Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words Author:Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin ""If literature is dead, someone forgot to invite Haruki Murakami to the funeral." --Jay Rubin — As a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinks at his Tokyo jazz club, Peter Cat, where he wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up. He loves music of all kinds and when he writes, his words have a music all the... more »ir own, much of it learned from jazz.
Besides being the distinguished translator of Murakami's work, Professor Jay Rubin is a self-confessed fan. He has written a book for other fans who want to know more about this reclusive writer. He reveals the autobiographical elements in Murakami's fiction; explains how he developed a distinctive new style in Japanese; and how, on his return to Japan from America, he came to regard the Kobe earthquake (in which his parents' house was destroyed) and the Tokyo subway gas attack as twin manifestations of a violence lying just beneath the surface of Japanese life.
Since 1993 Rubin has been studying Murakami's writing, interviewing him, and collaborating with him in preparing his works for an English-speaking audience.
Contents:
"The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema" --
The Birth of Boku --
Chopped Onions and Fragmented Fiction --
Hear the Wind Sing: Chapter 1 --
Half-Remembered Tune --
Pinball, 1973 --
"A Poor-Aunt Story" --
A Slow Boat to China --
A Perfect Day for Kangaroos --
Keeping the Ears Clean --
A Wild Sheep Chase --
Etudes --
Firefly, Barn Burning and Other Stories --
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round --
Song of My Self --
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World --