I discover surprisingly late some of the world-famous authors whose Nobel prizes are imminent, and I am glad for that. I also see that if I had read the author’s story ten years ago, I would not have been able to understand it properly. I am telling about my journey to Haruki Murakami novels with the author, who is this year’s gift and discovery.
I was reviewing books written in English in my school library. I studied the interesting book on the “New Arrivals” shelf with interest. Haruki Murakami “ Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage ”
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
What would the adventures of a colorless man described by his adjective tell? The cover was beautiful too.
A hand and fingers. A subway station diagram on the thumb with a color on each finger. I borrowed the book and saw that it was plain language.
The story was impressive. It was about 5 high school friends who were passionately attached to each other. Four of them had one of the Japanese color names in their surnames. However, our hero, Tsukuru, had a color-free name. He had mingled with the other talented members of the group by chance, but he felt uneasy as if someone would notice and fire him at any moment. Because the other four friends in the group (two girls and two boys) played the piano, captained the sports team and stood out in their schools with various skills. And with their win in college, all of a sudden, these foursome kicked our hero out of the group hard.
Now, after this short start, I can’t say that the subject is striking when reading because there is no explanation, there is no reason and there is a young person who lost the branch he was holding in life and fell into depression. But it can be said that he has held on well and started to give a direction to his life.
The book grabs you instantly. However, no one is yelling at anyone, nor are there any weapons that raise ratings. There are only humans. The inwardness of the young man and the flow of events draw you to read. It’s like a magic expressive power.
When I finished the novel, some of my questions were answered, and some of them I couldn’t. This really affected me. In general, novelists always reach an end with the reader’s pressure. Good or bad events come to light, everything is revealed, either a happy ending or a dramatic finale that makes you cry.
You know, real life is not like that. Someone points to you and talks about you. Life is full of unfulfilled true stories, dramas or romances. That’s why I liked the author. In his later books, even if it was the strangest, the most difficult for the mind to accept, he spoke calmly, without exaggeration, which is quite normal. It’s not an effort of persuasion, an attempt to deceive you, or an effort to sell your book. Rather, getting to know the character he described and living with them had a shocking effect.
1Q84
Then I thought about which book I should read. There was a good list of books. The title of this book caught my attention. First I read it like IQ (intelligence) 84. Then I sensed that he was referring to 1984 and the famous novel. So I started the book. The fact that it was a thick novel was not a problem at first. I read it quickly because the story was interesting. I just found the last part to be a bit of a repetition, but I didn’t mind it. This book, which has already been published in a single volume in our country, was published in 3 separate volumes in Japan over the years.
So, if we tell what it is about without explaining too much, it starts with a journey of our female hero, who is a sports teacher. A young man who writes mean stories and teaches Mathematics in a classroom, a young girl who writes a novel that can make anyone shudder, an editor who wants to get this novel corrected and reprinted, a rich woman who struggles with violence against women, and a series of supernatural events that intersect everyone.
It started and ended as a very gripping adventure. The movie should be made. Recipes illustrations. Through the eyes of the children, the things that the parents made them suffer. Love finds its way in a strange way. Parallel universes and the Moon.
I don’t explain much, thinking about those who want to read, but I read most of it with pleasure. I also tolerated the parts I was bored with. For the integrity of the work, it can be called a unique work. Of course, the events take place in 1984 in Japan.
A Wild Sheep Chase
Even the title of the book made me laugh when I first read it. So I said to myself, why would he choose such a name? The story started in the emptiness of a man whose wife left him, and a strange ear love, yes you read it right, lasted with ear love. Then it ended with a fast-paced adventure and a finale that gave me goosebumps. It’s not a funny story!
The sheep really does have a place in the story, both as an entity and as a metaphor.
What I am most surprised at in the book is that these Japanese people did not see or keep sheep properly until the Japanese soldiers needed warm woolen uniforms and parkas in World War II. I think there were some very interesting references.
Most readers know the famous writer Kafka with his Transformation story. The heartbreaking allegorical story of Gregor Samsa, who one day wakes up to be a cockroach. You feel as much as possible the feelings of not being accepted as a child in the family and not being loved. (Already , the unhappy childhood that the author lived with his father in his real life formed the basis of this.)
However, the book has nothing to do with it. When the 15-year-old young hero of the story decides to run away from home, he chose this name for himself in order not to be easily recognized. His escape in Japan soon turns into a road story, and his journey ends in a peaceful private library. When he reaches the plot that awaits him, the adventures that await him are in themselves the story of a person’s growth and search for who he is. On the other side of the story, we see an extremely cute uncle who has a connection with World War II and extraordinary events. If I had the opportunity, I would order eel to uncle and listen to his naive speech with his unique “Me” 🙂. I am sure that cat lovers will read it with enthusiasm and from time to time with laughter.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The reason why I chose this book as one of my favorites is the protagonist’s ability to describe the neighborhood he lives in and the side characters as if they were wrapped in flesh and bones. I almost got emotional when I finished the book. As someone who reads books all the time, I cannot establish such an emotional bond with every book. I can’t believe every story.
However, a loving husband and an unsuccessful person in ordinary and insignificant life, but indulging in the most unthinkable business to win her back, was an unexpected behavior. The sixth abilities involved in the story were good, the headlong expressions and sexual expressions of the various characters were all different. But as the story progressed, things fell into place.
For those who read this book, water wells will never be the same again!
Norwegian Wood
The common memories of a young girl and a young man, who lost loved ones / friends at a young age, and their friends who died between them, and many more.
I would like to tell an interesting anecdote that I experienced in the book. In a small part of the story, the two friends become friends just because they read a certain book. A young man comes to the hero and says, “The person who reads that book is a good and smart man, we should be friends.” means words. I was curious about the book this charismatic friend was standing on. It’s called “The Great Gatsby” and it’s written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, maybe you’ve seen the movie. It was taken recently. Leonardo DiCapriohad played. Of course, the narrative language of the book and its power to describe the American dream of the 1920s, its critical structure in the fairy tale with plenty of parties, whether love is closed to interests as it is thought, and its narration of the lover who desperately tries to realize a dream are unforgettable.
I took a break from The Song of the Impossible and finished reading The Great Gatsby first , so I understood what the two friends in the story were talking about and why they were praising the book so much. (By the way, should I say it’s a great misfortune, most of our young people have read the book as if it is a text to be passed in the exam, since it is almost compulsory in high schools and schools that teach foreign languages. However, over the years they have been able to reflect on the depth of what has been told. If I am not wrong, it is also the most read and published novel in the world. being said)
This is what drives curiosity in Murakami’s books. He tells you about a song. You don’t mind first. Then you can’t stand it, you open Spotify or Youtube on your mobile phone and search and listen to the mentioned music while reading. That’s when you reach the texture and spirit of the book.
You Can Listen To The Music In His Books While Reading Here
IMPORTANT NOTE: Almost none of these books are suitable for reading by anyone under the age of 18.
It may contain violence, fear and sexuality as in the movies in the cinemas. Since the author describes life as it is, he has the uncensored language of a documentary writer.
Today, Haruki is exposed to criticism that he is under the influence of American culture and is extremely Westernist. But still Japan’s XX. He is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
The author’s work environment. There are thousands of records on the back shelves. Music listened to while working. http://www.harukimurakami.com/author
