reading murakami

i'm rereading haruki murakami's norwegian wood before i finally return it to pam come the next up cinema ga. discounting the fact that murakami can actually write a hilarious narrative as evidenced by the hilariously account of storm trooper's character, the roommate of the narrator during his early college years, i find this novel really depressing. besides the deaths - all are suicides, something which is common among the japanese even today - what is even more depressing is that after all the narrator and main character has been through and is able to do, he is reminiscing some twenty years after the events he was relating, and it seems nothing much has happened with his life. if ever, he's on a level lower than the life he previously led. you know, a guy with so much abilities and knowledge can go places. but then, if you choose to live in the memory of the dead and the what-could-have-beens - basically, your past - nothing's bound to happen to you. and so at the end of the novel, i was so damn depressed i didn't want to read another story like it again.

but then, murakami is a great writer. however, some critics didn't give favorable reviews for this particular novel because it was not the usual work you would expect from murakami, in fact, calling it somewhat autobiographical but not entirely the usual fare you would expect from murakami's genius. well, i'm not to say that this novel is below par, because it was excellently written. however, i do agree that this is not the usual story that murakami would engage in. let me qualify that. i've only read four books of murakami all in all. i first read the wind-up bird chronicle (i was attracted to this author when i first browsed through the pages of this book at national bookstore), then sputnik sweetheart, followed by norwegian wood and finally, dance dance dance. and from what i've read so far, this has got to be the most straightforward of all his novels, the more realistically occurring. yes, that is totally true; there's the sheep man living in an alternate universe that's located in the same world you are living in today, a person who can pass through walls and get an orgasm with a psychic prostitute, a character whose hair turns white overnight after seeing her an exact copy of herself living a life of its own in a room atop a ferris wheel. there also are vanishing elephants and wild sheep chases, hard-boiled wonderland, a boy named kafka and the different impacts of a local earthquake to a number of the residents (subjects of other books by murakami). details and storylines are
not entirely easy to explain. it's up to the reader to interpret what to make of the different occurrences in the novels. there's gotta be some brain exercise for one to be able to understand what murakami is trying to say. and i tell you once again, that circumstances were not entirely the same with his book norwegian wood.

this book, however got me intrigued regarding f. scott fitzgerald's the great gatsby. it's a book the main character and his friend like to read. murakami is not limited to reading books and listening to music which are commonplace or are in the mainstream. in fact, he is a jazz aficionado and the books he's mentioned in his novels span european and american literature (contemporary or otherwise - don't argue with me about time since i do not know the exact dates of publication of the books he's mentioned). so if you must know, i'm watching out for the books this author's mentioning. he's also got me intrigued regarding jack kerouac - quite a staple among the avant-garde if i may
say so from impressions i have formed from reading various articles which mention him (even his name screams eccentric). aside from these learned and a-notch-above-the-rest (not necessarily in terms of financial matters) lives his characters lead, murakami is also prone to island settings - malta, greece, hawaii, young, teenage girls entering the lives of thirty-something males (albeit, not in a malicious way) and who do so because they are different from
other people their age and their sensibilities match that of the older male, characters who drink beer often and regular enough it's just so alarmingly ordinary (at least for me, who's not exposed to that kind of lifestyle, i mean,
drinking is for relaxation done in a place where you're with friends, or else by your lonesome when feeling blue), attractive and intriguing japanese women and, characters losing something along the way which turns into the ultimate quest of the major character, resolved side by side with the various issues besetting the characters of the novel. it's one big psychological show, and i'm not a person who's too big on psychology (analysing math problems is already difficult for me, what more if you analyse a person and i'm sure, i'm not adept at picking up clues).

but however his stories turn out, they are great reads. i'm looking forward to his south of the border, west of the sun, another book of his that i'll be borrowing from pam. i also really wanted to buy this, as well as kafka on the shore (his latest before his new release of a collection of short stories) - the former because i was attracted to the jacket blurb which cites it as a work where murakami at his most wise and compelling, and the latter because i liked what i read when i browsed through the first page.

after all that i have read and seen regarding the japanese and their culture, i've come to the conclusion that the japanese are a very serious people, with no peep of comic relief, not even just a single funny situation involving themselves. nope, no funny stories from japan, only horror movies and more social dramas. no funny literary works. yes, there may be some in anime but then, funny circumstances are anime are due to the characterization of the players themselves. i've never heard of a japanese creation wherein a character finds himself in a situation where absurd things happen to him, and he would, thus, have to resort to silly or absurd actions to get through to the next
scene. what movies have i watched? as of now, i can only remember two: high and low by kurosawa, and battle royale. the former, a detective story aiming to catch the kidnapper and the ransom money he got from a rich businessman whose life unfolds along the way; the latter, a brutal program to instill responsibility and a sense of survival to japanese youngsters who only know to wreak havoc at school. only must survive after three days or else, everyone is dead, and there will be no winners of the game. this is a pretty cynical view, how orwellian (forgive my mentioning this author - all i've read is 1984). imagine, a class of middle school kids looking to kill each other off so that they'd be able to get out of an isolated island alive. a misunderstood bunch, and ones who also misunderstand the adult world. well, we're not seeing the whole picture here since you only get the adults' point of view, but nothing on the students. and like murakami's writing, there are hidden symbolisms, meanings, to be deciphered by the discerning viewer. and oh yeah, i remember i've watched the ring too.

anyway, what's with all this seriousness? is this an effect of what japan has gone through during the second world war? it may have been, plus the spillover effect of the culture japan has had, being isolated from the rest of the world
for so many years before the war. this is what i get from the psyche of the urban japanese. however, being the "frustrated japanese" that i am, i am actually drawn to japanese culture itself. it's so mesmerizing actually - the geisha, the samurai, the cherry blossoms. everything's just so beautiful. i've been drawn to this country from a long time ago, probably ever since i first saw kenshin himura in the animated movie.

the urban psyche may be troubled, or else, seriousness is what keeps them going all through their days (as long as they don't resort to suicide). anyhow, i'm anxious to get a headstart on my nihonggo lessons and visit japan real soon.
today's the 31st of december. i've to sleep now, the family's going to mass this morning since it's sunday already.

*started at 12:35 am