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Haruki Murakami (村上春樹, Murakami Haruki, 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."
Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 but 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 1982. 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 (from The Beach Boys), 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.
Source: Wikipedia (read less)
Haruki Murakami (村上春樹, Murakami Haruki, 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."
Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 but 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 1982. Many of his novels have musical themes and titles referring to classical mu... (read more)
| Genre: | Fiction, High Fantasy, Surrealism, Metaphysical |
|---|---|
| Birth Date: | Jan 12, 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Kyoto, Japan |
| Website: |
http://www.harukimurakami.com/
http://www.murakami.ch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami |
Latest Discussions
Book Reviews
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5.0 stars
Ever since I first read Murakami starting with "Sputnik Sweetheart" I am hooked on to everything he writes. I do not know what he does to me but everytime I read what he writes - its like a tidal wave lashing over me and I cannot help it. I love the feeling.
I cherish it for a long long time. South of the Border begins with a 37-year old narrator Hajimme - the owner of an upswanky jaz bar in Japan talking about his life - from where it began to where it is.
A Japanese love story; indeed, a Japanese Casablanca: it doesn't sound too promising, does it? But ignore the blurb - they've got to get people to pick it up after all - and dip a toe into the world of Haruki Murakami. This is, perhaps, the perfect place to start
for newcomers - no wells; no sheep; no slightly off-kilter worlds, just a simple, if morally complex story exquisitely told. It's the prose stye (insert here a discourse on the art of translation, but the
voice is Murakami) which will seduce you, not the narrator - he is morally ambivalent, and not in a good way. In the hands of such an accomplished writer, however, one is easily drawn in to Hajime's world.
Hajime would like to be a good man, but he has impulses; impulses which cause him to damage those he loves. The simple tale revolves around his childhood sweetheart finding him and endangering everything he's worked for. So far, so predictable; but the way in which Murakami teases out Hajime's character, and faces up to the moral dilemmas without judging his
motives - they are simply laid out for us to observe - produces a true feeling of uncertainty in the reader, and compels you through the story wishing that both outcomes were possible. A cunningly crafted tale, carried off with thoughtful aplomb, and the ideal
jumping-off point for further exploration of this most intriguing of authors. (read less)
Ever since I first read Murakami starting with "Sputnik Sweetheart" I am hooked on to everything he writes. I do not know what he does to me but everytime I read what he writes - its like a tidal wave lashing over me and I cannot help it. I love the feeling.
I cherish it for a long long time. South of the Border begins with a 37-year old narrator Hajimme - the owner of an upswanky jaz bar in Japan talking about his life - from where it began to where it is.
A Japanese love story; indeed, a Japanese Casablanca: it doesn't sound too promising, does it? But ignore the blurb - they've got to get people to pick it up after all - and dip a toe into the world of Haruki Murakami. Th... (read more)
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4.7 stars
...This book in more than one ways has managed to take me to a different land...a land of innocence lost, a land of loves betrayed, a land of hopes reborn - only to be shattered and a land of exquisite poetry. I never read Haruki Murakami earlier till i casually bumped onto it while checking out ... and then when i read the other reviews and the storyline, i knew i had to pick this one up...
Many of my friends who read this book earlier called it a "strange love story". However i wouldn't classify it as that. to me the book ran deeper on various platforms of love and other such relationships. This book has re-defined for me the meaning not just of love, but of the madness associated with it too.
Then I went on to discover what was the actual representation of this mysterious, yet in many ways a most delightful book and i got my answers so fast...It was the missing person Sumire's story...it was her lover's quest to find her out and what he got were not just fragments of her life but more...
A must read for anyone who has ever fallen in love! (read less)
...This book in more than one ways has managed to take me to a different land...a land of innocence lost, a land of loves betrayed, a land of hopes reborn - only to be shattered and a land of exquisite poetry. I never read Haruki Murakami earlier till i casually bumped onto it while checking out ... and then when i read the other reviews and the storyline, i knew i had to pick this one up...
Many of my friends who read this book earlier called it a "strange love story". However i wouldn't classify it as that. to me the book ran deeper on various platforms of love and other such relationships. This book has re-defined for me the meaning not just of love, but of the madness asso... (read more)
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4.5 stars
For a long long time now, I'd been wanting to read
this new book by one of my Favorite writers and when I
did I was beyond elation...
Haruki Murakami is a genius. He is the master of
telling a story and is the best in his genre -
whatever that may be. The six stories in this gem of a
book revolve around people's lives before and after
the Earthquake that shook Kobe in 1995.
The Psychological shock and collective grief are
beautifully depicted through Murakami's words and
prose. An electronic salesman rethinks and knows
himself after his wife disappears one day - and he has
to deliver a package. A Giant frog visits a Bank
employee seeking help to save the World. A man builds
bonfires to live and relive his life over and over
again. Such stories and more are what make this book a
true genius.
I may be biased towards Murakami but he is the best!!
These stories in the true sense portray everything
that humans have to offer. From love to loneliness to
jeaulosy to tragic.
"Honey Pie" is probably my favorite piece of the
collection. "There's at least one good thing to tell
about even the most ordinary bear," Junpei tells the
little girl who is listening to his tale of the two
bears. This fairy tale and the main story are
interwoven in such a way that we become the little
child listening to the narrator as we read. Of all the
pieces, it is the one that, I think, most perfectly
captures the delicate balance in the relationship
between the self and the world. As the author writes,
it is "about people who dream and wait for the night
to end, who long for the light so they can hold the
ones they love."
A great great read!! (read less)
For a long long time now, I'd been wanting to read
this new book by one of my Favorite writers and when I
did I was beyond elation...
Haruki Murakami is a genius. He is the master of
telling a story and is the best in his genre -
whatever that may be. The six stories in this gem of a
book revolve around people's lives before and after
the Earthquake that shook Kobe in 1995.
The Psychological shock and collective grief are
beautifully depicted through Murakami's words and
prose. An electronic salesman rethinks and knows
himself after his wife disappears one day - and he has
to deliver a package. A Giant frog visits a Bank
employee seeking help to save the World. A man builds
b... (read more)
 |
5.0 stars
One of my favourite Japanese writers. There is no one else who can write about loneliness the way he does. Murakami's collection of stories is simply superb! I was struggling to find a good blip from this book, one that will give a proper sense of Murakami's style and material. It's a problem, because when I pick something out of context, it sounds plain and ordinary. If I pick something from his dream-like sequences it sounds kitschy. This would be messing with the impact of his stories, which aren't even close to being simple or over-cute... Profound is a better description fo Murakami's work, and mystic in an urban, understated kind of way. The Washington Post Book Review says (on the book cover) that Murakami "takes big risks." and one can see why they might say that. My strong impression is that fully half of his stories are drawn from his dreams, and you know how wonky dreams can get. His work often takes a sudden shift, or it stops, without full resolution. But it's okay, dangling bits can add to the richness of a good story. The story titles are quite illustrative:
-The Wind-Up Bird and Tuesday's Women -Sleep -The Fall of The Roman Empire, The 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and The Realm of Raging Winds -The Little Green Monster -TV People -The Dancing Dwarf
Aside from these dream-like stories he's got more matter-of-fact ones (see more titles below). One of Marukami's strengths is that he can write a story almost as one tells one in conversation, starting with the bit that made you think of it in the first place, mentioning 'real life' asides and in the process including the reader in a subtle and complex experience. (read less)
One of my favourite Japanese writers. There is no one else who can write about loneliness the way he does. Murakami's collection of stories is simply superb! I was struggling to find a good blip from this book, one that will give a proper sense of Murakami's style and material. It's a problem, because when I pick something out of context, it sounds plain and ordinary. If I pick something from his dream-like sequences it sounds kitschy. This would be messing with the impact of his stories, which aren't even close to being simple or over-cute... Profound is a better description fo Murakami's work, and mystic in an urban, understated kind of way. The Washington Post Book Review s... (read more)
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