I knew I would like the man himself when I read his work, and I’ve written this book for other fans who feel a similar kinship with him and would like to know more about his life and art, but who are prevented from doing so by the barrier of the Japanese language. I might as well admit it from the start: I’m a Haruki Murakami fan. Where matters of literary interpretation are concerned, however, I have only myself to blame. Additional thanks go to Rakuko Rubin, Deborah Bluestein, Eizo Matsumura, Tess Gallagher, Hiromi Hashimoto, Alfred Birnbaum, Elmer Luke, Kenzaburo Oe, Charles Inouye, Hosea Hirata, Miryam Sas, Beatrice and Paul Reiss, Howard Hibbett, Edwin Cranston, Paul Warham, Emi Shimokawa, Glynne Walley, Matthew Strecher, Kozo Yamamura, and Jun Kim.
Ian Pindar wrestled bravely with questions of style and structure. Shincho editor Riki Suzuki was generous with his time and comments, and Ted Goossen was especially helpful. I would like to thank Haruki and Yoko Murakami for agreeing to be inter¬ viewed despite misgivings about such an intrusive project. The research for this book was assisted initially by a grant from the Joint Committee on Japanese Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser © Mizumaru Anzai, 2000 A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 1 86046 952 3 (tpb) ISBN 1 86046 986 8 (hb) Designed and typeset in Iowan Old Style at Libanus Press, Marlborough, Wiltshire Printed and bound in Great Britain by Butler & Tanner, Frome, Somerset CONDITIONS OF SALE All rights reserved. English translation © Kodansha International, 1987 Drawings of Notebook with pen and of Haruki Murakami, by Mizumaru Anzai, reproduced from S£ da, Murakami-san ni kitte miyQ by permission of Asahi Shinbun sha. © Raymond Carver, 1986, 1987, 1988 Tess Gallagher 1989, 2002 Chapter 1 of Haruki Murakami's novel Hear the Wind Sing, translated by Alfred Birnbaum, reprinted by permission of Kodansha International Ltd. © Haruki Murakami, 1983 Excerpts from Raymond Carver’s poem "The Projectile” reprinted by permission of Tess Gallagher. © Jay Rubin, 2002 Frontispiece photograph of Haruki Murakami © Marion Ettlinger Haruki Murakami’s story “The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema”, reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Biography/Literary Criticismįirst published in 2002 by The Harvill Press 2 Aztec Row, Berners Road London N1 OPW -V,* In tracing Murakami’s career, he uses interviews he conducted with the author between 19, 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. 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. He has written a book for other fans who want to know more about this reclusive writer.
More than an exceptional translator of Murakami’s work, Professor Rubin is a selfconfessed fan. Rejecting the self-destructive lifestyle expected of the writer, he stopped smoking and started running marathons, but his surreal sense of humour has spared him from taking himself too seriously. Over the years he has grown in stature from exciting newcomer to a major voice in world literature. Europe, then lived in America from 1991 to 1995. His career was off and running with his first novel, but it was the unprecedented suc¬ cess of Norwegian Wood in 1987 that made him a national celebrity. And when he writes, his words have a music all their own, much of it learned from jazz. He loves music of all kinds - jazz, classical, folk, rock - and has more than 6,000 records at home.
Wonderland and the End of the WorldĪs a young man, Haruki Murakami played records and mixed drinks at his Tokyo jazz club, Peter Cat, then wrote at the kitchen table until the sun came up.