Haruki Murakami is a Japanese author who has written more than 20 novels, mostly in the genre of surreal fiction.
Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949 living in Japan most of his life, until his fame took over. Before starting his writing career, Murakami ran a jazz bar with his wife for seven years. The first book that Murakami published was Hear the Wind Sing, which subsequently won the Gunzou Literature Prize in 1979. After his success as an emerging author, Murakami published two more books to complete the Trilogy of the Rat. Murakami has written a plethora of fiction books since then, but he has also ventured into non-fiction writing. Murakami's works have been translated and enjoyed all across the world, with his popularity still growing.
With Murakami's main genre being fiction with a surrealist twist, it is no surprise that Murakami has described his writing process as "like having a dream". Murakami adds elements of mystery that seep beneath the words written on the page to give the whole story an uneasy undertone. This mystery comes in a literal form in his stories with multiple journeys converging at some point. However, this mystery and surrealism also come from the outlandish characters and instances that happen in almost every novel. For example in the novel Kafka on the Shore, the character Nakata can speak to and sense cats.
I think that being able to write such other-worldly stories, while still filling them with aspects of real life is a type of collecting that Murakami uses. He uses his imagination for the fictional portions, but also incorporates real-life events, on a personal or historical level. Another aspect of the collecting that Murakami uses is his inspiration from other authors. Being able to incorporate ideas from Franz Kafka or Kurt Vonnegut, while being true to his own self-expression creates a beautiful blend of a story only made possible by this inspiration.
I read the first two books in the Trilogy of the Rat and I definitely picked up on the dreamlike qualities of Murakami's writing. I think you bring up a really good point about how he involves his personal interests in his work -- it's interesting to see the things that the creator enjoys peeking through in their art. I think that this tendency he has to incorporate can also create a peek into his own head -- one of the things I also noticed in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball was that all of the female characters are very two dimensional. It's kind of jarring to realize that just like cats and jazz, Murakami's beliefs on women also carry through into his writing.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your analysis of of his use of real-life aspects in surrealist stories. I am familiar with Murakami but have honestly yet to read any of his novels. I am a huge Vonnegut fan, so your mention of him has persuaded me to actually get around to reading something.
ReplyDeleteI am a huge fan of his work, and one of the most interesting things to me is his variety of mediums that he uses for his inspirations. Your theory about collecting makes complete sense, and I think he has a heightened gift for that ability.
ReplyDeleteWow, Murakami sounds like he has really developed a unique writing style over the course of his career. The idea of fiction with a surrealist twist sounds akin to something out of the Twilight Zone or similar media. I like how Murakami adds things simply because he likes them, meaning that he is inspired by himself to continue writing his work.
ReplyDeleteI read Kafka on the Shore in high school and I still remember it so well! It was such a fascinating book, perhaps a little above my level at the time, but there were so many twists and turns and connections within the web of that story. I can really see how Murakami is a creative author, and I do hope to read some more of his work soon.
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