Letters are nothing but a piece of paper. Despite you burn them, the memories that have remained will still remain; despite you keep them, that what has vanished, vanishes.It seems to me I can no longer make the difference between one and the other, between the things that have existed and the things that have not existed.
(Haruki Murakami)
Wednesdays seem to be my blue days. For some time now almost every Wednesday happens so that I end up in melancholy. Emotionally restless. Reminiscent. Nostalgic with some pain. Thinking about the past over and over again, recalling faces and events, looking into the future with fear.
Now I can bind the upper words with the reason why I came to write here. HARUKI MURAKAMI. Japanese writer. Today I have started to read the third book bearing his name on the covers. South of the Border, West of the Sun. This month I have also noticed Murakami has been given the Franz Kafka Prize in Prague. I have discovered the words of Haruki Murakami last year. Since then I have been his fan. Well, I read him in Slovenian only; I have not search for English translations so far. But I happened to see a Japanese movie Toni Takitani featuring Murakami's script. And for all of those who know my new play: yes, Murakami too has influenced my writing.
The first Murakami's book I have ever read is Norveški gozd, Norwegian Wood (Noruei no mori). Lots of Murakami's work is influenced with music strongly; he owned a jazz bar. Norwegian Wood too is inspired with the Beatles's famous song. Though that wood in Murakami's case refers more to a forest (mori). The book caught my intention immediately. A story of love and discovering sexsuality, a story of loss and confusion. The main character is Toru Watanabe, a drama student living in Tokyo. The whole novel is actually told as his reminiscence. I still see the images strongly... like, for instance, the peaceful sanatorium near Kyoto where Toru travels to visit emotionally troubled Naoko... the flat of Midori, Toru's second love... the weak firefly he releases from the jar in Tokyo... finally, his overall softness and confusion.
I feel Murakami's writing as a tender poetry. Intimate poetry. Inner worlds. Touching the reader really into the depths of mind, every now and then. Strong images; even beyond reality. Carefully constructed reflection of some time, of some world. Recommended!
And as being a writer myself I can add this thought here: even the most intimate and tender story can (critically and strongly) reflect the whole world and the whole time we are living or we have been living in...
11 comments:
Kiitos vinkistä! Itse luen Murakamia englanniksi, koska suomennoksiin en ole törmännyt. Tällä hetkellä luen kirjaa nimeltä The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Sekin vaikuttaa mielenkiintoiselta.
Vai niin. Harmi. Eikö ole kääntäjää olemassa? Olenpa lukenut Murakamin olevan oikein kuluisa joka puolella. Siis se kääntäminen ehkä tapahtuu kerran Suomessakin... Toivottavasti! :)
No meillä tässä Sloveniassa on pari japania puhuvaa kääntäjää.
Selvittelin asiaa hieman ja huomasin, että Murakamin kirjoja on todella jo suomennettu! Tuossa meidän lähikirjastossa on kuitenkin vain englannin kielisiä ja olen liian laiska lähteäkseni etsimään suomennoksia muualta:) Ainakin Sputnik Sweetheart ja A Wild Sheep Chase on suomennettu.
Minulle oli muuten uutta tietoa, että Murakami on omistanut jazz baarin! Pidän hänen tavastaan puhua musiikista kirjoissaan.
Kiitokset moochille tiedosta. Itse olen laiska lukemaan englanniksi. Laitan siis Murakamin nimen korvan taakse, odottamaan seuraavaa kertaa, kun etsin uutta luettavaa.
...uf, I read four of his book...
he is kind of writer to get under your skin...
I like Norwegian Wood, also South of the Border...
have you read any others of him ?
As I have written, now I am reading my third Murakami's book. South of the Border, West of the Sun.
Previous ones were Norwegian Wood and Sputnik Sweetheart. Oh, and a short story about an elephant that vanishes.
Yes, Haruki Murakami really gets under the skin... simple stories, yet on the other hand so full.
:)))
''Istuin aidalla ja katsoin isoa varista, joka raakkui liikennevalojen päällä. Aamuna kello neljä kadut näyttivät tylsiltä ja likaisilta. Joka paikasta mateli lahoamisen ja rappeutumisen varjo, ja minäkin olin sen osa. Kuin varjo, joka syöpyi seinään.''
Tämä on oma käännökseni. Pieni harjoitus. Murakami sloveenista suomeksi. :) Siitä kirjasta ja sen kappaleesta, jota luen nyt (South of the Border, West of the Sun).
No hyvä sitten! Toivon mukavaa lukemista teillekin.
Ja jos puhutaan musiikista...perjantaina menin elokuvissa. Siellä katsoin erään todella hyvän elokuvan, jossa näytteli myös Tom Waits. :)
Kaarlo-Hermannille:
Oletko saanut sen viestin, jossa olen kysynyt kuinka sanotaan ''to get wasted'' suomeksi?
Olen kirjoittanut pari muuta viestiä ja todella pelkään siitä, että sähköpostissani on taas jokin vika.
Kyllä, olen saanut kyseisen sähköpostin, ja kuten eräässä toisessa viestissä vastasin, yritän vastata siihen pian. Ensi hätään kerrottakoon, että rakkaalla lapsella on monta nimeä. Esimerkiki "vetää kännit", "vetää perseet", "juopotella", "ryypätä" ja niin eteenpäin (kaksi jälkimmäistä ovat lähempänä ilmaisua "to drink in purpose to get wasted").
Ei hullumpi käännös.
Minkä Tom Waits -elokuvan näit? Sattumia: olin lauantaina baarissa, jossa oli Tom Waits -ilta, siis soitettiin pelkästään Tom Waitsiä.
Kaarlo-Hermanni:
Kiitoksia. Todella mielenkiintoisia ilmauksia! Muistakseni olen kuullut sen ilmauksen (Jukalle) ja silloin en ole ymmärtänyt sitä. Nyt muistan myös erään ilmauksen vetää-verbin kanssa: ''vetää käteen''. Khm,toinen asia.
Tänään olen saanut sen toisen viestisikin. ;) Kiitos. Eh, se sähköpostini. En voi luottaa siihen kokonan. En luota internetiinkään.
Totta puhuakseni minun on hauskaa kääntää. Vaikkapa kääntäminen on vaikea, pidän siitä melko kovasti.
No siis kuin menin elokuviin...
Actually I saw 2 movies with Tom Waits in a row.
The one I saw last Friday is Wristcutters: A Love Story(also Pizzeria Kamikaze). An American movie, but done by, so it seems, very promissing young Croatian Goran Dukić. Copied from the imdb: an offbeat comedy,a love story,a road movie - but everybody's dead! A film set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
Liked it a lot. A bitter-sweet comedy, no depressive stuff. Not shallow too. Decent entertainment.
Tom Waits had quite a role. He also performed in one song. Well, the guy still looks very handsome. :)
http://www.wristcutters.com/
Second movie was a documentary Absolute Wilson. On American contemporary theatre director Robert Wilson. There was Tom Waits too. Walking around the room during some rehearsals. Waits actually worked with Wilson.
Familiar with The Black Rider? Wait's music for Wilson's production.Wikipedia: The Black Rider music was released in 1993. The best known track is probably "November''.
Err... I am so very much ashamed. I do not have this music. Yet I have been dealing with Wilson a lot during my theatre studies. One excuse is I can't get it from the net(too slow connection). Second case could be my overall lazyness.
Robert Wilson is a fantastic director. Profound and so specific visuality.Totally different theatre; not a drama-theatre at all. Music plays an important role. Wity work.
Wilson knows well how to attract the audience. He works with famous musicians. With Lou Reed he did POEtry, a production on E.A.Poe.
Since I am tripping on Blood Money album at the moment. Another Waits-Wilson colaboration. Music for production Woyzeck. Also good play by Georg Büchner (1836). ''About a Kafkaesque soldier from the working class named Franz Woyzeck who goes crazy after doing medical experiments for money and kills his girlfriend after witnessing infidelity.'' Recommended to read!
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