beach».
"Norwegian Wood" tells a story about friendship, love, sufferings and joys of several Japanese students. An important place in the novel occupy protests 60s, when students around the world took to the streets and rioted against the present order. But the main theme of the novel - love and how it affects people.
In the center of the story, "Kafka on the Shore" - two heroes: a teenager named Kafka Tamura, and the old man Nakata. Their fates are mysteriously linked, both attached to the other world and live on the edge between reality beyond time and space. This is typical of Murakami's mystical novel, raises a large number of philosophical issues and questions.
If we choose the most monumental book writer to understand one product of all his main ideas and stylistic features, it is worth noting "1Q84», which translated into Russian, subtitled "A Thousand Nevestsot eighty four".
The book tells the story of two characters - a woman and instructor of fitness club and a teacher of mathematics. Both characters represent two different branches of this vast history. The first is connected with alternative worlds, and the second is more realistic, but it hides a deep subtext.
The main thing in the book Murakami - how the two stories are intertwined and linked together in a single message. This three-volume epic touches many themes: love, religion conflict of generations and the problem of suicide. According to the writer, to create this "a giant of the novel," he was inspired by "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky, which he considers one of the best works in the history of world literature.
What books Murakami unfairly undervalued?
Every writer has a book, which everyone knows. And there are those that are either forgotten or known to a very narrow circle of fans. In Murakami, too, have such works. Despite the low popularity, reading them is no less interesting than the recognized masterpieces.
novels "My favorite sputnik"And"Poslemrak"- typical Murakami things on the edge of reality and fiction, but both story writer reveals in a very original manner. The first is connected with the mysterious disappearance of the main character in the Greek Islands, and the second takes place in Tokyo for one night.
And little known book, written in the genre of non-fikshen - a collection of autobiographical essays entitled "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running». the collection's title refers to the work of one of his favorite writers Murakami Raymond Carver, whose work "What do we say when we talk about love," Haruki translated from English to Japanese.
The product is the writer's memories of the classroom marathon runningWhich, in addition to literature and jazz, is his main hobby. According to Haruki, "frankly write about running is truly write about myself."
Why read Murakami?
Murakami - author who in all his books says anything about the present, or the future of humanity. And he does it as accurately as possible. Some of his books can be regarded as a public warning. They should be read, not to make those mistakes, which describes Japanese.
His books are read by millions of people around the world, so Murakami's work really is a global and influential.
In addition, much of the author's works is able to really expand human consciousness. In his books, there is something that can shock, amaze and delight the reader. Murakami - a true master of the word, whose style is fascinating and a real pleasure.
Who would like to work Murakami?
Flowering of creativity Murakami has coincided with an increase in its popularity among Russian readers. These events occurred in the 90s. However, unlike many other authors, love Murakami is not extinguished. He still remains one of the most widely read foreign authors in Russia.
When Murakami began to translate from us, his audience were mostly young people with a rich imagination and open-minded. Now these people, almost grown up on the books of Japanese remain his devoted fans, but there are new fans in the books.
Murakami still interested youth, because he was not behind the times, and each new novel becomes relevant and modern. Therefore, start reading Murakami's never too late. All people living today's day and at the same time aspiring to the future, his work definitely will like.
Why are we talking about Murakami?
January 12 Haruki Murakami is 70 years old. In honor of the publishing date of "Eksmo" has decided to lift the veil of mystery: the long-awaited novelty "Kill Commander" almost translated into Russian and will be in stores in March of this year. In Japan, the book was published edition of 3 million copies, and foreign media have already called this novel "Japanese Gatsby in the subconscious Wonderland."
Those who want to read something of Murakami right now, you should pay attention to a series of "Evropoket. Murakami-mania». Sixteen books of the famous Japanese writer reprinted in modern format "Evropoket" with a stylish design from the world famous illustrator Bromeliad Bar.
"Evropoket" - a high-quality books in paperback, which can be read anywhere, anytime. So that a series of works by Murakami makes more easier to read.
see also🧐
- 9 novels of modern Japanese writers
- REVIEW: "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami
- 25 quotes from the life and works of Haruki Murakami