Murakami & Pynchon

[John Bailey]

Started reading 1Q84 last night and was immediately struck by the freeway
imagery as pure Murakami. I've never read a discussion of the
psychogeography of his work - how the physical spaces he represents are
always reflective of both personal and cultural terrain. Half of Hardboiled
Wonderland...  was literally set inside a head, and even Murakami has said
he won't write any more wells because the metaphor is so tired now. 1Q84's
blockage on the freeway seems to me to set up exactly where the novel will
be going, in terms of a psychological obstruction and the problematic
Japanese consciousness of history.

(Also the talismanic use of brand names as cultural fetish; the
subconscious studded with the false milestones of late capitalism)

On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 12:02 PM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:

> When I replied to a twitterer--Doug Amato--- reading 1Q84 linking "karmic
> adjustment"
> to a quote implying a kind of karmic balance in 1Q84---he responded by
> saying he had
> spoken to a reader who found lots in 1Q84 influenced he thought by 'later
> Pynchon".
>
> All reading 1Q84: write your essay post now.......................
>
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