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Haruki Murakami, Download, 23murakami1_span-articleLarge, cover-(39)…
Haruki Murakami
Biography
After attending college in Tokyo and meeting his wife, he opened a jazz bar with her and operated it throughout the mid-70's to early 80's
According to Murakami, after watching a baseball game in 1978, he realized he could write a novel, and started doing so that night, eventually sending in his first novel, Hear the Wind Sing to a literary competition and receiving first place
After Hear the Wind Sing, Murakami decided to dedicate his life to writing rather than operating the bar that he had opened, starting to work on Pinball, 1973, a sequel to his first work
After having written yet another sequel to Pinball, 1973, Murakami formed the "trilogy of the Rat," which encompassed his first three novels, although he later grew disparaged at the prospect of the first two being translated into English due to their supposed immaturity
Murakami went on to write several books on non-fiction subjects, such as the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attacks, having interviewed victims as well as the members of the cult responsible for the attacks
In addition to a work dedicated to the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attacks, Murakami wrote about the 1995 Hanshin earthquake, compiling the two works into a singular book titled Underground
Later on, Murakami became interested in running and wrote on his experiences in the sport
After having grown immensely famous in the 80's following the release of his trilogy, Murakami began to travel across Europe and the United States, becoming a fellowship writer at various universities in the US
Important Works
Norwegian Wood: Centering around nostalgia for the late 1960's, Norwegian Wood primarily explores the dynamics of love for a regretful and emotionally vulnerable man who has left his home
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A book concerned with power and desire, there are many instances of explicit scenes in this novel that represent deeper implications on the meaning of human life, as well as behavior, as this book may be considered to be a study of greed
Kafka on the Shore: Perhaps the most philosophical of his works, Murakami talks about the Freudian Oedipus complex, Japanese religious traditions, and magical realism
1Q84: Focused on religious overtones, as well as the comparison/contrast between the supernatural and the disturbing, 1Q84 follows two alternative paths that the year 1984 could have taken, with the protagonist exploring the magical realm and alternating between the two
Career
Murakami never really had much of a career serving under someone else, instead having briefly been a worker at a record shop, then owning a jazz bar alongside his wife, all before his writing career, which sprung him into both financial and creative independence
Murakami continues to write works, not stopping with age as he finds writing to having become incorporated into his life, with his career not shifting ever since he released Heard the Wind Sing
Murakami's work has become more mainstream over time, with fellowship offers from universities being offered to him in the 80's, as well as many book-selling records
Time Period
Murakami is situated within the modern era of Japanese literature, also known as the post-war period, as it often deals with the traumatic effects that the military dictatorship of the 30's and 40's had upon Japanese society, as well as the complete rebuilding of the society based upon American ideals following the war
Murakami's works often tend to involve themselves with American popular culture and how it effects the average Japanese person, thus cementing his role as an arbiter of the two worlds, constantly distinguishing the two and trying to make sense of their forced synthesis
Murakami has earned himself controversy, especially amongst other Japanese authors, for his surrealist style, with some going so far as to call it "simple pop-fiction." This perhaps has parallels to the post-modern movement, which is oft critiqued for its nonsensical nature
Writing Styles
Murakami is a surrealist writer, blurring the lines between reality and fiction, although he doesn't see the two worlds as diametrically opposite
Murakami invites his readers to embrace the absurdity of his writing, although he might not always claim it to be such, as what is considered to be absurd amongst Western audiences is simply a literary device used in Japanese literature
Murakami delves into his subconscious, as well as that of his characters, to psychoanalyze their situation in order to extrapolate information to write about, although noting that he doesn't take anything from its place once he enters into "that world"
Culture
The culture that Murakami grew up seemed to be an insulated, frightened one, dominated by the trauma that his father experienced as a soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War
Murakami seems to be an introvert by all measures, preferring the company of cats and books to that of people, as well as pursuing hobbies that lead him to be alone, such as running
Murakami's works describe the relationship between American and Japanese culture, often shifting between the two in order to better understand the shift from reality to the surreal, something which has become a feature of Murakami's stories
Themes
Love - Murakami has much to say on love, and more so than the typical writer from his time period, delving into queer relationships, a feat perhaps only accomplished by Yukio Mishima unto that point (by Japanese writers, that is)
Loss - With the trauma of his father, Murakami came to know what it was like to lose someone to fear, anxiety, and psychological alienation from reality, authoring several books based primarily upon the topic of feeling remote from others
Reality - Reality is only as real as we make it to be, and Murakami explores this deeply as he tries to make sense of what we consider to be the objective truth
Childhood
Grandson of a Buddhist priest, son of a Manchurian War veteran, with both of his parents being Japanese literature teachers
Only child raised in Kyoto, Japan, obsessed with reading, particularly Western philosophers
Education
Although possessing highly educated parents, Murakami never seemed to aspire for great academic achievements, having simply attended university, not paying much attention throughout, and then graduating without it having much of an effect on his life
Attended Waseda University in Tokyo, graduating in 1973, studying drama
Translator
Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin share translating responsibilities when it comes to Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, with each translating approximately half of the work.
Philip Gabriel is a Japanologist at the University of Arizona, having studied both Chinese and Japanese culture in his college years, although now dedicating most time to translating works of Murakami and other contemporary Japanese authors
Jay Rubin is a retired university professor of Japanese studies at the University of Washington, as well as Harvard, having translated largely works by Murakami for a large portion of his life
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