I'm rereading a book that quite thrilled me the first time I read it, Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It still works its magic. At this point Murakami will probably never win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he doesn't need to. Name a recent winner outside of Bob Dylan anyway.
Among other things it's a great turn on the idea of the unreliable narrator. While the narrator―like the other characters, never given a name―may not be crazy or intentionally deceptive, his descriptions and introspection give the impression that he's leaving something out, perhaps without being aware of it.
Another aspect I like―and in truth I'm not sure how much of this is Murakami and how much is translator Alfred Birnbaum―is the division of narrative tenses. The more cyberpunky half taking place in the scientific complex is told in past tense. The half taking place in the doomed fantastic arcadia is told in the present tense. It's kind of the opposite of what you'd expect, keeping the reader just a little off balance.
2 comments:
There was a time when I too hoped Murakami would be
recognized by the Nobel committee as his countrymen
Kenzaburo Oe and Kazuo Ishiguro both were. In fact I
used to pay attention to the Nobel prizes right up until
the time Barack Obama won the Peace Prize and Dylan
won the Prize for Literature. I figured Obama won it more
in hope for what he might do and Dylan because the
committee members hoped to meet him. They didn't.
As for Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World I'm afraid you have the advantage
of me because you're reading it now. I read it twice but
the last time was long enough ago that I don't recall
much other than that it was strange and enjoyable.
Jer's a big Murakami fan so maybe that's something
you can discuss with him one day. One afternoon
about a year ago he related the entirety of Killing
Commendatore to me during a walk in the park.
We've wondered about how much Murakami's translator
has affected the novels but I imagine it would have to be
very close to what the author has written or surely someone
would have brought it to Murakami's attention. Birnbaum
really is very good at his profession. As for the unreliable
narrator with Murakami you can't always be sure.
It may be time for me to reread Hard Boiled Wonderland
and the End of the World and my other favorite
Kafka on the Shore.
Let's be real. It's something of a joke for any President of the United States to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Just, structurally, peace isn't something that the leader of the world's most powerful nation does. Jimmy Carter sort of makes sense but he was winning for things he did after leaving office. Dylan's indifference to PhDs buttering him up deserves an award of its own. And I'd have to note he's still writing and playing songs, which the younger Tom Waits seems to have given up on years ago.
I wouldn't say that Hard-Boiled Wonderland has a really intricate plot. It establishes two different settings, with two different premises playing out. The premises are evidently related, and by-and-by it's revealed just how they're related. The book comes to a conclusion but there are still different ways things could work out beyond the ending.
Oh, I'm sure that the translations are faithful and Murakami knows what's going on. He's fluent in English and has done some translating himself. It's just that it seems there's some creativity involved in translation as well. Almost has to be, especially when you consider how different the two languages are.
Kafka on the Shore is one I'm not sure I've read. That's one I'll have to crack open in the near future.
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