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Title: Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words by Jay Rubin ISBN: 1-86046-986-8 Publisher: Harvill Pr Pub. Date: July, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: simply great. puts everything in perspective
Comment: first of all, i would recommend that you read all of murakami's books before you tackle this one, otherwise you'll just be left in the dark. overall, this book gives you the major themes and influences behind murakami's works, and how they relate to each other. the bifurcation of worlds, Rubin tells us, is present in all of his stories, either explicitly or implicitly. and throughout this book, we see murakami evolving. he struggles with what it means to be a japanese writer, especially one who has nothing much in common with his predecessors. we also see murakami, a loner by nature, coming to grips with fame and all its implications. but this is not a biography. what little biographical detail there is is presented as mere background information for how each novel was written. altogether, this book will not disappoint. rubin's writing style is clear and precise, and his analysis is right on. altogether, rubin has written a great critique of murakami. hats off gentlemen, hats off.
Rating: 5
Summary: Part biography, part literary criticism, all a must for fans
Comment: As a previous reviewer mentioned, this book consists mostly of Rubin's literary criticism of all Murakami's works. This includes some things that are not readily available in English, especially things not available in book form. Rubin does, however, include excerpts of the material he discusses and he mentions magazines where Murakami's short stories have been published. Notes on translation are excellent, as is the bibliography.
While this book is not a straight-up biography, I think complaints about a lack of biographical material are unfounded. There is a lot of information about the chronology of Murakami's life and that of his wife, as well as insights into his thoughts on Japan and Japanese society. It is well known that Murakami is very private, and I was actually surprised at how much of a glimpse into his life and feelings Rubin was able to give us.
A note of some caution: although Rubin does not reveal everything in his criticism of Murakami's novels and short stories, I recommend that before reading this book you read as much of Murakami's works as you can get your hands on. This is partly because of spoiler issues, but mostly because it is the way to get the most out of Rubin's comments. And if you're anything like me, you will want to go back and re-read everything after seeing Rubin's take on the material -- unlike another reviewer, I feel that it is valuable to hear as many opinions as possible about Murakami as well as about any other writer.
Rating: 5
Summary: The literary phenomenon that is Haruki Murakami
Comment: First of all, don't buy this book purely for biographical purposes, hoping to get some hidden insight on Murakami's life. It is clear that Murakami values his privacy intensely and Rubin goes to great lengths to respect that. Also, what information is given about Murakami will pretty much conform with what you probably could've assumed about him. This book, more than anything else, is a chronological literary criticism of Murakami's works up through "after the quake." Rubin does a good job of analyzing many of the running motifs and themes that occur in Murakami's books (wells, corridors, birds, and elephants, to name a few). It is clear that Rubin has a hard time being a Murakami fan and a Murakami scholar at the same time, but he seems to do a good job remaining impartial (although it is clear which books are his favorites and which are not!)
My first experience with Murakami was when I read "A Wild Sheep Chase" a year and a half ago, and before I knew it I had read every major novel and short story he'd written, finishing Pinball 1973 just last week. I read the books in an order that pretty much had nothing to do with the order they were written (beware that the order that the English translations came out in is often quite different than the original order). As a result, reading the details Rubin gives behind each of the books and about the growth that Murakami experienced along the way were among the highlights of the book for me and helped to solidify the ties that hold his books together. Murakami fascinates me because he is still growing rapidly as a writer and a person and the growing pains as well as the links to his past work are found in each work if you know what to look for.
Rubin spends the most time in this book discussing "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," which for me was an incredibly thrilling and frustrating book at the same time. Murakami had so many excellent storylines and so many running motifs, but many seemed to frazzle and die out by the end. Some call this piece Murakami's masterpiece, but I have a feeling that when all is said and done, this will be seen as a transitional piece: the first work where Murakami fully takes on the responsibility he feels towards the Japanese people. Murakami tackled so many issues with such brilliance (the Nomonhan Incident in particular) that I look forward to seeing where this new focus takes Murakami in the future. Some of his more recent work ("Sputnik Sweetheart" comes to mind) seem more of a step backwards than real progress, but there is no way Wind-Up Bird is a mere aberration.
Perhaps more so than any other writer, we as readers have the interesting opportunity to watch Murakami grow and experiment before our very eyes. If you haven't already, definitely try to get your hands on some of the earlier novels and short stories Rubin mentions ("Hear the Wind Sing" in particular) to get an even better grasp of where Murakami has started from.
If you are a serious fan of Murakami and want a better understanding of the thinking behind his works and a bit of an analysis of the works themselves (remember that as an individualist, Murakami believes his books have no one, strict interpretation!), "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" is a must-have companion to Murakami's works. Reliving Murakami's works through Rubin's analyses is a joy.
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Title: Vintage Murakami by HARUKI MURAKAMI ISBN: 1400033969 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Haruki Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicle: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries) by Matthew Carl Strecher, Matthew Streacher ISBN: 0826452396 Publisher: Continuum Pub Group Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: The Elephant Vanishes : Stories by Haruki Murakami ISBN: 0679750533 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 28 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami ISBN: 0375726055 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Wild Sheep Chase : A Novel by Haruki Murakami ISBN: 037571894X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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