Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words is a non-fiction book by Jay Rubin, published by Harvill Press in 2002.
The book discusses Haruki Murakami.
The book includes some original essays written by Rubin along with some existing works by Murakami, including some entire stories and some excerpts of such. [1] It also includes a biography of Murakami. Steffen Hantke of Sogang University described it as an "attempt to provide its readers with everything but the kitchen sink." [2] Hantke described the book at the time as "the most comprehensive single work of scholarship on" Murakami. [3]
It argues against the idea that Murakami's novels had little value. [4]
Ann Sherif of Oberlin College wrote that Rubin was "frank" in his appraisals of Murakami's literature. [1]
Rubin had been the most frequent person to translate Murakami's books, and also is friends with Murakami. [2]
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Brian Keeley of the Far Eastern Economic Review stated that the details present in the biographical information were "some significant, too many trivial". [5]
"Translating Murakami" is in Appendix A and describes how Murakami's works are translated. [6] The bibliography is at the end of the book and lists works in English and Japanese. [7] Hantke stated that the bibliography "functions as a list of suggestions for further reading." [3]
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Hantke stated that the book was important as a means of collecting critical information on Murakami in a single work, even though, in his view, the book covers little new information, because at the time the critical reviews of Murakami were scattered across multiple sources, and that was especially the case for information written in English. [8]
Keeley stated that the content was "often interesting stuff", and he praised the "useful insights". [5] He felt Rubin at times was "a little too keen, a little too gushing." [5]
Sherif stated that the work has "much critical acumen". [9] Sherif praised Appendix A for having "interesting insights". [6]
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche is a book by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami about the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. The book is made up of a series of interviews with individuals who were affected by the attacks, and the English translation also includes interviews with members of Aum, the religious cult responsible for the attacks. Murakami hoped that through these interviews, he could capture a side of the attacks which the sensationalist Japanese media had ignored—the way it had affected average citizens. The interviews were conducted over nearly a year, starting in January 1996 and ending in December of that same year.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is a 1985 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1985. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A new translation by Jay Rubin will be released December 2024. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two narratives—"Hard-Boiled Wonderland" and "The End of the World".
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a novel published in 1994–1995 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The American translation and its British adaptation, dubbed the "only official translations" (English), are by Jay Rubin and were first published in 1997. For this novel, Murakami received the Yomiuri Literary Award, which was awarded to him by one of his harshest former critics, Kenzaburō Ōe.
Kafka on the Shore is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Its 2005 English translation was among "The 10 Best Books of 2005" from The New York Times and received the World Fantasy Award for 2006. The book tells the stories of the young Kafka Tamura, a bookish 15-year-old boy who runs away from his Oedipal curse, and Satoru Nakata, an old, disabled man with the uncanny ability to talk to cats. The book incorporates themes of music as a communicative conduit, metaphysics, dreams, fate, and the subconscious.
Pinball, 1973 is 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 (1979) and followed by A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), and is the second novel written by Murakami.
A Wild Sheep Chase is the third novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. First published in Japan in 1982, it was translated into English in 1989. It is an independent sequel to Pinball, 1973, and the third book in the so-called "Trilogy of the Rat". It won the 1982 Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize.
Jay Rubin is an American translator, writer, scholar and Japanologist. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, Making Sense of Japanese, and a biographical literary analysis of Murakami.
James Philip Gabriel is an American translator and Japanologist. He is a full professor and former 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.
Dance Dance Dance is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, it was translated into English by Alfred Birnbaum in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase. In 2001, Murakami said that writing Dance Dance Dance had been a healing act after his unexpected fame following the publication of Norwegian Wood and that, because of this, he had enjoyed writing Dance more than any other book.
Hear the Wind Sing is the first novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. It first appeared in the June 1979 issue of Gunzo, and in book form the next month. The novel was adapted by Japanese director Kazuki Ōmori in a 1981 film distributed by Art Theatre Guild. An English translation by Alfred Birnbaum appeared in 1987.
The Miner is a 1908 novel by Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki. The novel recounts the story of a young man who begins working in a mine following a failed relationship, with extensive attention paid to his perceptions, both at the time of events and in retrospect as a mature adult. It was translated into English in 1988 by Jay Rubin. Critically panned at the time of publication, The Miner has since been reassessed for its literary innovation.
Yoshihiko Kazamaru is a Japanese contemporary literary critic.
1Q84 is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–2010. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to notice strange changes occurring in the world. She is quickly caught up in a plot involving Sakigake, a religious cult, and her childhood love, Tengo, and embarks on a journey to discover what is "real".
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the thirteenth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Published on 12 April 2013 in Japan, it sold one million copies in one month.
The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema is a short story by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, written in 1982. The title references "The Girl from Ipanema", the famous Bossa nova song that was first released in March 1964 in the album Getz/Gilberto. The story follows the musings of an unnamed narrator as he contemplates the song, detailing one memory to the next. It culminates in his meeting with the metaphysical girl from the song, and his expression of longing for a union with her.
First Person Singular is a collection of eight stories by Haruki Murakami. It was first published on 18 July 2020 by Bungeishunjū. As its title suggests, all eight stories in the book are told in a first-person singular narrative.
Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki is a 2002 non-fiction book by Matthew Strecher, published by University of Michigan Press. It examines Haruki Murakami.
The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki Between Japan and the United States is a non-fiction book by Rebecca Suter, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press.