Haruki Murakami Forum




Created by Amy on Feb 26, 1999
Last updated on March 20, 1999

Welcome to the very first Haruki Murakami Forum on the Internet! Here, you are free to voice your opinions on the renowned Japanese writer, Mr. Haruki Murakami, and discuss his works, style, viewpoints and outlook on life. Please tell his other fans about his forum, so as to make the site as busy as possible! You want to comment on my unofficial Murakami site, The World of Haruki Murakami?
You are Welcome!
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After Dark

by

I just finished After Dark, in the Dutch translation. It is an amazing book, maybe not Murakami's best, but interesting becuase it tries to move in a new direction. The book has the feel of being a "transition" to a new style of writing. The book is written in third voice, as compared to Murakami's other books. I read in an article that Murakami would love to write the "complete" novel, wriiten without a first subject, in the same fasion as Dostojevski's later works. I wonder if the move to third person has anything to do with this? Anyway, Murakami's fans will love this book, I know I did.
Nick V

Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 4:31 PM

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Beauty and Sadness

by george

Just finished reading Kawabata's Beauty and Sadness. Really enjoyed it.

Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 3:30 PM

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How many books sold in total?

by

He,

does anybody know how many books of Murakami were sold in total world wide?

Thanks, Michael

Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 3:19 PM

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Re: How many books sold in total?

by Anonymous

why does it matter? Is Murakami up for a Grammy or something?

Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 10:25 PM

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Murakamifs manuscripts sold at a million yen

by brian wilson

Now Murakami is writing on PC, but in his early days, he wrote in his own hand. A literary magazine editor who was in charge of Murakami at the time sold his manuscripts to an antique book store. And, naturally, it was resold at around a million yen. In this monthfs Bungeishunju, Japanfs prestigious magazine, Murakami hmself accuses the editor saying that it is against the ethics of editors.

Posted on Mar 10, 2006, 1:38 AM

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Re: Murakamifs manuscripts sold at a million yen

by Anonymous

Here's a link an article.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060311a5.html

Posted on Mar 11, 2006, 4:10 AM

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Who was Akira Yasuhara?

by

Murakami made all this public in an
article in the April edition of Bungei Shunju, titled ¡§Aru Henshusha
no Sei to Shi¡¨ (The life and death of a certain editor).



One other issue that this story brings out is how Murakami¡¦s editor actually influenced him, and the editor¡¦s actual role in developing Murakami as a celebrity writer.

It turns out that his former editor, the late Akira Yasuhara, first met Murakami when Murakami was still running his jazz bar in Tokyo, before he made it big, and it could be that Yasuhara was Murakami¡¦s ticket to fame, that it was Yasuhara who discovered him and gave him his entree to the literary world, his connection, in other words. There is always a hidden story in these things.

Yasuhara, who edited for a publishing firm whose magazines Murakami
contributed to, died in 2003.

In the carefully phrased 16-page essay, Murakami recounted his friendship
and falling out with Yasuhara, whom he met when the future novelist
ran a jazz bar in Tokyo.

Murakami characterized Yasuhara as an old-fashioned editor, who was a
straight-talking heretic in a literary world filled with gossip and deceit.

While he called Yasuhara ¡§a friend,¡¨ Murakami rejected the notion ¡X as
claimed by the late editor ¡X that Yasuhara guided him as a young novelist.

Murakami said there were two types of editors: Those like Yasuhara who
tried to be like producers of music, and others who were ¡§clerical¡¨
and allowed writers their own voice.

¡§I have no recollection of being nurtured by him. Rather, to use a perhaps
impertinent phrase, I grew on my own,¡¨ Murakami wrote.

¡§Of course, I have received much good advice from many people. But,
basically, I banged my head against this and that and through the pain I
learned,¡¨ Murakami said.

[I hear that the New York Times is developing a big story on this literary brouhaha right now, as we speak.]

Stay tuned¡K

AND

Is this reviewer named Akira Yasuhara the same Akira Yasuhara who was Murakami¡¦s editor?

QUOTE:

Is Haruki Murakami still worth reading?

Review of Kami no Kodomo wa Mina Odoru (All God¡¦s Children Can Dance) published on Feb. 25, 2000

From Asahi Weekly Magazine (March, 17, 2000)

Reviewed by Akira Yasuhara, a former magazine editor and literary critic

Haruki Murakami wrote a terrific masterpiece after a long time.

I didn¡¦t appreciate any of his works after Dance, Dance, Dance and especially I severely criticized South of the Border, West of the Sun, calling this novel a very cheap Harlequin Romance.
About his ultimate failure, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, I pointed out which parts were bad and worthless, wasting 200-page-manuscript paper. (Don¡¦t read books, otherwise you¡¦ll be a fool)
Even about his recent Sputnik Sweetheart (Vintage Books.), though it might be a little better than the previous two works, it is really no good at all , if compared with his early works. (My Comment: Despite Mr. Yasuhara¡¦s harsh comment, Sputnik Sweerheart was among top 10 best-selling Japanese fictions in June, 2001. I don¡¦t agree with his opinion that Sputnik Sweetheart is no good. I¡¦d rather think it is more worth reading than Kami no Kodomo wa Mina Odoru.)
Finally, I got angry at his not writing a ¡§masterpiece¡¨ for too long, and I declared that his talent as a novelist had already been exhausted..
This is all because we are very long associates and I thought highly of his talent.

The masterpiece waited for so long has just been published at last..

It is almost 10 years since I was deeply impressed by the novel of Haruki Murakami¡K



Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 5:03 AM

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Re: Who was Akira Yasuhara?

by brian wilson

Yes, the Yasuhara who wrote the favorable review is the same man who had crticized Murakami and (is believed to have) sold the manuscripts. Is it hard to believe? Yasuhara was such an elusive man that some people loved him(Murakami used to be one of them), while others hated him.
Perhaps the man who was most severely criticized by Yasuhara was none other than the Nobel Prize winner Oe Kenzaburo, who is rumored to have tried to force Chuo Koronsha to fire him. Those of you who are interested in him and can read Japanese are advised to read his biography(!) "Yasuken no Umi" written by Muramatsu Tomomi.

Posted on Mar 12, 2006, 2:42 PM

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Yasuhara

by Allen Bearsdley

From your comments, Brian, seems there is a huge new book here, the relationship between HM and his first editor, AY, and their love/hate relationship, and how their relationship started, how it prospered, how it survived, and how it ultimately sunk and why. Maybe AY was HM's Max Perkins, for better or worse. But certainly there is a good academic book here waiting to be written someday by someone with a PH.D. and an interest in all things HMian.....

I am especially curious to know, just as a bystander, if AY had a huge role to play in bringing HM to the attention of the Tokyo literary community and his first publishers, in terms of playing a very important role as literary godfather to HM, which had AY not met him at that jazz pub he ran, maybe HM would never have surfaced at all? Or was it all pre-destined by the literary gods above?

I think this has all opened up a huge new can of worms in the HM sagam and it should be a good one.... Keep us informed here.

Posted on Mar 14, 2006, 10:22 AM

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Never did Yasuhara help Murakami's writing.

by Taro

I was wondering at first too if he was Murakami's Max Perkins or Gordon Lish or something. Nervertheless, in his latest essay about Yasuhara appeared in Bungeishunjyuu ia big Japanese magazinejhe denies the fact saying he didn't edit or help his writing although Yasuhara praised his writing and encouraged him to write more. In other words, Yasuhara was Murakami's few important friends ithat's what he saidj. It was when there were a lot of people who didn't admit his work, so he said he thank him for that very much. He also said he's still not sure why and when Yasuhara's attitude chaged into attacking Murakami violently. In the essay, he seemed more disappointed and wondered than angry and furious. At the conclusion, he wrote that it's deplorable to know that he laments not only Akira Yasuhara's death but also something else.
Sorry about bad english. Did it help you understand the situation?

Posted on Mar 14, 2006, 9:00 PM

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Re: Never did Yasuhara help Murakami's writing.

by sellotape man

Excellent English. Ten out of ten. I understood perfectly.

Posted on Mar 14, 2006, 10:47 PM

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Re: Yasuhara

by brian wilson

Yasuhara published some of Murakami's translations in his magazines. Perhaps it was of great help to make Murakami a regular translator, but Murakami writes that Yasuhara did not play any role in his heavier works. So Ifm afraid there wonft be a huge book here. And I suspect Yasuhara changed his mind because Murakami had become too big after the success of Norwegian Wood.

Posted on Mar 15, 2006, 10:48 AM

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Re: Yasuhara

by BJ

It's possible that Ken's friendship with Murakami at the jazz pub became his entry into the publishing world of Tokyo, where connections are everything. And that Ken felt he deserved a bigger place in the Murakami world, and when things turned sour, things turned very sour. There are probably two sides to the story, but Ken is resting in the other world now, so Godspeed to him, and may their friendship heal.

Posted on Mar 27, 2006, 7:29 AM

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Short stories in Japanese online?

by carte

Hello, does anyone know where I can find any of Murakami's short stories available online in Japanese?

Thank you!

Posted on Mar 10, 2006, 1:08 AM

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No

by OSAKABE Yoshio

Of course, not!

Posted on Mar 10, 2006, 7:35 AM

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Re: No

by Anonymous

Why of course not? A perfectly valid question.

Posted on Mar 10, 2006, 9:06 AM

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Because

by

(1) Some other authors do but he has not put his novels and stories on line himself yet.
(2) To put works on line or publish them without permissions from authors is illegal in Japan.
(3) After fifty years of authors' death, anyone can put the authors' works on line or publish them.
(4) MURAKAMI Haruki is still alive.


Posted on Mar 10, 2006, 10:13 PM

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AMAZING INTERVIEW

by David

I have just finished reading the most recent interview with Murakami-san in the new literary magazine from New York, called A PUBLIC SPACE. It is edited by Brigid Hughes of THE PARIS REVIEW. You can order it online here:

www.apublicspace.com

This is an amazing interview. Murakami-san talks about his experiences with J.D. Salinger and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He also talks about eating a hamburger for the first time in his life! He talks about his first encounter with grapefruit. He also talks about Al Qaeda as a metaphor for "closed systems" in his novels.

According to the interview, he is translating THE GREAT GATSBY and THE LONG GOODBYE now.

I have never seen any interview like this. He is interviewed together with the great Japanese translator and Tokyo University Professor, Motoyuki Shibata, who is his dear friend.

Tell me what you think.

Posted on Mar 5, 2006, 2:47 PM

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Thanks

by

Thank you for your information. It seems different interview from one on the Paris Review. I ordereed the issue to Public Space yesterday.

Posted on Mar 7, 2006, 10:02 PM

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A PUBLIC SPACE + new fiction!

by David

You're welcome, of course!
Yes, it's a very different interview from the one in the Paris Review. I have that one, too, but this interview has a focus on Murakami and his relationship to America and American literature. It's the first time I've heard him talk so much about his work as a translator, and his love of certain American writers and films, especially in the 1970s. It's really interesting to hear him talk about his friend, the great Japanese translator, Motoyuki Shibata, and then to read the interview with Shibata.
I forgot to mention that there are three translations of Japanese short stories by Kazushige Abe, Masaya Nakahara and Yoko Ogawa. I read all the stories yesterday and I really love all three, though I'd never heard of the writers before.
Does anyone know these authors?

Posted on Mar 13, 2006, 2:02 PM

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I don't suppose

by hayden fry

anyone will be posting the HM interview on here or elsewhere? The publication isn't sold at any of our bookstores and I'm little short on scratch anyway right now. How about some highlights, a little play-by-play?

Posted on Mar 21, 2006, 5:49 PM

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Short Stories and Japanese Folklore

by Eric

Hey, I tried to go pretty far back in the forum, but I couldn't find anything. I was wondering if anyone knew whether stories like The Dancing Dwarf and The Little Green Monster from The Elephant Vanishes have anything to do with Japanese Folklore? Also do the Elephants have any connection as well?


Posted on Mar 4, 2006, 7:08 PM

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elephant keepers.

by george

I'm not clued up on Japanese folklore, but I think at least the elephant thing is one of Murakami's. In Hear the Wind Sing he talks about writing and how he would find it difficult, since even if he could write about, say, elephants, he wouldn't be able to write about the elephant keepers. (That was the jist of it anyway). So I've always thought that The Elephant Vanishes (the story) was a kind of belated response to his own first novel.

Posted on Mar 6, 2006, 7:21 PM

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Re: elephant keepers.

by

Elephants are interesting. I just finished reading some untranslated little scraps written in the mid 80s. There are two pieces where an elephant is wearing heels. Maybe I'll try to find time to translate them. He's also written a couple short things about sea lions trying to organize/raise money for a festival. These creatures are conservative and deliberate, perhaps some kind of symbol or suggestion of the male-dominated Japanese business world.

Posted on Mar 13, 2006, 2:03 AM

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raymond carver

by okada

i think the elephant connection may be to do with raymond carver who had a book of short stories entitled 'elephant', murakami san was also a friend of his. may be also 'elephant vanishes' has
coincides with the death of raymond carver, i don't know if the dates would be right but just a thought.

Posted on Mar 16, 2006, 10:16 AM

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Re: raymond carver

by george

I like that.

Posted on Mar 16, 2006, 3:50 PM

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damn

by george

Unfortunately, The Elephant Vanishes was published in 1986 and Carver died in '88. I like your thinking though: outside the box!
('Unfortunately'? Who the hell am I? Would it have been better if Carver had died before 1986? Damn me.)

Posted on Mar 16, 2006, 4:04 PM

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elephant + raymond carver

by hayden fry

Is that the title of a Japanese collection of Carver's works? I know of no English version titled that.

Posted on Mar 20, 2006, 8:50 PM

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Re: elephant + raymond carver

by george

Elephant is the name of one of Carver's short stories and in England (I'm from England) you can buy a book called Elephant and other Stories. I don't know if it's the same everywhere.
Check out this link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0099449862

Posted on Mar 21, 2006, 4:11 PM

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in the U.S.

by hayden fry

Elephant is not the title of any of his books in the U.S. There is Where I'm Calling From, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Cathedral, Fires, Call If You Need Me, and Where I'm Calling From.
I don't know of a story called Elephant, is there one? If anyone has a copy and could post it that would be great.

Posted on Mar 21, 2006, 4:57 PM

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essays

by okada

just wondering if anyone knows of good articles, essays or analysis of murakami sans work. internet sites would be best but any leads would be good.
thanks

Posted on Mar 3, 2006, 2:02 PM

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mix tape

by Mark

Has anybody with an extensive music collection burned a mix tape of songs mentioned in Murakami's books?


Posted on Mar 2, 2006, 5:27 PM

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Sputnik Sweetheart - Some questions

by

1. What is the point of the little boy caught stealing in the supermarket?

2. Is the narrator the same person as Sumire? Does he lose her like Miu loses her other part?



Posted on Mar 2, 2006, 4:54 PM

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Re: Sputnik Sweetheart - Some questions

by Phil

Im reading it right now, will come back with my theories soon.

Posted on Mar 3, 2006, 1:10 AM

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Re: Sputnik Sweetheart - Some questions

by Rustem

Well, I think the point of the kid getting caught was that key to the storage room. They threw it in the river, after talking about how lonely a river meeting the sea was. Maybe the key was a symbol of all the crap we preoccupy ourselves with in the 'real world'.

Also it was the end of the realationship between the narrator and the kids mom.

I think that K and Sumire were two seperate people, but I like that theory.

My question is, what the hell was with the last paragraph? Bloodstains that seeped inside? WTF was that about?

Posted on Mar 7, 2006, 1:56 PM

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