Haruki Murakami

[Yōkai]

Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹 Murakami Haruk?, born January 12, 1949) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator His work has been described by the Virginia Quarterly Review as "easily accessible, yet profoundly complex".
Biography
Murakami was born in post-war Japan as part of the baby boomer generation. Although he was born in Kyoto in 1949, he spent most of his youth in Kobe. His father was the son of a Buddhist priest. His mother was the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Both taught Japanese literature.
Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers for his Western influences.
Murakami studied theater arts at Waseda University in Tokyo. His first job was in a record store (which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works). Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse (jazz bar, in the evening) "Peter Cat" in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife, Yoko. They ran the bar from 1974 until 1981. Many of his novels have musical themes and titles referring to classical music, for example, the three books comprising The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's orchestral overture), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann), and The Bird-Catcher (a protagonist in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood (after the Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).
Murakami is a keen marathon runner and triathlete, although he did not start running until the age of 33. On June 23, 1996, Murakami completed his first "ultramarathon" — a 100 km race around Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan. He discusses his relationship with marathons in his 2008 work, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Recent work
The succinct Sputnik Sweetheart was first published in 1999. Kafka on the Shore was published in 2002, with the English translation following in 2005. The English version of his latest novel, After Dark, was released in May 2007. It was chosen by the New York Times as a Notable Book of the Year. In late 2005, Murakami published a collection of short stories titled Tōkyō Kitanshū (東京奇譚集, translates loosely as "Mysteries of Tokyo"). A collection of the English versions of 24 short stories, titled Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, was published in August 2006. This collection includes both older works from the 1980s as well as some of Murakami's most recent short stories (including all five that appear in Tōkyō Kitanshū).
Murakami has recently published an anthology called Birthday Stories, which collects short stories on the theme of birthdays by Russell Banks, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Claire Keegan, Andrea Lee, Daniel Lyons, Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux, and William Trevor, as well as a specially written story by Murakami himself.
A new book of essays titled What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, featuring tales about his experience as a full marathon runner and a triathlete, has been published in Japan, with English translations released in the U.K. and the U.S. This title is a play on that of Raymond Carver's collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.

Haruki Murakami's official website

Considered one of the best japanese writers, Haruki Murakami's books were translated in over 20 languages. A writer who's greatness can be discovered only after reading...

[Orihime]

Yes, he is a sugoi writer.

[Ryuu]

seems interesting.I'd realy like to read some of his books

[Slade]

читал только одну книгу , до сих пор есть , на русском , талантливый человек

[Yume]

У меня две книги из которых одну начала читать сегодня:"Охота на овец" ну и вторая "Подземка". Первую начала читать и мне очень нравится! Он так отркрыто пишет, что кажется как будто ты там и все сам своими глазами видишь!!!!

[Yōkai]

Iata ca am terminat si cea de-a doua carte de Murakami:

In noapte

Pot sa spun ca este in primul rind o carte ce impresioneaza, atit subiesctul, cit si dupa modul in care a fost tratat. Un interval scurt de timp: de undeva de la ora 11 pina la ~6.30 dimineata, dar care poate schimba si uni atitea destine. La o adica, e prima data cind citesc o carte despre doar o singura noapte, deobicei actiunea se lungeste timp de luni,chiar ani... 5 oameni, care niciodata in viata n-ai spune ca ar avea ceva unul cu altul: o studenta, un cintaret la trombon, managera unui love-hotel, o prostituata si un functionar la o firma respectabila- dar totusi se intilnesc in noapte...o noapte in tokyo cind timpul capata alta semnificatie.
M-a impresionat felul in care se prezenta totul, parca chiar vedeai si simteai totul, atit de real parea. Iar chestia cu ochiul si camera lui Eri mi s-a parut la inceput stranie si fara sens, dar anume in asta consta farmecul lui Muarakami.
Se prezinta situatii din viata care e destul de improbabil sa ti le imaginezi in mod normal, iar momente chiar te fac sa gindesti un pic...

Long story told short: MASTERPIECE!!!

[Yōkai]

Dupa cutremur

Ce pot sa spun, nici ca m-as fi asteptat la ceva mai putin din partea lui Murakami. Un sir de povestiri, ce reprezinta un fel de raspuns la cutremurul din 1995 din Kobe. Fiecare povestioara este plasata in luna februarie, o luna dupa cutremur. Desi nu sunt afectati fizic de cutremur, ci doar spectatori ai acestora, viata fiecraui peronaj a fost oarecum afectata de acesta. Ni se prezinta si o povestire cu efecte de supranatural, destul de intrigante dupa parerea mea. Cel mai tare mi-au placut "Placinte cu miere"("Hachimitsu pai" "Honey Pie" ) si "Toti copii Domnului danseaza"("Kami no kodomotachi wa mina odoru" "All God's Children Can Dance" ).

6 stories told short: WORTH IT!!!

[Yōkai]

In cautarea oii fantastice

Ce pot sa spun, dupa ce am terminat, am ramas cu un imens gol in mine, nu stiu de ce. Cartea mi s-a parut foarte buna, iar subiectul...cum sa ma exprim mai bine, e cam abstract. Au fost momente de sublima comedie, dar si momente in care s-au atins niste teme destul de profunde. Imi aduce intr-un fel aminte de "Broscoiul a salvat Tokyo" unde desi ti se prezentau niste lucruri CLAR ireale, nu-ti venea sa crezi ca nu exista asa ceva. Parca traiai acolo su ei. Chestia cu balena si organele ei genitale, slipul, taiatul unghiilor, forfecuta de la restaurant si multe alte momente m-au facut sa apreciez realismul cu care scria. Cel mai mult m-a uimit faptul ca de-a lungul intregii carti, n-a numit-o niciodata pe prietena lui pe nume. Doar "prietena mea". Exista un intreg episod la tema "numele" dar totusi, mi s-a parut o chestie interesanta. Si motanul care are avut instantaneu nume...Sunt multe chestii interesante...despre oi. Am impresia ca acum stiu toata istoria oilor din Japonia...Poate am lungit prea mult intervalul de timp in care o citeam, nu stiu, dar in orice caz, cred ca am inteles cel putin ceva. Poate nu tot, poate nu cel mai esential, dar ceva tot am inteles...

Per total e o carte care iti prezinta multe perspective si cred ca m-a invatat sa vad.

Pe scurt: MUST READ!

[Slade]

MASTERPIECE ! WORTH IT ! MUST READ!

what's gonna be next , AWESO... ah.. who cares -_-

[Raindrops]

*IN LOVE*

[Yōkai]

slade, as long as i care, and as long as raindrops cares, there are ppl and i'm happy ))

[Raindrops]

aww, Yokai... *hugs*

[Yōkai]

lol, comment on Murakami, you can hug me at the off x)

started reading "Elefantul a disparut" let's see how 'll enjoy this one...

[Yōkai]

Elefantul a disparut

Iata ca am terminat si aceasta carte. O serie de povestioare intre care nu pot spune ca este o legatura anume(spre deosebire de "Dupa Cutremur"). Din nou toate relatate de la persoana intii, din nou aceasi stil care fascineaza. Realtii interumane prezentate clar si deschis, asa cum au fost si asa cum sunt. Idei care impresioneaza prin originalitate, care citeodata pot parea chiar stranii de conceput: cum o pereche de Lederhosen a dus la dezbinarea unei familii, cum o fabrica produce elefanti reali angro, cum un monstru mic si verde isi marturiseste dragostea unei doamne si cum un elefant dispare si nu ramine nici o urma de el. Dupa parerea mea, in cazul povestioarelor in care este vorba despre fantastic(Monstrul verde, Oamenii TV, Piticul care danseaza, Elefantul a disparut) actiunile sunt relatate atit de real, detasat chiar, incit nu prea iti vine sa spui ca asa ceva defapt nu exista.
In unele momente pot spune ca ma simteam chiar trist cind citeam. Poate nu atit subiectul, cit felul in care era prezentat ma facea sa ma simt asa. In Somnul, Fereastra, Tacerea pot sa spun ca acest sentiment era cel mai puternic. Poate ca asta si e acel ceva care uneste toate aceste povestioare. N-am nici cea mai vaga idee despre intentiile autorului la acest capitol, dar cel putin asa cred eu. La o adica, nu cred ca pot spune ca inteleg toate substraturile sau profunzimea tuturor ideilor prezentate, dar in orice caz, incetul cu incetul, incerc sa dibui ceva...

[Hikaru]

i'm reading "Norvegian Wood" now ... seems very awesome
also bought "the Wind-Up bird Chronicles"
kinda big so don't want to be pressured by libraries due dates

[Hikaru]

Norwegian Wood

Reading this book, I saw that connection between Murakami's books again
Almost the same type of characters, same situations, that proves that no matter how good of a writer someone is, imagination is NOT without boundaries, and it has a well defined limit. Not that i didn't like it, in fact, i thought it was a very good book, concerning all those emotions included. But somehow I feel sad that Murakami is like using his own standard, stable outline, and adding different toppings to each book. Maybe it's what people call "personal writing style", but i would like to see more diverse writings.

[8.5/10]