is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the
Franz Kafka PrizeThe Franz Kafka Prize is an international literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka, the German language novelist. The prize was first awarded in 2001 and is co-sponsored by the and the city of Prague, Czech Republic. At a presentation held annually at the end of October in the Old Town...
and
Jerusalem PrizeThe Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Fair, and the recipient usually delivers an address when accepting the award...
among others.
He is considered an important figure in
postmodern literatureThe term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...
.
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
praised him as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his works and achievements.
Biography
Murakami was born in Japan during the post–World War II baby boom. Although born in
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, he spent his youth in Shukugawa (Nishinomiya),
Ashiyais a city founded on November 10, 1940 located in Hyōgo, Japan, between the cities of Osaka and Kobe.-Demographics:As of 2009, the city has an estimated population of 93,094 and the density of 5,030 persons per km². The total area is 18.47 km²...
and
Kobe, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
. His father was the son of a
BuddhistBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
priest, and his mother the daughter of an
Osakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
merchant. Both taught
Japanese literatureEarly works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
.
Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as
Kurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
and
Richard BrautiganRichard Gary Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody, and satire. He is best known for his 1967 novel Trout Fishing in America.- Early life :...
, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences.
Murakami studied drama at
Waseda University, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in
Norwegian Woodis a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo...
, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse (jazz bar, in the evening) "Peter Cat" in
Kokubunji, Tokyois a city in Tokyo, Japan.As of 1 June 2008, the city has an estimated population of 117,335 . The total area is 11.48 km²...
with his wife (1974-1981).
Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicleis a novel by Haruki Murakami. The first published translation was by Alfred Birnbaum. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997...
:
The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera),
Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by
Robert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
usually known in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as
The Prophet Bird), and
The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera
The Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
). Some of his novels take their titles from songs:
Dance, Dance, Dance (after
The DellsThe Dells are an R&B and crossover musical group. Their successful recordings spanned more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues...
' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after
the Beach BoysThe Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
tune"Dance, Dance, Dance" is a song written by Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1965 album Today!. It was also released as a single in 1964, with the B-side of the single being "The Warmth of the Sun." The single peaked at #8...
),
Norwegian Woodis a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo...
(after
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
'
song"Norwegian Wood " is a song by The Beatles, first released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul....
) and
South of the Border, West of the Sunis a short, melancholic novel written by the popular Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami, in 1992 while he was a visiting scholar at the Princeton University in the United States. The English translation by Philip Gabriel was released in 1999. Part of the title, 'South of the Border,' refers to the...
(the first part being the title of a song by
Nat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
).
Murakami is a keen marathon runner and triathlete, although he did not start running until he was 33 years old. On June 23, 1996, he completed his first
ultramarathonAn ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...
, a 100-kilometer race around
Lake Saromaalso Saroma Lagoon is a body of brackish water in Saroma, Kitami, and Yūbetsu Hokkaidō, Japan. It is located in Abashiri Quasi-National Park. By area, the lake is the third largest in Japan and the largest in Hokkaidō....
in Hokkaido, Japan. He discusses his relationship with running in his 2008 work
What I Talk About When I Talk About RunningWhat I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a memoir by Haruki Murakami in which he writes about his interest and participation in long-distance running...
.
Trilogy of the Rat
Murakami wrote his first fiction when he was 29. He said he was inspired to write his first novel, 1979's
Hear the Wind Sing, while watching a
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
game. In 1978, Murakami was in
Jingu Stadiumis a baseball stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the Meiji Shrine, it is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team...
watching a game between the Yakult Swallows and the Hiroshima Carp when Dave Hilton, an American, came to bat. According to an oft-repeated story, in the instant that Hilton hit a double, Murakami suddenly realized he could write a novel. He went home and began writing that night. Murakami worked on it for several months in very brief stretches after working days at the bar. He completed a novel and sent it to the only literary contest that would accept a work of that length, and won first prize.
Murakami's initial success with
Hear the Wind Singis the first novel by Japanese author, Haruki Murakami; it first appeared in the June 1979 issue of Gunzo, one of the most influential literary magazines in Japan. It is the first book in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, which is followed by Pinball, 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase . An English...
encouraged him to continue writing. A year later, he published
Pinball, 1973is a novel published in 1980 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The second book in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, it is preceded by Hear the Wind Sing and followed by A Wild Sheep Chase , and is the second novel written by Murakami....
, a sequel. In 1982, he published
A Wild Sheep Chaseis a novel published in 1982 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It is the sequel to Pinball, 1973, and is the third book in Murakami's "Trilogy of the Rat"....
, a critical success.
Hear the Wind Sing,
Pinball, 1973, and
A Wild Sheep Chase form the
Trilogy of the Rat (a sequel,
Dance, Dance, Dance, was written later but is not considered part of the series), centered on the same unnamed narrator and his friend, "the Rat". The first two novels are unpublished in English translation outside of Japan, where an English edition with extensive translation notes was published as part of a series intended for English students. Murakami considers his first two novels to be "weak," and was not eager to have them translated into English.
A Wild Sheep Chase was "The first book where I could feel a kind of sensation, the joy of telling a story. When you read a good story, you just keep reading. When I write a good story, I just keep writing."
Wider recognition
In 1985, Murakami wrote
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the Worldis a 1985 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two bizarre narratives — the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' and 'The End of the World' parts.-Plot summary:The story is split...
, a dream-like fantasy that takes the magical elements in his work to a new extreme. Murakami achieved a major breakthrough and national recognition in 1987 with the publication of
Norwegian Woodis a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo...
, a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. It sold millions of copies among Japanese youths, making Murakami a literary superstar in his native country. The book was printed in two separate volumes, sold together, so that the number of books sold actually doubled, creating the million-copy bestseller hype. One book had a green cover, the other one red.
In 1986, Murakami left Japan, traveled throughout Europe, and settled in the United States. He was a writing fellow at
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in
Princeton, New JerseyPrinceton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, and at
Tufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in
Medford, MassachusettsMedford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
. During this time he wrote
South of the Border, West of the Sun and
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
An established novelist
In 1994–95, he published
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicleis a novel by Haruki Murakami. The first published translation was by Alfred Birnbaum. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997...
, a novel that fuses realistic and fantastic tendencies, and contains elements of physical violence. It is also more socially conscious than his previous work, dealing in part with the difficult topic of
war crimes in ManchukuoWar crimes in Manchukuo were committed during the rule of the Empire of Japan in northeast China, either directly, or through its puppet state of Manchukuo, from 1931 to 1945...
(
Northeast ChinaNortheast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
). The novel won the
Yomiuri PrizeThe is a prestigious literary award in Japan. The prize was founded in 1948 by the Yomiuri Shinbun Company to help form a "cultural nation". The winner is awarded one million Japanese yen and an inkstone.-Award categories:...
, awarded by one of his harshest former critics,
Kenzaburo Oeis a Japanese author and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His works, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues including nuclear weapons, social non-conformism and existentialism.Ōe was awarded...
, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994.
The processing of
collective traumaA collective trauma is a traumatic psychological effect shared by a group of people of any size, up to and including an entire society. Traumatic events witnessed by an entire society can stir up collective sentiment, often resulting in a shift in that society's culture and mass actions.Well known...
soon became an important theme in Murakami's writing, which had until then been more personal in nature. While he was finishing
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Japan was shaken by the Kobe earthquake and the
Aum Shinrikyo gas attackThe Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the , was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by members of Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995....
, in the aftermath of which he returned to Japan. He came to terms with these events with his first work of non-fiction,
Undergroundis a book by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami about the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Described as a work of "journalistic literature," it collects a series of separate interviews Murakami conducted with 60 victims of the attacks and 8 members of Aum, descriptions of how...
, and the short story collection
after the quakeis a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. First published in 2000, it was released in English as after the quake in 2002 .-Background:...
.
Underground consists largely of interviews of victims of the gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system. English translations of many of his short stories written between 1983 and 1990 have been collected in
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
. Murakami has also translated many of the works of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
,
Raymond CarverRaymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
,
Truman CapoteTruman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
,
John IrvingJohn Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
, and
Paul TherouxPaul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
, among others, into Japanese.
Since 2000
Sputnik Sweetheartis a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in Japan, by Kodansha, in 1999. An English translation by Philip Gabriel was published in 2001.-Plot summary:The plot features three main characters: Sumire, Miu, and 'K'....
was first published in 1999.
Kafka on the Shoreis a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender"...
was published in 2002, with the English translation following in 2005. It won the World Fantasy Award for Novels in 2006. The English version of his novel
After Darkis a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was originally published in 2004.-Plot summary:Alienation, a recurring motif in the works of Murakami, is the central theme in this novel set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night. Main characters include Mari, a 19-year-old student,...
was released in May 2007. It was chosen by the
New York Times as a "notable book of the year". In late 2005, Murakami published a collection of short stories titled
Tōkyō Kitanshū, or 東京奇譚集, which translates loosely as "Mysteries of Tokyo". A collection of the English versions of twenty-four short stories, titled
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
, was published in August 2006. This collection includes both older works from the 1980s as well as some of Murakami's most recent short stories, including all five that appear in
Tōkyō Kitanshū.
Murakami published the anthology
Birthday StoriesBirthday Stories is a 2002 short story anthology in 192 pages by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Despite the theme's happy connotations most of the short stories have a dark, melancholic atmosphere.- Contents :...
, which collects short stories on the theme of birthdays. The collection includes work by
Russell BanksRussell Banks is an American writer of fiction and poetry.- Biography :Russell Banks was born in Newton, Massachusetts on March 28, 1940. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He is also...
,
Ethan CaninEthan Andrew Canin is an American author, educator, and physician. He is a member of the faculty of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa....
,
Raymond CarverRaymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
,
David Foster WallaceDavid Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
,
Denis JohnsonDenis Hale Johnson is an American author who is known for his short-story collection Jesus' Son and his novel Tree of Smoke , which won the National Book Award. He also writes plays, poetry and non-fiction.- Biography :...
,
Claire KeeganClaire Keegan is an Irish short story writer. She was born in County Wicklow in 1968, the youngest of a large Roman Catholic family. She travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana when she was seventeen and studied English and Political Science at Loyola University...
,
Andrea LeeAndrea Lee is an American author of novels and memoirs. Her stories are often international in setting and deal with questions of racial and national identity, as well as collisions between cultures. Lee grew up in Philadelphia...
,
Daniel LyonsDaniel Lyons is an American writer. He was a senior editor at Forbes magazine and is now a writer at Newsweek.-Career:He has written a book of short stories, The Last Good Man , a novel, Dog Days , and a fictional biography, Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody...
, Lynda Sexson,
Paul TherouxPaul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
, and
William TrevorWilliam Trevor, KBE is an Irish author and playwright. He is considered one of the elder statesman of the Irish literary world and widely regarded as the greatest contemporary writer of short stories in the English language....
, as well as a story by Murakami himself.
What I Talk About When I Talk About RunningWhat I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a memoir by Haruki Murakami in which he writes about his interest and participation in long-distance running...
, containing tales about his experience as a marathon runner and a triathlete, has been published in Japan, with English translations released in the U.K. and the U.S. The title is a play on that of
Raymond CarverRaymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
's collection of short stories,
What We Talk About When We Talk About LoveWhat We Talk About When We Talk About Love is the name of a 1981 collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, as well as the title of one of the stories in the collection.-Why Don't You Dance?:...
.
Shinchosha Publishingis a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award.-Monthly:* ENGINE* Foresight* nicola*Shinchō-External links:*...
published Murakami's novel,
1Q841Q84 is a novel by Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. The novel quickly became a sensation, with its first printing selling out the day it was released, and reaching sales of one million within a month...
, in Japan on May 29, 2009.
1Q84 is pronounced as 'ichi kyū hachi yon', the same as
1984Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
, as
9 is also pronounced as 'kyū' in
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
.
Murakami donated his €80,000 winnings from the 2011 International Catalunya prize to the victims of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, and to those affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Accepting the award, he said in his speech that the situation at the Fukushima plant was the second major nuclear disaster that the Japanese people have experienced—however, this time it was not a bomb being dropped upon us, but a mistake committed by our very own hands. According to Murakami, the Japanese people should have rejected nuclear power after having "learned through the sacrifice of the
hibakushaThe surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are called , a Japanese word that literally translates to "explosion-affected people"...
just how badly radiation leaves scars on the world and human wellbeing".
Recognition
In 2006, Murakami became the sixth recipient of the
Franz Kafka PrizeThe Franz Kafka Prize is an international literary award presented in honour of Franz Kafka, the German language novelist. The prize was first awarded in 2001 and is co-sponsored by the and the city of Prague, Czech Republic. At a presentation held annually at the end of October in the Old Town...
from the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
for his novel
Umibe no Kafuka (
Kafka on the Shoreis a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender"...
).
In September 2007, he received an honorary doctorate from the
University of LiègeThe University of Liège , in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium, is a major public university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French.-History:...
, as well as one from
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in June 2008.
In January 2009 Murakami received the
Jerusalem PrizeThe Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Fair, and the recipient usually delivers an address when accepting the award...
, a biennial literary award given to writers whose work has dealt with themes of human freedom, society, politics, and government. There were protests in Japan and elsewhere against his attending the February award ceremony in
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
(including threats to boycott his work) as a response against
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's recent bombing of
GazaGaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. Murakami chose to attend the ceremony, but gave a speech to the gathered Israeli dignitaries harshly criticizing Israeli policies. Murakami said, "Each of us possesses a tangible living soul. The system has no such thing. We must not allow the system to exploit us."
Criticism and influence
Murakami's fiction, often criticized by
Japan's literary establishmentEarly works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
, is humorous and surreal, and at the same time focusses on themes of
alienationThe term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
and loneliness. Through his work, he is able to capture the
spiritualSpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
emptiness of his generation and explore the negative effects of Japan's
work, which can be translated literally from Japanese as "death from overwork", is occupational sudden death. Although this category has a significant count, Japan is one of the few countries that reports it in the statistics as a separate category...
-dominated mentality. His writing criticizes the decline in human values and a loss of connection among people in Japan's society.
Murakami was awarded the 2007
Kiriyama PrizeThe Kiriyama Prize is an international literary award given to books which will encourage greater understanding of and among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia...
for Fiction for his collection of short stories
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
, but according to the Kiriyama Official Website, Murakami "declined to accept the award for reasons of personal principle".
Films and other adaptations
Murakami's first novel
Hear the Wind Singis the first novel by Japanese author, Haruki Murakami; it first appeared in the June 1979 issue of Gunzo, one of the most influential literary magazines in Japan. It is the first book in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, which is followed by Pinball, 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase . An English...
(
Kaze no uta o kike) was adapted by Japanese director
Kazuki Ōmoriis a Japanese film director and screenwriter.-Career:Born in Osaka, Ōmori studied at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and actually holds a license to practice medicine. While in school, he began making films independently, with Kuraku naru made matenai! , which featured Seijun Suzuki,...
. The film was released in 1981 and distributed by
Art Theatre GuildArt Theatre Guild was a film production company in Japan that started in 1961 and ran through to the mid 1980s. ATG, as it is abbreviated, released mostly Japanese New Wave films. Films released by ATG include Nagisa Oshima's Diary Of A Shinjuku Thief , Toshio Matsumoto's masterpiece Funeral...
. Naoto Yamakawa directed two short films
Attack on the Bakery (released in 1982) and
A Girl, She is 100 Percent (released in 1983), based on Murakami's short stories
The Second Bakery Attack and
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Woman One Beautiful April Morning respectively. Japanese director Jun Ichikawa adapted Murakami's short story
Tony TakitaniTony Takitani is a 2004 Japanese film directed by Jun Ichikawa, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami.-Inspiration:Haruki Murakami was intrigued by the name Tony Takitani when, at a garage sale on Maui, he found a yellow T-shirt that said, "Tony Takitani, House ."At the time, Takitani was...
into a 75-minute feature.
The filmTony Takitani is a 2004 Japanese film directed by Jun Ichikawa, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami.-Inspiration:Haruki Murakami was intrigued by the name Tony Takitani when, at a garage sale on Maui, he found a yellow T-shirt that said, "Tony Takitani, House ."At the time, Takitani was...
played at various film festivals and was released in New York and Los Angeles on July 29, 2005. The original short story (as translated by
Jay RubinJay Rubin is an American academic and translator. He is most notable for being one of the main translators into English of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. He has also written a guide to Japanese, Making Sense of Japanese , and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami.He has...
) is available in the April 15, 2002 issue of
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, as a stand-alone book published by
Cloverfield PressCloverfield Press is a small press in Los Angeles, California published by Matthew Greenfield and Laurence Dumortier. Inspired by Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press, Cloverfield Press has produced hand-printed letterpress books of Haruki Murakami's Tony Takitani and Miranda July's The Boy...
, and part of
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
by Knopf. In 1998 the German film
Der Eisbaer (Polar Bear), written and directed by Granz Henman, used elements of Murakami's short story
The Second Bakery Attack in three intersecting story lines.
Murakami's work was also adapted for the stage in a 2003 play entitled
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
, co-produced by Britain's
CompliciteThe British theatre company Complicite was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. Its original name was Théâtre de Complicité. "The Company's inimitable style of visual and devised theatre [has] an emphasis on strong, corporeal, poetic and surrealist image supporting...
company and Japan's Setagaya Public Theatre. The production, directed by
Simon McBurneySimon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.-Early life:...
, adapted three of Murakami's short stories and received acclaim for unique blending of multimedia (video, music, and innovative sound design) with actor-driven physical theater (mime, dance, and even acrobatic wire work). On tour, the play was performed in Japanese, with supertitles translation for European and American audiences.
Two stories from Murakami's book
after the quake—"Honey Pie" and ""Superfrog Saves Tokyo"—have been adapted for the stage and directed by Frank Galati. Entitled
after the quake, the play was first performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in association with
La Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
, and opened on October 12, 2007 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In 2008, Galati adapted and directed a theatrical version of
Kafka on the Shore also first running at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater from September to November.
On
Max RichterMax Richter is a German-born British composer.-Biography:Richter studied composition and piano at University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music and with Luciano Berio in Florence. After finishing his studies, Richter co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus...
's 2006 album
Songs from Before,
Robert WyattRobert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...
reads passages from Murakami's novels. In 2007, Robert Logevall adapted
All God's Children Can Dance into a film, with a soundtrack composed by American jam band
Sound Tribe Sector 9Sound Tribe Sector 9 is an instrumental band known for their live performances. The band’s genre-blending sound is based heavily on instrumental rock and electronic music crossed with elements of funk, jazz, drum and bass, psychedelia, and hip hop...
. In 2008, Tom Flint adapted
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Woman One Beautiful April Morning into a short film. The film was screened at the
2008 CON-CAN Movie FestivalThe 2008 CON-CAN Movie Festival is the 5th online short movie festival hosted by Media Research, Inc. The movie festival began on May 1, 2008 with the 20 movies selected for Group A being uploaded to the website, and is scheduled to conclude in Mid-November with an award ceremony in Tokyo,...
. The film was viewed, voted, and commented upon as part of the audience award for the movie festival.
It was announced in July 2008 that French-Vietnamese director
Tran Anh HungTrần Anh Hùng is a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry.He was born in Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam, and emigrated to France when he was 12 following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....
would direct an adaptation of Murakami's novel,
Norwegian Woodis a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo...
. The film was released in Japan on 11 December 2010.
In 2010, Stephen Earnhart adapted
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicleis a novel by Haruki Murakami. The first published translation was by Alfred Birnbaum. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997...
into a 2 hour multimedia stage presentation. The show opened January 12, 2010 as part of the Public Theater's "
Under the RadarThe Under the Radar Festival is a theater festival in New York City, founded in 2005 by Mark Russell, former Artistic Director of P.S. 122 for over twenty years and also Guest Artistic Director for the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art Festival in 2006...
" festival at the Ohio Theater, presented in association with The
Asia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
and the Baryshnikov Arts Center. The show had its world premiere at the
Edinburgh International FestivalThe Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
on August 21, 2011. The presentation incorporates live actors, video projection, traditional
Japanese puppetry, also known as Ningyō jōruri , is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theater, founded in Osaka in 1684.Three kinds of performers take part in a bunraku performance:* Ningyōtsukai or Ningyōzukai—puppeteers* Tayū—the chanters* Shamisen players...
, and immersive soundscapes to render the surreal landscape of the original work.
Each short story in Murakami's
after the quake collection was adapted into a six-song EP entitled
.DC: JPN (after the quake 2011) in March 2011 following the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunamiThe 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
to help benefit the relief efforts by musician Dre Carlan.
Novels
| Original Title |
Original Publication Date |
English Title |
English Publication Date |
Kaze no uta o kike |
1979 |
Hear the Wind Singis the first novel by Japanese author, Haruki Murakami; it first appeared in the June 1979 issue of Gunzo, one of the most influential literary magazines in Japan. It is the first book in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, which is followed by Pinball, 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase . An English...
|
1987 |
1973-nen no pinbōru |
1980 |
Pinball, 1973is a novel published in 1980 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The second book in the "Trilogy of the Rat" series, it is preceded by Hear the Wind Sing and followed by A Wild Sheep Chase , and is the second novel written by Murakami....
|
1985 |
Hitsuji o meguru bōken |
1982 |
A Wild Sheep Chaseis a novel published in 1982 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It is the sequel to Pinball, 1973, and is the third book in Murakami's "Trilogy of the Rat"....
|
1989 |
Sekai no owari to hādoboirudo wandārando |
1985 |
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the Worldis a 1985 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two bizarre narratives — the 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland' and 'The End of the World' parts.-Plot summary:The story is split...
|
1991 |
Noruwei no mori |
1987 |
Norwegian Woodis a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo...
|
2000 |
Dansu dansu dansu |
1988 |
Dance Dance Danceis the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, the English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase, although the plot lines are not entirely contiguous...
|
1994 |
Kokkyō no minami, taiyō no nishi |
1992 |
South of the Border, West of the Sun is a short, melancholic novel written by the popular Japanese novelist, Haruki Murakami, in 1992 while he was a visiting scholar at the Princeton University in the United States. The English translation by Philip Gabriel was released in 1999. Part of the title, 'South of the Border,' refers to the...
|
2000 |
Nejimaki-dori kuronikuru |
1995 |
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicleis a novel by Haruki Murakami. The first published translation was by Alfred Birnbaum. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997...
|
1997 |
Supūtoniku no koibito |
1999 |
Sputnik Sweetheartis a novel by Haruki Murakami, published in Japan, by Kodansha, in 1999. An English translation by Philip Gabriel was published in 2001.-Plot summary:The plot features three main characters: Sumire, Miu, and 'K'....
|
2001 |
Umibe no Kafuka |
2002 |
Kafka on the Shore is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender"...
|
2005 |
Afutā Dāku |
2004 |
After Darkis a novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was originally published in 2004.-Plot summary:Alienation, a recurring motif in the works of Murakami, is the central theme in this novel set in metropolitan Tokyo over the course of one night. Main characters include Mari, a 19-year-old student,...
|
2007 |
1Q84
Ichi-kyū-hachi-yon |
2009 |
1Q841Q84 is a novel by Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. The novel quickly became a sensation, with its first printing selling out the day it was released, and reaching sales of one million within a month...
|
2011 |
Short stories
| Year |
Japanese Title |
English Title |
Appears in |
| 1980 |
"Chūgoku-yuki no surou bōto" |
A Slow Boat to China |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
Binbō na obasan no hanashi |
A 'Poor Aunt' Story (The New Yorker, December 3, 2001) |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
| 1981 |
Nyū Yōku tankō no higeki |
New York Mining Disaster (The New Yorker, January 11, 1999) |
Supagetī no toshi ni |
The Year of Spaghetti (The New Yorker, November 21, 2005) |
Shigatsu no aru hareta asa ni 100-paasento no onna no ko ni deau koto ni tsuite |
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
Kaitsuburi |
Dabchick |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
Kangarū-biyori |
A Perfect Day for Kangaroos |
Kangarū tsūshin |
The Kangaroo Communique |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
| 1982 |
Gogo no saigo no shibafu |
The Last Lawn of the Afternoon |
| 1983 |
Kagami |
The Mirror |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
Tongari-yaki no seisui |
The Rise and Fall of Sharpie Cakes |
Hotaru |
Firefly |
Naya wo yaku |
Barn Burning (The New Yorker, November 2, 1992) |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
| 1984 |
Yakyūjō |
Crabs |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
Ōto 1979 |
Nausea 1979 |
Hantingu naifu |
Hunting Knife (The New Yorker, November 17, 2003) |
Odoru kobito |
The Dancing Dwarf |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
| 1985 |
Rēdāhōzen |
Lederhosen |
Panya saishūgeki |
The Second Bakery Attack |
Zō no shōmetsu |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
(The New Yorker, November 18, 1991) |
Famirī afea |
A Family Affair |
| 1986 |
Rōma-teikoku no hōkai・1881-nen no Indian hōki・Hittorā no Pōrando shinnyū・soshite kyōfū sekai |
The Fall of the Roman Empire, the 1881 Indian Uprising, Hitler's Invasion of Poland, and the Realm of Raging Winds |
Nejimaki-dori to kayōbi no onnatachi |
The Wind-up Bird And Tuesday's Women (The New Yorker, November 26, 1990) |
| 1989 |
Nemuri |
Sleep (The New Yorker, March 30, 1992) |
TV pīpuru no gyakushū |
TV People (The New Yorker, September 10, 1990) |
Hikōki-arui wa kare wa ika ni shite shi wo yomu yō ni hitorigoto wo itta ka |
Aeroplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as if Reciting Poetry (The New Yorker, July 1, 2002) |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
Warera no jidai no fōkuroa-kōdo shihonshugi zenshi |
A Folklore for My Generation: A Prehistory of Late-Stage Capitalism |
| 1990 |
Tonī Takitani |
Tony Takitani (The New Yorker, April 15, 2002) |
| 1991 |
Chinmoku |
The Silence |
The Elephant VanishesThe Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
|
Midori-iro no kemono |
The Little Green Monster |
Kōri otoko |
The Ice Man |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
Hito-kui neko |
Man-Eating Cats (The New Yorker, December 4, 2000) |
| 1995 |
Mekurayanagi to, nemuru onna |
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman |
| 1996 |
Nanabanme no otoko |
The Seventh Man |
| 1999 |
UFO ga Kushiro ni oriru |
UFO in Kushiro (The New Yorker, March 19, 2001) |
after the quakeis a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. First published in 2000, it was released in English as after the quake in 2002 .-Background:...
|
Airon no aru fūkei |
Landscape with Flatiron |
Kami no kodomotachi wa mina odoru |
All God's Children Can Dance |
Tairando |
Thailand |
Kaeru-kun, Tōkyō wo sukuu |
Super-Frog Saves Tokyo |
| 2000 |
Hachimitsu pai |
Honey Pie (The New Yorker, August 20, 2001) |
| 2002 |
Bāsudei gāru |
Birthday Girl |
Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
|
| 2005 |
Gūzen no tabibito |
Chance Traveller |
Hanarei Bei |
Hanalei Bay |
Doko de are sore ga mitsukarisō na basho de |
Where I'm Likely to Find It (The New Yorker, May 2, 2005) |
Hibi idō suru jinzō no katachi wo shita ishi |
The Kidney-Shaped Stone That Moves Every Day |
Shinagawa saru |
A Shinagawa Monkey (The New Yorker, February 13, 2006) |
| 2011 |
— |
Town of Cats (Experpt from 1Q84) (The New Yorker, September 5, 2011) http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/09/05/110905fi_fiction_murakami?currentPage=all |
Essays and nonfiction
| English |
Japanese |
| Year |
Title |
Year |
Title |
| N/A |
Rain, Burning Sun (Come Rain or Come Shine) |
1990 |
"Uten Entenis a road essay by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, about his travels in Greece and Turkey. The essays were first published in Japanese in 1990 by shinchosha as two separate volumes, the first volume covering his travels in Greece, and the other his travels in Turkey. A popular edition collecting...
" |
| N/A |
Portrait in Jazz |
1997 |
"Pōtoreito in jazu" |
| 2000 |
Undergroundis a book by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami about the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Described as a work of "journalistic literature," it collects a series of separate interviews Murakami conducted with 60 victims of the attacks and 8 members of Aum, descriptions of how...
|
1997–1998 |
"Andāguraundo" |
| N/A |
Portrait in Jazz 2 |
2001 |
"Pōtoreito in jazu 2" |
| 2008 |
What I Talk About When I Talk About RunningWhat I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a memoir by Haruki Murakami in which he writes about his interest and participation in long-distance running...
|
2007 |
"Hashiru koto ni tsuite kataru toki ni boku no kataru koto" |
| N/A |
It Ain't Got that Swing (If It Don't Mean a Thing) |
2008 |
"Imi ga nakereba suingu wa nai" |
Translations
- C. D. B. Bryan
Courtlandt Dixon Barnes Bryan , better known as C. D. B. Bryan, was an American author and journalist.-Biography:...
– The Great Dethriffe
- Truman Capote
Truman Streckfus Persons , known as Truman Capote , was an American author, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true crime novel In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel." At...
– A Christmas Memory"A Christmas Memory" is a short story by Truman Capote. Originally published in Mademoiselle magazine in December 1956, it was reprinted in The Selected Writings of Truman Capote in 1963...
, One Christmas"One Christmas" is an autobiographical short story by Truman Capote, portions of which were originally published in a 1982 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal magazine. It was shortly thereafter published in 1983 as a book by Random House, Inc. The story is an emotional childhood tale about the...
, Breakfast at Tiffany'sBreakfast at Tiffany's is a novella by Truman Capote published in 1958. The main character, Holly Golightly, is one of Capote's best-known creations and an American cultural icon.-Plot:...
, I Remember Grandpa, Children on Their BirthdaysChildren on Their Birthdays is a 2002 American independent film directed by Mark Medoff. The screenplay written by Douglas Sloan is based on "Children on Their Birthdays", the short story of the same title by Truman Capote.-Plot:...
- Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver, Jr. was an American short story writer and poet. Carver is considered a major American writer of the late 20th century and also a major force in the revitalization of the short story in the 1980s....
– All Works of Raymond Carver
- Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
– Farewell, My LovelyFarewell, My Lovely is a 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times.-Plot summary:...
, The Long GoodbyeThe Long Goodbye is a 1953 novel by Raymond Chandler, centered on his famous detective Philip Marlowe. While some critics consider it inferior to The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely, others rank it as the best of his work...
,The Little SisterThe Little Sister is a 1949 novel by Raymond Chandler, the fifth in his popular Philip Marlowe series. The story is set in late 1940s Los Angeles.-Plot summary:...
- Bill Crow
Bill Crow is an American jazz bassist and author.Crow was born in Othello, Washington in the United States of America, but spent his childhood in Kirkland, Washington. After high school, he briefly played sousaphone at the University of Washington in Seattle...
– Jazz Anecdotes, From Birdland to Broadway
- Terry Farish – The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
– My Lost City, The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
- Jim Fusilli – The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
- Mikal Gilmore
Mikal Gilmore is an American writer. He was born "Michael Gilmore," but later changed the spelling of his name.-Life & career:Gilmore was born on February 9, 1951 in Portland, Oregon to Frank and Bessie Gilmore....
– Shot in the HeartShot in the Heart is a memoir written by Mikal Gilmore, then a senior contributing editor at Rolling Stone, about his tumultuous childhood in a dysfunctional family, and his brother Gary Gilmore's eventual execution by firing squad in 1977 for a convenience store murder he committed in Provo,...
- Mark Helprin
Mark Helprin is an American novelist, journalist, and conservative commentator.-Background:Helprin was raised on the Hudson River and in the British West Indies, and holds degrees from Harvard College and Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. His postgraduate work was done at Princeton...
– Swan Lake
- John Irving
John Winslow Irving is an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978...
– Setting Free the BearsSetting Free the Bears is the first novel by American author John Irving, published in 1968 by Random House.Irving studied at the Institute of European Studies in Vienna in 1963 and Bears was written between 1965 and 1967 based largely on Irving’s understanding of the city and its rebellious youth...
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
– CatwingsCatwings is a children's book written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin, who is also known for her Earthsea fantasy novels and The Left Hand of Darkness , and illustrated by S. D. Schindler. It is written for children aged 7 to 10...
, Catwings ReturnCatwings Return is a 1989 sequel to the 1988 book Catwings, by Ursula K. Le Guin.- Plot summary:James and Harriet return to the city to find their mother. When they arrive, they find a small black kitten with wings. They gain the kitten's trust and find their mother. The kitten is hers, lost when...
, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, Jane on her Own
- Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien is an American novelist who often writes about his experiences in the Vietnam War and the impact the war had on the American servicemen who fought there...
– The Nuclear Age, The Things They CarriedThe Things They Carried is a collection of related stories by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, originally published in hardcover by Houghton Mifflin, 1990...
, July, JulyJuly, July is a novel by National Book Award Winner Tim O'Brien, about the 30th reunion of a graduating college class of 1969 that happened a year too late. It's filled with characters bent up by society's pliers, and it constantly flashes back to moments that shaped their lives...
- Grace Paley
Grace Paley was an American-Jewish short story writer, poet, and political activist.-Biography:Grace Paley was born in the Bronx to Isaac and Manya Ridnyik Goodside, who anglicized the family name from Gutseit on immigrating from Ukraine. Her father was a doctor. The family spoke Russian and...
– Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, The Little Disturbances of Man
- J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
– The Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
- Shel Silverstein
Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books...
– The Giving TreeThe Giving Tree, first published in 1964 by Harper and Row, is a children's book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. This book has become one of Silverstein's best known titles and has been translated into more than 30 languages.-Plot:...
- Mark Strand
Mark Strand is an American poet, essayist, and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990. Since 2005, he has been a professor of English at Columbia University.- Biography :...
– Mr. and Mrs. Baby and Other Stories
- Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
– World's End and Other Stories
- Chris Van Allsburg
Chris Van Allsburg is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He twice won the Caldecott Medal, for Jumanji and The Polar Express , both of which he wrote and illustrated, and both of which were later adapted into successful motion pictures...
– The Polar ExpressThe Polar Express is a 1985 children's book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, a former professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. It was adapted as an Oscar-nominated motion-capture film in 2004....
, The Wretched StoneThe Wretched Stone is a children's picture book written and illustrated by the American author Chris Van Allsburg.Told from the perspective of Captain Randall Ethan Hope, the crew of the Rita Anne finds a strange, glowing, cubic stone on an exotic island...
, The Mysteries of Harris BurdickThe Mysteries of Harris Burdick is a 1984 picture book by the American author Chris Van Allsburg consisting of a series of unrelated, highly detailed images in the author's distinctive style...
, Ben's Dream, Two Bad AntsTwo Bad Ants is a 1988 children's book written and illustrated by American author Chris Van Allsburg.-Plot summary:The title characters, while journeying through a human home, decide to exploit a sugar bowl on their own rather than delivering the crystals to the colony's queen...
, The Sweetest FigThe Sweetest Fig is a children's fantasy novel written in 1993 by the American author Chris Van Allsburg. It tells the dark, unsettling story of an affluent, cold-hearted French dentist who eats a fig that makes his wildest dreams come true....
, The Window's Broom, The StrangerThe Stranger is a children's written in 1986 by the American author Chris Van Allsburg. It tells a story of a stranger with no memory of who he is or where he's from. He recuperates in the home of a farmer and his family during the fall season.-Plot:...
, The Wreck of the Zephyer, The Garden of Abdul GasaziThe Garden of Abdul Gasazi is a best-selling children's picture book written in 1979 by the American author Chris Van Allsburg...
Translators of Murakami's works
Murakami's works have been translated into many languages. Below is a list of translators according to language (by alphabetical order):
- Albanian
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
– Etta Klosi
- Arabic – Saeed Alganmi, Iman Harrz Allah
- Armenian
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
– Alexander Aghabekyan
- Basque
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
– Ibon Uribarri
- Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
– Ana Luiza Dantas Borges
- Bulgarian
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
– Ljudmil Ljutskanov
- Catalan
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
– Albert Nolla, Concepció Iribarren, Imma Estany, Jordi Mas
- Chinese
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
– 賴明珠/Lai Ming-zhu (Taiwan), 林少华/Lin Shao-hua (Chinese Mainland), 葉惠/Ye Hui (Hong Kong)
- Croatian
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
– Maja Šoljan, Vojo Šindolić, Mate Maras, Maja Tančik, Dinko Telećan
- Czech
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
– Tomáš Jurkovič
- Danish
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
– Mette Holm
- Dutch
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
– Elbrich Fennema, Jacques Westerhoven, L. van Haute
- English
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
– Alfred BirnbaumAlfred Birnbaum is an American translator.Alfred Birnbaum was born in the United States and raised in Japan from age five. He studied at Waseda University, Tokyo, under a Japanese Ministry of Education scholarship, and has been a freelance literary and cultural translator since 1980.From March...
, Jay RubinJay Rubin is an American academic and translator. He is most notable for being one of the main translators into English of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. He has also written a guide to Japanese, Making Sense of Japanese , and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami.He has...
, Philip GabrielJ. Philip Gabriel is a full professor and department chair of the University of Arizona's Department of East Asian Studies and is one of the major translators into English of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami....
, Hideo Levyis an American-born Japanese Language author. He was born in California and educated in Taiwan, America, and Japan.He gained attention in Japan for his work Seijōki no Kikoenai Heya published in 1992, which won the Noma Literary Award for New Writers. He is one of the first Americans to write...
(USA), Theodore W. Goossen (Canada)
- Estonian
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
– Kati Lindström, Kristina Uluots
- Faroese
Faroese , is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000 Faroese people in Denmark and elsewhere...
– Pauli Nielsen
- Finnish
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
– Leena Tamminen, Ilkka Malinen, Juhani Lindholm
- French
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
– Corinne Atlan, Hélène Morita, Patrick De Vos, Véronique Brindeau, Karine Chesneau
- Galician
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
– Mona Imai, Gabriel Álvarez Martínez
- Georgian
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
– Irakli Beriashvili
- German
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
– Ursula Gräfe, Nora Bierich, Sabine Mangold, Jürgen Stalph, Annelie Ortmanns
- Greek
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
– Maria Aggelidou, Thanasis Douvris, Leonidas Karatzas, Juri Kovalenko, Stelios Papazafeiropoulos, Giorgos Voudiklaris
- Hebrew
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
– Einat Cooper, Dr. Michal Daliot-Bul, Yonatan Friedman
- Hungarian
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
– Erdős György, Horváth Kriszta, Komáromy Rudolf
- Icelandic
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
– Uggi Jónsson
- Indonesian
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
– Jonjon Johana
- Italian
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
– Giorgio Amitrano, Antonietta Pastore
- Korean
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
– Kim Choon-MieKim Choon-Mie in is a Korean academic and Japanologist, honored by the government of Japan for having "Contributed to the introduction of Japanese literature and the promotion of Japanese languageeducation."...
, Kim Nanjoo
- Latvian
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
– Ingūna Beķere
- Lithuanian
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
– Milda Dyke, Irena Jomantienė, Jūratė Nauronaitė, Marius Daškus, Dalia Saukaitytė, Ieva Stasiūnaitė, Ieva Susnytė
- Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
– Ika Kaminka, Kari and Kjell Risvik
- Persian
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
– Gita Garakani, Mehdi Ghobarayi, Bozorgmehr Sharafoddin
- Polish
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
– Anna Zielinska-Elliott
- Portuguese
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
– Maria João Lourenço, Leiko Gotoda
- Romanian
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
– Angela Hondru, Silvia Cercheaza, Andreea Sion, Iuliana Tomescu
- Russian
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
– Dmitry V. Kovalenin, Ivan Sergeevich Logatchev, Sergey Ivanovich Logatchev, Anatoly Lyan
- Serbian
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
– Nataša Tomić, Divna Tomić
- Slovak
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– Lucia Kružlíková
- Slovene – Nika Cejan, Aleksander Mermal
- Spanish
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
– Lourdes Porta, Junichi Matsuura, Fernando Rodríguez-Izquierdo, Francisco Barberán
- Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
– Yukiko Duke, Eiko Duke, Vibeke Emond
- Thai
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
– Noppadol Vatsawat, Komsan Nantachit, Tomorn Sukprecha
- Turkish
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
– Pınar Polat, Nihal Önol, Hüseyin Can Erkin
- Ukrainian
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
– Ivan Dziub, Oleksandr Bibko
- Vietnamese
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
– Trinh Lu, Tran Tien Cao Dang, Duong Tuong, Cao Viet Dung, Pham Xuan Nguyen
Further reading
- Pintor, Ivan. "David Lynch y Haruki Murakami, la llama en el umbral," in: VV.AA., Universo Lynch. Internacional Sitges Film Festival-Calamar, 2007 (ISBN 84-96235-16-5)
- Rubin, Jay. Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words. Harvill Press, 2002 (ISBN 1-86046-952-3)
- Strecher, Matthew Carl. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Readers Guide. Continuum Pub Group, 2002 (ISBN 0-8264-5239-6)
- Strecher, Matthew Carl. Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki. University of Michigan/Monographs in Japanese Studies, 2001. (ISBN 1-929280-07-6)
- Suter, Rebecca. The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki Between Japan and the United States. Harvard University Asian Center, 2008. (ISBN 978-0-674-02833-3)
External links