Born January 12, 1949 in the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto. Grandfather - a Buddhist priest, kept a small temple. My father taught Japanese language and literature at school, and in his spare time he was also engaged in Buddhist enlightenment. In 1950, the family moved to the city of Ashiya, a suburb of the port of Kobe (Hyogo Prefecture).
In 1968 he entered the Theater Arts Department of Waseda University, majoring in classical (Greek) drama. I didn't particularly like school. He spent most of his time at the University Theater Museum, reading American film scripts.
In 1971 he married his classmate Yoko, with whom he still lives. Have no children.
He is always reluctant to share the details of his personal life. “Everything I wanted to tell people, I tell in my books.”
In April 1978, while watching a baseball game, I realized that I could write a novel. Still doesn't know why. "I just figured it out - that's all." I started to stay after the bar closed for the night and write texts on a simple word processor.
In 1979, the story "Listen to the song of the wind" was published - the first part of the so-called. "The Rat Trilogy". Murakami received the Gunzo Shinjin-sho Literary Award for it, a prestigious award given annually by the thick magazine Gunzo to aspiring Japanese writers. And a little later - the national award "Noma" for the same. By the end of the year, the prize-winning novel was sold out in an unprecedented circulation for a debut - over 150,000 copies in thick cover. After finishing The Rat Trilogy in 1981, Murakami sold his license to run a bar and turned to writing professionally.
After closing his jazz bar, he quit smoking and began to play several sports at once. Every year, two or three times he participates in marathons in various cities of the world - New York, Sydney, Sapporo, etc. In the early 90s. hosted a small talk show for night owls on one of the commercial TV channels in Tokyo, talking about Western music and subculture. He has released several "gourmet" photo albums and guides to Western music, cocktails and cooking. He still loves jazz, and although “there have been more classics lately,” he is known for his collection of 40,000 jazz records.
Over the past 25 years, he has translated into brilliant Japanese the works of Fitzgerald, Irving, Salinger, Capote, Paul Theroux, Tim O'Brien, all the stories of Carver, as well as the fairy tales of Van Alsburg and Ursula Le Guin.
In 2002, he founded the Tokyo Surume (Tokyo Dried Cuttlefish) travel club with friends, the main goal of which is to travel around the corners of the world, which are little trampled by the Japanese, with subsequent reports about it in glossy Tokyo magazines. In particular, this is also why he does not like to publish his photographs, so that he is less likely to be recognized in person where he comes unofficially.
He works on a Macintosh and often harasses his secretary, a fan of Microsoft, by choosing the wrong format when saving files.
By 2003, his stories and novels have been translated into 18 languages of the world.
I once asked my yoga teacher how to develop creativity. His answer came down to one word: "Run!"
Of course, when I saw Murakami's book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, I didn't buy it right away. Because it was at Domodedovo airport, and it costs 600 rubles there :) But the very next day I bought it in a regular store.
Haruki Murakami is one of my favorite writers, and he became one long before reading him was the fashion mark of an intelligent person. I read his first book on Psion (IT people will understand). Many people say that they say, Murakami writes, I don’t understand what, all this is nonsense and not literature at all. And I love him. I read - as if I breathe in unison, as if he is writing about me. Murakami is like jazz, or it is in tune with you, or not.
I have read all of his novels, except for the documentaries ("Underground" did not master).
My favorite book - "Wonderland without brakes or the end of the world." I didn’t read anything after it for a long time, everything went under the impression. A novel-meditation... according to the sensations that arise after.
Even if you don't love Murakami as much as I do, you can't help but admit that he is one of the most successful writers in the world, published in millions of copies.
Finally, he wrote something about himself and his writing work :))
Actually, this book is actually about running (Murakami runs marathons and super marathons). But there is also something about writing in it. I will share quotes and tell you why you need to run.
"In the work of the writer - victory, as well as defeat, this is the tenth thing. Circulations, literary awards, laudatory or abusive licenses can be perceived as a kind of indicators, but they are not the essence. It is much more important for me whether what I wrote corresponds, by my own standards, or not. And then no excuses work. It's not so difficult to justify yourself to others, but you can't fool yourself. And in this sense, writing is like running a marathon. Roughly speaking, the need to write - though not always explicit - lives in yourself, which means that it is not at all necessary to meet the criteria of the outside world.
Running is not only good for health, for me it has also become a kind of powerful metaphor. Running day after day, distance after distance, raising the bar higher and higher and overcoming it over and over again, I myself rose up. Well, or, in any case, he tried to rise to a higher spiritual level, working on himself daily and sparing no effort.
“If I am unfairly (at least from my point of view) criticized, or if someone who should have understood me for some reason did not understand me, then I run a little longer than usual. That is, thanks to the extra running, I kind of get rid of additional dissatisfaction."
By the way, my yoga teacher advises intense physical activity as the best stress reliever.
"Every time I don't feel like running, I tell myself, 'You're a writer working from home with a free schedule. You don't have to go anywhere on a packed train and die of boredom at meetings. Understand how lucky you are! (I understand!) And what is an hour-long run in the fresh air compared to these horrors?! As soon as I imagine a crowded train - and now I cheerfully and cheerfully tie my sneakers and leave the house. “You really have to try, otherwise you won’t regret it later,” I think, knowing full well that the world is full of people who, without hesitation, would prefer an electric train and a meeting to a daily hourly jog.
"In every interview I'm asked what qualities a good writer should have. The answer is obvious - a writer must have talent. No matter how much diligence and zeal you write, if you don't have talent, you will never become a good writer. It's more of a prerequisite, than acquired quality.Even the best car in the world will not budge without fuel.
The problem with talent is that in most cases a person cannot control the quality and quantity of their talent. And when it suddenly turns out that there is clearly not enough talent, then no matter how you figure out where to replenish depleted reserves, no matter how you try to save talent by stretching it longer, it is unlikely that anything will come of it. Talent lives on its own, wants - gushing, wants - dries up, and then our business is bad. Of course, the life path of Schubert and Mozart, as well as some poets and rock singers - who in a short time exhausted their exceptional talent or died at the peak of fame and were transformed into a beautiful legend by their dramatic and untimely death - few people are left indifferent, but for most of us it's not a role model though.
The second most important quality I consider the ability to focus. Or even so - to focus your, to a certain extent, limited, talent on what is vital at the moment. Without it, you won't be able to create anything of any value.
The ability to concentrate can even partially compensate for the imperfection of talent or its lack. I usually devote three to four hours in the morning to focused work. I sit down at the table and completely pass out. I don't see anything around me, I don't think about anything but work. Even an exceptionally talented writer who is overwhelmed with exciting new ideas will not be able to put them down on paper if he is - for example - suffering from a toothache (caries!). The pain makes it hard to concentrate. That's what I mean when I say that without the ability to concentrate, you will not achieve anything.
Another necessary quality is endurance. If you work with concentration for three or four hours a day, but after a week you feel that you are terribly tired, then you will not be able to write a large work. A writer - at least a writer who decides to write a story - needs a reserve of energy that would be enough for six months, a year, or even two hard work. It can be compared to breathing. If the moment when we concentrate is likened to a deep breath, then endurance is the ability to breathe slowly and silently, economically spending a deep breath. Anyone who wants to become a professional writer needs to learn how to properly combine these two techniques. After taking more air into the lungs, continue to breathe.
Fortunately, the last two qualities (endurance and the ability to focus) differ from talent in that they can be brought up and developed in oneself through training. If you work at your desk for several hours every day, focusing on one thing, you will eventually acquire both of these qualities. This is very similar to the muscle training I was talking about recently. Without stopping sending valuable instructions to your body about what you, in fact, want from it, you need to convince yourself that daily and concentrated work on a specific task is necessary first of all for you. In this way, you will gradually expand your capabilities. The bar will start to rise. The same thing happens to those who run every day to develop muscles and improve their figure. Impulse - conservation, momentum - conservation. We must be patient, but believe me, the first results will not keep you waiting.
Raymond Chandler, master of the detective genre, admitted in a private letter that, even if he had absolutely nothing to write, he still spent several hours every day at his desk, trying to focus on something - no matter what. And I perfectly understand why he did it. In this way he built up the physical stamina needed to be a professional writer. Trained willpower.
From my point of view, writing prose is hard physical labor. Yes, writing is a mental process, but to write a novel or a book, you need to work physically. This, of course, does not mean that you need to carry weights, run fast and jump high. However, most people see only what is on the surface, and consider writers to be special beings who devote almost all of their time to quiet intellectual armchair work. If you are able to lift a cup of coffee, many people believe, then you have the strength to write a story. But try to write something at least once, and you will understand that the work of the writer is not such a sinecure as it might seem from the outside. This whole process of creating something out of nothing is sitting at a table; gathering will into a beam like a laser beam; plot writing; selection of words, one by one; taking care that the thread of the narrative is not broken or tangled requires ten times more energy than the uninitiated think. The writer is in constant motion not in the external, but in his inner world. And his heavy and exhausting inner work is hidden from prying eyes. It is generally accepted that only the head is involved in the process of thinking. This is not so: the writer, having pulled on the work overalls of "narrative", thinks with his whole body, which leads to tension, and even to the exhaustion of all forces - both physical and mental.
Many talented writers perform this feat over and over again, without even realizing what, in fact, is happening. In youth, having a certain talent, one can easily write large things and effortlessly cope with the difficulties that arise along the way. After all, when you are young, your body is literally filled with vitality. You can focus on anything and at any moment, and there are no problems with stamina. It is quite obvious that there is no need to specially train these qualities in yourself. When you are young and talented - it inspires.
However, sooner or later, youth passes, and free, vigorous activity loses its "freshness and natural brilliance." You suddenly discover that things that were previously given to you without any difficulty are not at all so simple. So, the supply of a daring pitcher becomes weaker over the years. Of course, as people grow older, they come up with various ways to compensate for the gradual decline in strength. And our pitcher goes from being daring to being cunning and now specializes in speed-change shots. But everything has a limit. And now again impotence looms before us as a pale shadow.
But not very talented writers - those who find it difficult to comply with generally accepted standards - should build up their “muscles” from a young age, correctly calculating their strengths. Such writers have to train to develop endurance and the ability to focus. In these qualities they find (to some extent) a substitute for talent. And so, gradually "overcoming" the cruel reality, they can really suddenly discover a hidden talent in themselves. They sweat, dig a hole under their feet with a shovel - and suddenly they stumble upon an underground source. It is clear that this is a matter of luck, but luck is not accidental: if it were not for hard training, thanks to which the strength to dig appeared, nothing would have happened. I guess almost all late-start writers have gone through something similar.
Naturally, there are people (but, again, naturally, there are very few of them) endowed with such a powerful talent that lasts a lifetime - it does not weaken and does not deplete. Each of their works is a masterpiece, and no matter how much they draw from their source, it does not dry out. We should be grateful that such people were and are. Without them - without Shakespeare, Balzac, Dickens - world literature is unthinkable. But in the end, great they are great - that is, the exception to the rule, the legendary figures. The rest of the writers (including, of course, myself), those who are not able to soar to the top, have to compensate for the imperfection of their talent by all available means. Otherwise, they simply will not be able to write anything worthwhile. The ways in which such compensation is carried out become part of the personality of the writer. They are what make it different from others.
I learned a lot about writing books through my daily runs. It is based on practical experience - natural and physiological. How long will I last? How hard can I push myself? How much time do I need to have a good rest, and from what moment the rest is already harmful? Where does adequate loyalty to oneself end and inadequate narrow-mindedness begins? How much attention should be paid to the outside world and how deep should one dive into the inner world? To what extent do you believe in yourself? How much do you not trust yourself? I know that if I hadn't also become a runner when I became a writer, my books would have been very different. What exactly? Can not say. But the difference would be noticeable, believe me.
In any case, I am very glad that all these years I continue to run. Why? Yes, because I myself like what I write. I'm looking forward to what I can do next time. As a handicapped writer, and also an imperfect human of contradictions, I can count this joyful feeling of anticipation as a real achievement. And even in some way a miracle, although perhaps the word "miracle" is not quite right here. And if I owe all this to daily running, then, of course, I should be all the more grateful to him.
Runners are often ridiculed as being willing to go to great lengths to live longer, but I think that's not why most people run. It is important for them not to prolong their life, but to improve its quality. If we spend years, then at least it is interesting and complete, having some kind of goal, and not wandering in the fog. And I think running can help a lot with that. You need to reach your individual limit - this is the essence of running. But it is also a metaphor for life (and for me, writing). And I think a lot of runners would agree with me on that."
"Another thought - a thought on the run - about how prose is written.
I get asked from time to time, "Murakami-san, if you continue to lead such a healthy lifestyle, will you stop writing books?" To tell the truth, I almost never get asked this question abroad, but in Japan, many people believe that writing is a very unhealthy thing, that writers are extremely depraved people who, in order to create, must behave perfectly unnatural. Moreover, it is believed that in this way the writer moves away from everything mundane and philistine and approaches some self-valuable, in artistic terms, purity of perception. This notion has evolved over the years. Such are the typical - or, to put it in a positive way, the ideal - writers are found every now and then in films and television series.
In general, I am ready to agree with the opinion that writing is an unhealthy occupation. When a writer gets to work and begins to embody his intention in the text, a certain toxic substance is released that other people - and everyone has it - are hidden deep inside. The writer, realizing the seriousness of the situation, is forced to deal with this dangerous substance, otherwise there can be no talk of any genuine creativity. (I'll allow myself a somewhat strange analogy with puffer fish, the meat of which is tastier the closer to the poisonous parts. Perhaps this will bring some clarity.) In short, whatever one may say, writing books is unhealthy.
I admit that the creative process initially includes unhealthy and anti-social elements. That is why there are many decadent and, as it seems from the outside, completely antisocial personalities among writers. This is understandable, and I'm not going to deny it.
But those of us who dream of a long and successful writing career must build up the immunity to withstand the dangerous (and sometimes deadly) effects of this mental poison. By launching such an additional immune system, much more toxic substances can be dealt with. In other words, this allows you to create works that are more powerful in terms of aesthetic impact and inner strength. But in order to maintain the functioning of such a system for a long time, a huge amount of energy is needed. Where to get this energy, where to draw it from, if not from your own physical forces?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is the only true path that all writers must take. Just like there are many different books, there are many different writers, and everyone has their own way of looking at life.
Accordingly, they do different things and strive for different goals. And that means that there simply cannot be a universal path for everyone. It's not even discussed. But if you ask me - I will say that whoever is going to write a major work needs to become strong, build muscle. I believe that this is a worthy task in itself (from the series when it is better to do than not to do), and - let this be a banality - why not try (or even overdo it) if it's worth it.
To engage in work so harmful to health, you need to be an exceptionally healthy person. This is my motto. In other words, an unhealthy mind needs a healthy body. I have never ceased to feel the paradoxical nature of this maxim ever since I became a professional writer. "Healthy" and "unhealthy" are not necessarily on opposite ends of the spectrum. They do not oppose each other, but, on the contrary, complement each other, and sometimes even act together. It is only natural that if someone decides to lead a healthy lifestyle, he will only think about what is good for health. And those who are not going to lead a healthy lifestyle - about what is unhealthy. But with such a one-sided view of the world, you will never achieve anything.
Some writers, having created significant, beautiful works in their youth, suddenly discover with age that creative exhaustion has set in. This is quite aptly denoted by the word "scribble". The new works of these authors may still be good, but it is obvious to everyone that their creative energy has dried up. I believe this is because they lack the strength to withstand the effects of toxins. The physical abilities that at first allowed him to cope with the poison, at some point, having reached their limit, slowly began to wane. It becomes more and more difficult for the writer to work intuitively and spontaneously, because the balance between the power of imagination and the physical abilities necessary to maintain this power is upset. Then the writer, with the help of techniques developed over many years, continues to write as if by inertia - and the remaining energy is only enough to give the text the form of a literary work. This is very pressing, and, of course, a creative person cannot come to terms with such a situation. Some in such a situation say goodbye to life. Others decide to leave literature and change their occupation.
I'll try not to swear as much as possible. Literature seems to me to be a more spontaneous and centripetal occupation (as psychoanalysts say, centripetal). There should be positive and natural vitality in the literature. Writing a novel is like climbing a rocky mountain, overcoming cliff after cliff, and it is only after long and hard work that you reach the top. You either get over yourself or you don't. One out of two. While working on a novel, I always remember this metaphor.
It is clear that the day will come when you lose. Over time, the body inevitably breaks down. Sooner or later it will fail and disappear. When the body is defeated, the spirit (most likely) has nowhere to go.
I understand all this very well. Nevertheless, I am determined to hold on to the last, so that the moment when my vitality is no longer enough to resist the inner poison will come as late as possible. This is my writing credo. By the way, at this stage of my life, I simply do not have time to write myself out. I am running. Even when they say: "He is not a creative person."
"If I have to decide what to write on my tombstone, I will ask you to knock out the following:
Haruki Murakami
writer (and runner)
1949-20**
In any case, he never took a step
At the moment, I would like just such an epitaph."
Now a small comment.
If for you the words "human energy system" and "chakras" are akin to obscurantism, then you can stop reading :)
Why, from a yoga point of view, is running so beneficial for creativity?
The fifth energy center (or chakra) of a person is responsible for higher creativity (music, poetry, painting) - vishuddha, located in the throat. How to fill it with energy?
The fifth center is connected with the second - svadhisthana. When we work on the second center, the fifth is filled automatically. The easiest way to energize the second center is to run.
You can "pump" and the fifth center at once. But first, it's quite difficult. As my yoga teacher says, to make sour cream, you first need milk - that same energy of the lower centers.
Secondly, if you work a lot with the upper centers, the energy system becomes like a tree without roots with spreading branches. Such a tree can easily fall. Simply put, a person can go crazy (which sometimes happens with artists and writers) or seriously fail in health.
Isn't it true that this theory surprisingly echoes Murakami's arguments about creative exhaustion and "mental poison"?
In addition to running, any intense power and aerobic exercise is very useful (exactly this, not stretching and not some kind of articular gymnastics). First of all, it is running, swimming, cycling, long walks, special energy practices - qigong, some types of breathing.
I didn't want to admit it for a very long time. For me, even physical education lessons have always been "horror-horror." However, lately I've been getting a real buzz from sports :) I have a bike in the summer, skiing in the winter, and all year round. And I began to notice that it is physical activity that remarkably restores both peace of mind and a supply of creative forces. And if you do nothing, then a very important state of concentration and mood is lost quite quickly.
However, like Murakami in his book, I do not urge you to run :)
I'm just clarifying what I'm talking about when I talk about physical activity.
Haruki Murakami should not be confused with his namesake Ryu Murakami. These are completely different people and writers. However, Haruki is much more popular around the world. It is he who is primarily associated with this surname. Murakami is one of the major contemporary postmodernists in literature.
In total, he wrote 14 novels, 12 collections of short stories, one book of children's fairy tales, and five works of non-fiction. His books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold millions of copies. Murakami has received many Japanese and international awards, but so far bypasses him, although almost every year he is one of her main favorites.
Murakami is the successor of traditions and its founders like Natsume Soseki and Ryunosuke Akutagawa. However, with the filing of the Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata, he gained a reputation as a "European from Japanese literature." Indeed, Japanese culture and traditions do not play the same role in his books as in the works of the same Kawabata, Yukio Mishima or Kobo Abe.
Murakami grew up heavily influenced by American culture, and his favorite writers have always been Americans. In addition, Haruki has lived in Europe and the United States for many years, which also influenced his work.
For Japanese literature, Murakami's books are a unique example of how a Japanese looks at his homeland through the eyes of a Westerner.
Murakami's books are mostly set in contemporary Japan. Its heroes are people of the era of globalization and mass culture. If you do not take into account Japanese names and titles, the events of Murakami's novels could take place anywhere. The main characteristic of his artistic universe is cosmopolitanism. This is largely why his books are so popular all over the world.
What are the features of his work?
1. Almost all books have elements of fantasy and surrealism. So, in the novel "Wonderland without brakes and the End of the World" events take place in a city whose inhabitants do not have shadows, and the narrator reads dreams in the skulls of dead unicorns. Very often, Murakami's books describe completely ordinary people with whom extraordinary things happen. According to the writer himself, such a plot (ordinary people in unusual circumstances) is his favorite.
2. Many of Murakami's works are dystopian. The most striking example is the writer's three-volume book " 1Q84", The title of which refers to the classics of the genre - Orwell's novel "1984".
3. Murakami's novels are postmodern works. Whatever serious topic the writer takes on, he will reveal it in an emphatically detached manner, without taking any particular position, but allowing the reader to choose for himself what is more important and closer to him.
4. Music. The writer himself is a great connoisseur of jazz and is known for his unique collection of 40,000 jazz records. By his own admission, Murakami has been listening to jazz for 10 hours a day for many years.
"Norwegian Forest" tells the story of friendship, love, suffering and joys of several Japanese students. An important place in the novel is occupied by the protests of the 60s, when students from all over the world took to the streets and rebelled against the modern order. But the main theme of the novel is and how it affects people.
Kafka on the Beach focuses on two characters: a teenager named Kafka Tamura and an old man named Nakata. Their destinies are connected in a mystical way, both join the other world and live on the verge between reality and space out of time. This is a typical Murakami mystical novel, raising a huge number of philosophical topics and questions.
If you choose the most monumental book of the writer, in order to understand all his main ideas and stylistic features from one work, it is worth noting “1Q84”, which in Russian translation has the subtitle “A thousand brides hundred and eighty-four”.
The book tells about two characters - a female fitness club instructor and a math teacher. Both characters represent two different branches of this vast story. The first of them is connected with alternative worlds, and the second is more realistic, but hides a deep subtext.
The main thing in Murakami's book is how the two stories are intertwined and linked together in a single message. This three-volume epic touches on numerous topics, from love and religion to generational conflict and suicide. According to the writer, when creating this "giant novel" he was inspired by Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, which he considers one of the best works in the history of world literature.
Which Murakami books are undeservedly underrated?
Every writer has books that everyone knows about. And there are those that are either forgotten or known to a very narrow circle of fans. Murakami also has such works. Despite their low popularity, they are no less interesting to read than recognized masterpieces.
The novels " My favorite sputnik"And" Afterdarkness"- things typical of Murakami on the verge of reality and fantasy, but the writer reveals both plots 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 over the course of one night.
A book written in the non-fiction genre is also little known - a collection of autobiographical essays called " What do I talk about when I talk about running". The title of the collection refers to the work of one of Murakami's favorite writers, Raymond Carver, whose work "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" was translated by Haruki from English into Japanese.
The work represents the writer's memoirs about his studies, which, in addition to literature and jazz, is his main hobby. According to Haruka, "writing sincerely about running means writing sincerely about yourself."
Why read Murakami?
Murakami is an author who in all his books speaks either about the present or about the future of mankind. And he does it as accurately as possible. Some of his books can be regarded as warnings to society. They should be read in order not to make those mistakes that the Japanese describes.
His books are read by millions of people around the world, so Murakami's work is truly global and influential.
In addition, much in the works of the author is capable of truly expanding human consciousness. There is something in his books that can shock, amaze and delight the reader. Murakami is a true master of words, whose style is mesmerizing and a real pleasure.
Who can like the work of Murakami?
The heyday of Murakami's work coincided with the growth of his popularity among Russian readers. These events took place in the 1990s. However, unlike many other authors, love for Murakami has not faded. He still remains one of the most widely read foreign authors in Russia.
When Murakami started translating with us, his audience was mostly young people with a lot of imagination and open-mindedness. Now these people, who almost grew up on the books of the Japanese, remain his devoted fans, but the books have new fans.
Murakami is still interesting to young people, because he does not lag behind the times, and each new novel becomes relevant and modern. Therefore, it is never too late to start reading Murakami. All people who live for today and at the same time aspire to the future will definitely like his work.
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, in the family of a teacher of classical philology. He studied at the Department of Classical Drama at Waseda University and ran a jazz bar in Tokyo. He began writing at the age of 29 and has since published an average of a novel a year, waking up at six in the morning and going to bed at 10 at night. At 33, he quit smoking and started exercising by jogging and swimming daily.
"Composing music and writing novels is a wonderful right given to a person, and at the same time a great duty."
H. Murakami
Having left Japan for the West, he, who was fluent in English, for the first time in the history of Japanese literature, began to look at his homeland through the eyes of a European: "... I left for the States for almost 5 years, and suddenly, while living there, quite unexpectedly wanted to write about Japan and the Japanese. Sometimes about the past, sometimes about how things are now. It is easier to write about your country when you are far away. From a distance you can see your country for what it is. Before that, I somehow didn’t really want to write about Japan. I just wanted to write about myself and my world," he recalled in one of his interviews, which he does not really like to give.
"The ultimate goal that I achieve in novels lies in Dostoevsky's novel "The Brothers Karamazov."
H. Murakami
Murakami was one of the first to open the eyes of hundreds of thousands of readers to modern Japan with its alternative youth subculture, not much different from a similar environment in Moscow, New York, London or Istanbul. His hero is a young loafer, preoccupied with finding a girl with unusually shaped ears. He likes to eat thoroughly: he mixes green onions and veal fried with salted plums, adds dried tuna, a mixture of seaweed with shrimp in vinegar, seasons with wasabi horseradish with grated radish, sunflower oil and flavors with stewed potatoes, garlic and finely chopped salami. Without any special purpose, he drives a car around the city and shares burning questions with readers: why is the Japanese Subaru more comfortable than the Italian Maserati, how one-armed invalids cut bread, and by what miracle "fat Boy George became a superstar"? Murakami destroys the usual Japanese values with his work, such as the desire to live in harmony with the outside world, not stand out from the environment and be obsessed with a career. He breaks traditions with pleasure, for which we despise many Japanese, adherents of ancient foundations and "correct" habits.
"I like to waste time. There are so many things in the world that I love - jazz, cats ... Girls, maybe. Books. All this helps me survive."
"Supernatural, incomprehensible phenomena that appear in my novels are a metaphor to the end."
H. Murakami
He is the last romantic, looking with sadness of unfulfilled hopes at the cold muzzle of a revolver in the hand of a mercenary and convinced of the power of good.
"Personally, I enjoy playing sports every day and collecting old jazz records."
H. Murakami "
I belong to the generation of idealists of the 60s. We really believed that the world would be a better place if we tried hard enough. We tried very hard - but in a sense, we still lost. However, I try to carry the feeling of this idealism throughout my life. And I still believe that idealism is capable of doing a lot of good in the future..." - the author of many books translated into 20 foreign languages, including Russian, likes to repeat.
"What interests me is a kind of living theme of darkness within a person."
H. Murakami
He loves pop culture: the Rolling Stones, the Doors, David Lynch, horror films, Stephen King, Raymond Chandler, detectives - everything that is not recognized by the intellectual community and high-browed aesthetes from enlightened bohemian circles.
"It is possible that at the time of the rapid change of values, what I wrote happened to be to the liking of many readers [in Russia]."
H. Murakami
He is closer in spirit to the guys and girls from noisy disco bars, who fall in love for one day, an hour and remember their hobbies only while rushing on a roaring motorcycle. Maybe that's why in a woman he is more interested in unusual ears than eyes. For he does not want to pretend and remains himself in any situation, with any person. So he fell in love all over the world. This is how they love him in Russia.
One of the leading postmodern writers of our time, winner of numerous literary awards and a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the unusually productive author Haruki Murakami continues to delight fans with his works. Harukists around the world are looking forward to the wide release of the book Killing Commendatore. In the seven years that have passed since the release of 1Q84, fans have been re-reading the author's previous creations and choosing their favorite.
What is the best book by Haruki Murakami? The question is not simple. Perhaps, first you need to get acquainted with the work of this outstanding Japanese, and only then choose your own and only your best book by Haruki Murakami.
The Unexpected Writer
Haruki himself said that the desire to write arose as a mockery on April 1, 1974 while watching a baseball game at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium. The desire was clear and distinct. Five years later, the novel "Listen to the song of the wind" appeared, which received an award. Then "Pinball 1973", which the author also considered a test of the pen.
Both novels immediately gained a lot of fans and subsequently entered the "Rat Trilogy" by Haruki Murakami. "Sheep Hunt" - a novel that completed the trilogy and received another award. The author himself considered this work to be the beginning of his writing career. Then came the fourth part - "Dance Dance Dance" by Haruki Murakami. Not so many years passed, and the novel saw the light, making a victorious march through the literary platforms. With a circulation of 2 million copies, the reader was presented with "Norwegian Forest" by Haruki Murakami.
Prerequisites
The Russian translator of the works of the Japanese author Dmitry Kovalenin in the book "Murakamiedenie" confirms the belief that nothing will come of nothing. In the case of Haruki, there were prerequisites.
The boy grew up in a family of teachers of Japanese literature, which could not but affect the formation of a passion for reading, because he often heard his parents at the table discuss poetry and military stories of the Middle Ages. It is no coincidence that he studied at the theater department and specialized in classical drama at the prestigious Waseda University. Although his studies did not please him, reading a huge number of scripts definitely did not go unnoticed. And the sudden inspiration to write was probably influenced by the proximity and close communication with Buddhist philosophy thanks to his grandfather, the priest of his small temple.
And then travels to Italy and Greece, after - the Center for the Study of Foreign Cultures and Literature in Princeton. It was away from Japan, according to the author, that he felt a great need to write about Japan itself.
Now Haruki Murakami lives at home in Tokyo. Passionate about running since the age of 33, he appeared as a publicist in the book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Essays with fascinating humor are dedicated to all the runners of the Earth.
The rebellion of youth
Next door to the Harukami family's home was a bookstore with inexpensive books that were rented out by foreigners. It was from her that the author's passion for Western literature and jazz music began. For conservative Japan at the time, his fascination with American culture was truly a rebellious act. The family did not approve of Haruka's addictions. It was then that his famous vinyl collection began, when the boy saved on breakfast to buy CDs with his favorite jazz.
The rebellion will also manifest itself in the story of marriage, when, contrary to tradition, Murakami marries before he has yet stood on his own feet. His opposition to traditional family customs will also lead to the opening of a bar that Haruki, according to him, opened only to listen to music.
Only after living a long time away from his homeland, in adulthood, he will discover a new traditional Japan.
Translation activities
The Japanese writer Haruki Murakami translated into Japanese the books of F. S. Fitzgerald and T. Capote, D. Irving and J. Salinger, all the stories of Carver and Tim O. Brien, translated the fairy tales of Ursula le Guin and Chris Van Allsburg. His translation of Francis Scott Fitzgerald's 2003 novel The Catcher in the Rye became the world's highest-selling foreign fiction translation.
What is Haruki Murakami's best early book
How many readers - so many opinions. A highly prolific author with over 50 short stories and novels covering music and food, the collapse of Japanese traditions, love and death. All "harukists" have their own best book by Haruki Murakami. We will offer an overview, but the choice is still up to the reader.
Let's start with the novel, which (according to the author) became the creative reference point of the writer Haruki Murakami. "Sheep Hunt" - the third book of the "Rat Trilogy", according to critics, combines Zen philosophy and jazz improvisation. This is the first book that a Russian reader has read. The idea of the main character, Sheep, capturing and empowering the essence of different people in order to completely absorb their power, is borrowed from an ancient Chinese tradition. The interweaving and suspense, a style akin to Coppola's Apocalypse Now, engulfs the reader, as does the insidious nature of the Sheep.
The understatement, as it were, continues in Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance. A mystical detective that destroys our reality, a parallel world and dance as meaning. Dance on the edge, on the verge of ecstasy, with tears in the eyes. The whole world is a dance floor, we are all dancing ... Stopped - death. Thinking is forbidden. The metaphor is impressive.
Iconic novels
The novel "Norwegian Forest" by Haruki Murakami is noted by critics and readers as the closest to reality. It was this book, filmed in 2010, that ensured the financial well-being of the author. The strangeness of the love of the rebel Tooru Watanabe with two such different women and the polygamous sexual revolution. The struggle of spirit and flesh.
The Clockwork Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami is compared with Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace not only for the number of volumes in the novel, but also for the detailed, as if under a microscope, study of self-knowledge and self-improvement of a person. The unhurried narration at the beginning, the growth of mystical phenomena as you read Haruki Murakami's "Chronicles of a Clockwork Bird" are permeated with the universal values of good and evil, the knowledge of one's self. The meaning of life with small glimpses of love, peace and truth.
It is impossible to get around the works "Kafka on the Beach" and "One Thousand Bridesmaids and Eighty-Four" with their tremendous success with readers. When the first and second volumes of A Thousand Bridesmaids One Hundred and Eighty-Four hit the shelves in late spring 2009, the author's admirers in Japan sold out in one day. The third volume appeared a year later, and the millionth edition disappeared from the shelves in a week and a half.
Haruki Murakami's latest two-volume "The Assassination of the Knight Commander" is predicted to be more successful, which will be published in 2017. A circulation of one million copies is expected, with additional printing as needed. The plot of the novel is a mystery, but the author says that he created a single story that includes the views of different people.
Jazz in Murakami's books
The book Jazz Portraits by Haruki Murakami stands apart. Jazz aficionado from a young age, proud of his 400,000 vinyl record collection, which he began collecting at the age of 15 after attending a live concert by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. It is natural that he prepared for readers a gift in the form of descriptions of 55 jazzmen of the 20th century, starting with Chet Baker and ending with Gil Evans. After reading or listening to the collection, everyone will want to hear the music of those whom Haruki Murakami described so vividly.
It is indicative that Murakami himself said more than once in an interview that if it were not for jazz in his life, maybe he would not have written anything ...
Faithful family man
While still at the university, Haruki Murakami met his future wife Yoko. They participated in anti-war rallies together, speaking out against the Vietnam War. Together they ran the Peter Cat jazz bar, traveled around Europe and lived in America. In family life, Haruki is a true Japanese. There are almost no photos of Yoko, but she is always next to her husband and remains his first reader. In 2002, the couple founded the Tokyo Dried Cuttlefish travel club and, together with like-minded people, visit those corners of the world where the Japanese have not yet been. Yoko is fond of photography and then illustrates family reports in glossy magazines.
Instead of an afterword
Haruki Murakami's best book has apparently yet to be written. Haruki's idol in an interview calls Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The 68-year-old Japanese best-selling author commented: “He became more productive over the years and wrote The Brothers Karamazov when he was old. I would like to do the same."
