As a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinnks at his Tokyo jazz club, "Peter Cat", then wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up. He loves music of all kinds and when he writes, his words have a music all of their own, much of it learned from jazz. Besides being the distinguished translator of Murakami's work, Professor Rubin is a self-confessed fan. He has written a book for other fans who want to know more about this reclusive writer. He reveals the autobiographical elements in Murakami's fiction; explains how he developed a distinctive new style in Japanese; and how, on his return to Japan from America, he came to regard the Kobe earthquake (in which his parents' house was destroyed) and the Tokyo subway gas attack as twin manifestations of a violence lying just beneath the surface of Japanese life. In tracing Murakami's career, Rubin uses interviews conducted with the author between 1993 and 2001, and draws on insights and observations gathered from having collaborated with Murakami for more than a decade in preparing his works for an English-speaking audience.
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From Publishers Weekly
Part exuberant celebrator, part human Murakami encyclopedia, Rubin, a Harvard professor of Japanese Literature and a Murakami translator, puts about the author's life and writing under a microscope in this homage to all things Murakami. The internationally bestselling Murakami began publishing at age 30, while he and his wife ran Peter Cat, a Tokyo jazz club, and, as the title of this volume suggests, Murakami's writing is filled with musical references. Rubin starts by introducing the reader to "The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema," "one of Murakami's most musical stories." Rubin delves into Murakami's obsessions, from animals (particularly cats) to detachment, sex and hunger, by breaking down many of Murakami's stories and all of his novels. Rubin's plot summaries can go on too long before he gets to his critique, but his analyses are colorful and heartfelt, opening new ways of understanding the coolly surreal Murakami. Only in a few instances does Rubin point out a misstep, such as in Sputnik Sweetheart. Quips Rubin: "In one of the worst lines of the book, the narrator actually thinks to himself: 'Sumire went over to the other side. That would explain a lot.' Indeed it would, just as the existence of gremlins would explain how my glasses moved from my desk to the dining-room table." While Rubin states this book is for other Murakami fans, casual Murakami readers and those baffled by the writer's works could gain something from this volume.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
From Library Journal
This combination of biography and critical analysis of Murakami's life and work to date carefully chronicles one of Japan's most popular contemporary authors. Sometimes he is dismissed as a "pop lit" writer in a category with Banana Yoshimoto, especially for the novels and stories that have pop song titles (Dance Dance Dance, Norwegian Wood, "Slow Boat to China"). But works such as Wild Sheep Chase and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle have been taken more seriously and have garnered Murakami several literary prizes and invitations to Princeton, Harvard, and Tufts. A workaholic, Murakami is also noted as a translator (into Japanese) of Raymond Carver, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Irving, and others, as well as for his encyclopedic knowledge of Western music and his journalistic pursuits. Still in his early 50s, Murakami is taking his place in Japanese literature with Yasunari Kawabata, Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburo Oe, and Junichiro Tanizaki. Rubin (Japanese literature, Harvard) has translated several of Murakami's works and gives an evenhanded, nicely balanced account of his life and art. Much has been written about this important author in Japanese, but this is the first full look at him in English. Recommended for all public libraries holding Murakami's works. Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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By Nicole
Format:Hardcover
As a previous reviewer mentioned, this book consists mostly of Rubin's literary criticism of all Murakami's works. This includes some things that are not readily available in English, especially things not available in book form. Rubin does, however, include excerpts of the material he discusses and he mentions magazines where Murakami's short stories have been published. Notes on translation are excellent, as is the bibliography.
While this book is not a straight-up biography, I think complaints about a lack of biographical material are unfounded. There is a lot of information about the chronology of Murakami's life and that of his wife, as well as insights into his thoughts on Japan and Japanese society. It is well known that Murakami is very private, and I was actually surprised at how much of a glimpse into his life and feelings Rubin was able to give us.
A note of some caution: although Rubin does not reveal everything in his criticism of Murakami's novels and short stories, I recommend that before reading this book you read as much of Murakami's works as you can get your hands on. This is partly because of spoiler issues, but mostly because it is the way to get the most out of Rubin's comments. And if you're anything like me, you will want to go back and re-read everything after seeing Rubin's take on the material -- unlike another reviewer, I feel that it is valuable to hear as many opinions as possible about Murakami as well as about any other writer.
While this book is not a straight-up biography, I think complaints about a lack of biographical material are unfounded. There is a lot of information about the chronology of Murakami's life and that of his wife, as well as insights into his thoughts on Japan and Japanese society. It is well known that Murakami is very private, and I was actually surprised at how much of a glimpse into his life and feelings Rubin was able to give us.
A note of some caution: although Rubin does not reveal everything in his criticism of Murakami's novels and short stories, I recommend that before reading this book you read as much of Murakami's works as you can get your hands on. This is partly because of spoiler issues, but mostly because it is the way to get the most out of Rubin's comments. And if you're anything like me, you will want to go back and re-read everything after seeing Rubin's take on the material -- unlike another reviewer, I feel that it is valuable to hear as many opinions as possible about Murakami as well as about any other writer.
Format:Hardcover
First of all, don't buy this book purely for biographical purposes, hoping to get some hidden insight on Murakami's life. It is clear that Murakami values his privacy intensely and Rubin goes to great lengths to respect that. Also, what information is given about Murakami will pretty much conform with what you probably could've assumed about him. This book, more than anything else, is a chronological literary criticism of Murakami's works up through "after the quake." Rubin does a good job of analyzing many of the running motifs and themes that occur in Murakami's books (wells, corridors, birds, and elephants, to name a few). It is clear that Rubin has a hard time being a Murakami fan and a Murakami scholar at the same time, but he seems to do a good job remaining impartial (although it is clear which books are his favorites and which are not!)
My first experience with Murakami was when I read "A Wild Sheep Chase" a year and a half ago, and before I knew it I had read every major novel and short story he'd written, finishing Pinball 1973 just last week. I read the books in an order that pretty much had nothing to do with the order they were written (beware that the order that the English translations came out in is often quite different than the original order). As a result, reading the details Rubin gives behind each of the books and about the growth that Murakami experienced along the way were among the highlights of the book for me and helped to solidify the ties that hold his books together. Murakami fascinates me because he is still growing rapidly as a writer and a person and the growing pains as well as the links to his past work are found in each work if you know what to look for.
Rubin spends the most time in this book discussing "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," which for me was an incredibly thrilling and frustrating book at the same time. Murakami had so many excellent storylines and so many running motifs, but many seemed to frazzle and die out by the end. Some call this piece Murakami's masterpiece, but I have a feeling that when all is said and done, this will be seen as a transitional piece: the first work where Murakami fully takes on the responsibility he feels towards the Japanese people. Murakami tackled so many issues with such brilliance (the Nomonhan Incident in particular) that I look forward to seeing where this new focus takes Murakami in the future. Some of his more recent work ("Sputnik Sweetheart" comes to mind) seem more of a step backwards than real progress, but there is no way Wind-Up Bird is a mere aberration.
Perhaps more so than any other writer, we as readers have the interesting opportunity to watch Murakami grow and experiment before our very eyes. If you haven't already, definitely try to get your hands on some of the earlier novels and short stories Rubin mentions ("Hear the Wind Sing" in particular) to get an even better grasp of where Murakami has started from.
If you are a serious fan of Murakami and want a better understanding of the thinking behind his works and a bit of an analysis of the works themselves (remember that as an individualist, Murakami believes his books have no one, strict interpretation!), "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" is a must-have companion to Murakami's works. Reliving Murakami's works through Rubin's analyses is a joy.
Format:Hardcover
If you're like me, you're a huge fan of Haruki Murakami, but don't know much about him other than that he's one of Japan's most famous contemporary authors. This book definitely bridges the gap. It's mostly a literary criticism of his novels and short stories, but also includes as much biographical information as the author could find. I personally learned a lot about the underlying themes of Murakami's novels, and was also gratified that someone else thought "Dance, Dance, Dance" wasn't as good as his others. The book makes it clear how Murakami has changed over time and how the characters and events in his novels are inspired by his own life.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Primer To Murakami's Work - But Not a Good Biography
Having been Murakami's translator for many of his best novels and stories, Jay Rubin has written a solid introduction to Murakami's work in general. Read more
Published on Oct 17 2002 by "50cent-haircut"
4.0 out of 5 stars
The reader from the dolphin hotel is right and wrong
This book is about 50% Rubin's analysis of Murakami's work, about 30% biographical, about 10% about the translation work and differences between Japanese and English, and about 10%... Read more
Published on Sep 24 2002 by David Myers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sheep, INKlings, and Shoko Asahara
I'm a poor graduate student, so I usually wait for a book to come out in paperback before I purchase it. With this book I made an Exception. Read more
Published on Aug 16 2002 by Daitokuji31
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
Rubin's books has too much critique of each and every one of Murakami's pieces, and not enough about the man himself, which is what I was mislead to believe the book was about. Read more
Published on Aug 15 2002
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