Murakami: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman - Invitation to view

[kelber at mindspring.com]

I've only read The Windup Bird Chronicle, which seemed to me self-consciously cute - almost as if it had been written for the (then) futuristic Brooklyn Williamsburg hipsters - spaghetti/jazz/quirky characters, etc. I should track that short story down, Mark, but other than that, have no interest in reading more.

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: John Bailey <sundayjb at gmail.com>
>Sent: Oct 9, 2015 7:40 PM
>To: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>Cc: Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>, David Kilroy <thesaintgodard at gmail.com>, Leandro Poblet <leandrodrhouse at gmail.com>, pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: Murakami: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman - Invitation to view
>
>Agree his metaphysics are quite bound up with Japanese culture... lots
>of stuff about energy flows and blockages and the contiguity of
>external and internal worlds that reads as pretty naff to Western
>eyes.
>
>Some of his literary tricks are completely untranslatable, too. Most
>of his work plays on the long Japanese tradition of the I-Novel which
>is a first-person, naturalistic confessional; Murakami degrades the
>form by employing informal grammar (eg his I is the subjective,
>solipsistic 'boku' instead of the usual respectful 'watashi') and
>switching into a cold, academic grammar when things get more abstract.
>
>On Sat, Oct 10, 2015 at 10:35 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>> It wasn't enough for me.  His main character is usually in crisis and
>> depression, and on a quest, which is always a good start.  Lots of teasing
>> ensues with little depth, and thus shallow resolution, IMHO.
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>>
>> On Friday, October 9, 2015, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> His empathy on paper, empathy as a deep theme.....is worthy and unusual.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On Oct 9, 2015, at 7:01 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> My main problem is the tangential throwaway metaphysics. They are either
>>> silly and shallow or lead nowhere.  I've wondered if maybe it's due to my
>>> lack of Japanese cultural background.  If so, his archetypes are extremely
>>> parochial.  And the stories without them aren't compelling.
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>> On Friday, October 9, 2015, David Kilroy <thesaintgodard at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> My main argument against the Chronicle is the cast.  I find them all very
>>>> difficult to engage with, unlike most other Murakmi I've read.  I realize
>>>> this is more to do with the culture, set & setting, than anything else.  I
>>>> exist in a culture actively estranging itself so a story about coming to
>>>> terms with alienation has to have some emotional texture, some rock in the
>>>> stream with an irregular surface for me to cling to.
>>>>
>>>> Contrariwise, my favorite character in WUBC-- that is, the most clearly
>>>> embedded in my memory --is Noboru Wataya.  It's his cipherlike nature as an
>>>> antagonist.  He's a cloudy diamond, of the same water as Brock Vond or
>>>> Windust.  Could be I'm just a sucker for ambivalent villainy.  Could be
>>>> that's why I haven't absquatulated from Amerika already...
>-
>Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l

-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l