is murakami falling off?
around the age of 20 i was first introduced to the books of haruki murakami with the acclaimed novel, kafka on the shore. It hooked me instantly drawing me into a world of believable fantasy characters, haunting and nostalgic scenery, and plots that stretched the boundaries of absurd all while allowing the maintenance of my suspension of disbelief. i felt a feeling that i suppose was somewhat similar to the dreamreader in the library. his books were like reading the extant remains of someone’s consciousness. i was immediately drawn to this style of writing and like millions in japan and around the world was soon stuffing my nose into any tome that i could find written by the author.
but lately it seems his literature has reached an impasse. while i enjoy his older work and most of his short stories i am detecting a steady decline in the quality of his work as of late. i first began sensing something was awry when i read the last book released before kafka on the shore, sputnik sweetheart. it seemed all to be building to something, the trip to greece, the portal at the summit, all to end the same way it all began. at first i thought it was a writing device of some sort, murakami was just trying to convey the frustration and psychological trama of being in a situation of utter confusion in a book about missing halves and ultimately unknowable people involved in relationships.
then came blind willow sleeping women, murakami’s first collection of short stories that i had to force myself to read through to finish. it felt like reading an “f” project in a high school creative writing class. sure there were good points; dapchick was funny, and tony takitani was fantastic literature, but the rest was a struggle to read. finally, there was the titanic piece of crap known as after dark. was there seriously supposed to be a plot to this. i felt like one of those security guards in the movies that have fallen asleep watching the disjointed cameras as they look over nothing.
anyone agree? disagree? it might just be a rant but i’d thought someone might have an opinion
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
Shes definitely at the top of my hot list.
perfeckt 10:10
Blind Willow Sleeping Woman was first published in 1995, so your chronology is way off if you’re trying to establish a trend.
I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t enthralled by Kafka, or After Dark for that matter. I think his best work is the earlier stuff, especially A Wild Sheep Chase.
I should note that I’ve never read the English translations, so I can’t comment on how the experience may differ across languages.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:40 pmThe first Murakami book that I read was “Wind-up Bird Chronicles.” I read it over the course of a week-end, and it was the most intense experience I’d ever had since my first cigarette. It’s hard to describe, but I felt that I wasn’t just reading a piece of fiction, but that I had actually been drawn into the other world. It was kind of scary in a way. After that I read “Wild Sheep Chase,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “South of the Border, West of the Sun,” and “Sputnik Sweetheart” in rapid succession. By “Sweetheat” I was beginning to come down a little bit from my Murakami high. The supernatural elements in that book seemed to be poorly integrated into the overall story, as if they were just there as plot devices. Plus, Murakami suggests a lot of directions the story could have gone in that would have been a lot more interesting than the one it took. As for “After Dark:” a really piss-poor effort. So the evidence does suggest that his writing is not as good as it once was. I am hoping, tho, that he’s just going through a rough patch and he’ll get better someday. Because I really could us another “Bird” fix.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:38 pmI’ve only read the Wind-up Bird Chronicle. And I can only describe that as a colossal waste of time. Woefully underdeveloped characters. Subplots simply forgotten and left. And a narrator as shiftless and unlikeable as I’ve ever read. Complex and surreal, some reviewers called it. Wilful and pointless weirdness, I called it.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:21 pmI am of the same opinion as overoften on “Wind Up Bird Chronicles,” although I think it’s mostly just over ambitious and never quite comes together. But his recent stuff is getting sloppy. “After Dark” was boring, and “Kafka on the Shore” is just treading water. But actually, reading “Blind Willow Sleeping Woman” reminded me why I started reading him in the first place. Oh well, good things don’t last forever.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:33 amI am perhaps overgeneralizing here but a lot of artists tend to peak when young before coasting on their prior successes until they retire. Think Akira Kurosawa, Marlon Brando, the Cure, etc. Of course there are exceptions but I’d say that early peaking is the norm (especially for exceptionally gifted types) regardless of the genre or area of art in question.
February 7th, 2008 at 4:11 amI agree with RYO but there are two exceptions :
1. Wine
2. Clint Eastwood
Only those above get better with age.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:28 amNot sure that wine can be likened to an artist, but I agree that Clint has done well in his twilight years as a director (and actor in his own movies). In a way, I attribute it to the fact that he found a new (and relatively flexible) outlet for his creativity after all those years of playing a cowboy. (My apologies if he wasn’t actually playing a cowboy. I haven’t actually seen any of his early movies.)
So, notwithstanding the above-noted exception, if your goal is to be immortalized, die young. Another way to put it would be: let’s not be too sad over the loss of the likes of James Dean since it is reasonable to assume that their artistic contributions would have diminished over time.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:43 amMany people (including me) think Murakami was ruined by his years in the US (and at Princeton in particular). I will never forget the moment I decided Murakami had lost his mind. He wrote an essay about encountering discrimination in the US, and then he went into a long autobiographical tirade about how when he was young, he ran a Jazz club and he had trouble renting an apartment because he was considered part of the mizushoubai. So Murakami’s essay was an apologia for racism, since it was OK to discriminate against people by their jobs, it would similarly be OK to discriminate against people by race. I was sickened.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:59 amAfter that, Murakami wrote a few ridiculous essays for Japanese magazines, AFAIK they have never been translated into English, and for good reason, they would be a hideous embarrassment. He wrote one essay I particularly remember, ranting and raving about his disgust for the youth of Japan, and in particular yamamba and ganguro, he considered them a threat to the entire culture of Japan. This clearly established Murakami as a cranky old fart who has completely lost touch with his own culture.
And that’s part of the criticism stemming from his stay in the US, Japanese authors think he lost touch with Japan in a bid for wider international fame. I am not going to evaluate that argument, but I do think he’s become a crotchety old oyaji, yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
I tried to read Wind-up Bird Chronicle (of course in Japanese). But it was such a long story that I was eventually fed up with reading it. On contrary his short stories are not that bad. I read couples of modern American authors’ novels translated by Murakami. ( He is a good translator.)
Somehow Murakami might be resembling Kafka in terms of the characteristics of his people that they often don’t know how to live. Those unsocial personalities are taken after author himself (Murakami as well as Kafka) ?
I find at least, Kobo Abe, Shohei Ouoka or Masuji Ibuse are much better.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:37 pmThe guy doesn’t sound like an old oyaji here :
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1811674,00.html
February 7th, 2008 at 6:47 pmI forget where, but I believe Murakami himself said it’s better to read him in translation since he intentionally tries to think in English even when writing in Japanese, or something along those lines. That said, I haven’t read anything by him in ages.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:24 pmvittel, that’s almost the same thing as what I mentioned. Murakami is cranking on some group of people that he considers a threat to the way Japan ought to be. Who appointed him guardian of Japanese society?
February 8th, 2008 at 2:43 amYou must be kidding right?
In your previous post, you clearly write that he did the apology of racism and that he criticized the worst side of the young generation (ganguros).
Then I point you to an article saying that he criticized rightists from the older generation.
And then you come back saying that it’s the same thing although anyone can understand that it’s obviously the total opposite.
Clearly speaking, it looks like you dislikes him just because he as opinions, whatever they are.
And yes, writers are the guardians of society, just like anyone else. Remember Emile Zola and Victor Hugo?
February 8th, 2008 at 6:28 pmZola?..Hugo?..Kafka?..Wounded Birds?..Wine?.. (what next! you lot have strayed off the page).
He wrote a small book about a dodgy cult at the End of the World..(did he not?)
I bought – I read it – I agree with it.
remora
February 8th, 2008 at 7:28 pmYes, Murakami wrote an interesting book (commentary w/ interviews of survivors) on Aum Shinrikyo. I think the Japanese title was “Chikatetsu” and the English translation was “Underground.” Get the 2nd/revised edition because he added a section of interviews with Aum members.
February 9th, 2008 at 3:00 amunderground was pretty good, but almost a decade old. it does raise the question in my mind however of whether murakami’s future lies in biographical and autobiographical work. he is coming out with a book in japan next year entitled what i talk about when i talk about running.
while reading you posters i have come to the following conclusion. when it comes to murakami from now on i plan to be a barnes and noble bum. reading at least the first five chapters of the book before i take it home. i would just look at the amazon, alibris, etc. ratings, but unfortunately they are filled with brain dead murakami fanboys. honestly, read the reviews for after dark. you would think it was actually an interesting book.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:54 am