Haruki Murakami

 

Murakami (村上; "village superior") is a Japanese surname, 35th by frequency in Japan.. Murakami, who was born in Kyoto on January 12, 1949, as the grandson of a Buddhist priest, has described writing as being somewhere between cycling slowly and walking quickly. He has said that makes it unsuitable for really intelligent people who like to formulate ideas precisely.While at university, he worked at a record store, which sparked his great love of contemporary Western music and led to him running his own jazz bar in Tokyo, Peter Cat, from 1974 to 1982.

https://harukimurakami.com/author

He was exposed to books from an early age by his parents, who both taught Japanese literature. Murakami spent his childhood in Kobe, a port city with a US military base, which allowed him access to works by Western writers. In 1968, Murakami began studying drama at Tokyo's Waseda University. That is where he met his wife, Yoko, whom he married in 1971 after completing his studies.

Murakami came to writing by accident, as he related in his 2022 memoir/writing guide, Novelist as a Vocation, where he wrote, “[…] I had zero training. True, I had majored in drama and film in university, but times being what they were—it was the late 1960s—I had seldom attended class. Instead, I grew long hair and a scruffy beard and hung around in clothes that were less than clean. I had no special plans to become a writer.” But in 1978, while attending a baseball game in Tokyo, he suddenly had an epiphany: “In that instant, and based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel.”

That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing from 1979, promptly won him the Prize for New Writers from the Japanese literary magazine Gunzo. And the die was cast. “I went on to become a professional writer without ever having had to study the craft,” he wrote in Novelist as a Vocation, “It all seemed way too easy.”

Murakami published his first novel in the late 1970s, but international recognition came later. Haruki Murakami's short stories and books share similar writing styles and themes. Murakami often writes in the style of magical realism, which blends real-life experiences with mythical aspects. His stories often examine themes of loneliness and self-discovery as well.

In 1996, in a conversation with the psychologist Hayao Kawai, Murakami explained that he changed his position from one of "detachment" to one of "commitment" after staying in the United States in the 1990s.He called The Wind-up Bird Chronicle a turning point in his career, marking this change in focus.

English translations of many of his short stories written between 1983 and 1990 have been collected in The Elephant Vanishes. Murakami has also translated many works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, John Irving, and Paul Theroux, among others, into Japanese.

Exploring Murakami (Meetup #52.1 (Mini Meetup) - 15 June 2024):

On June 15, 2024, Cochin Book Club organised meetup 52.1, 'Exploring Murakami', to discuss the writer and his work. Four readers met at CCD Kaloor and did a deep dive into the oeuvre of Murakami. Attendees were:

Harris

Bala

Meenakshi

Harish

The meeting commenced with each person describing the books of Murakami that they read. It was amusing to note that all four have read some common books. This was significant as the discussion was more relatable to each other, and even the several differences of opinion that arose, emerged from a common platform of thought. The following aspects of the writer were discussed after that:

. The reason for the global acceptance of his work.

. Many accusations of misogyny in his books.

. His place in Japanese literature.

. His differences with Japanese literature and culture.

. Repeating elements and motifs in his plots and their effects.

. How foreigners try to understand Japanese culture through his books.

. His writing style and use of magical realism.

. How relationships are portrayed in his books.

Many of the topics took us into several tangential discussions, and we ended up comparing the cultures, governments, systems, languages, education, and literature of several countries. But we always returned to Murakami and continued to focus on him. The discussion that was planned for 2 hours went on for 4 hours, in which the nostalgic effect of CCD also played a part.