For Americans who are not aware, Haruki Murakami has a new novel out, called 1Q84. I see posters all over Korea advertising this new book and much to my dismay it is only available in Japanese and Korean here (though not surprising since it just came out in May). The title is a reference to George Orwell's 1984, though there is a Q in the title b/c the Japanese word for the number nine is pronounced, "kyū". (and as a side note, one of the Korean words for the number nine is pronounced "koo")
Yeah, so I have this brand new Murakami book dangling in front of my face all the time and I can't read it!!! How frustrating. And what's even more frustrating is that the English translation will probably take at least a good year or two to come out. Gahhh!!!
If you want to read more about the book's release, you can check out an article here. Sighhhh.
i hadn't even thought about the sound/number connection... well we'll see how long it takes to come into print in english- i'm sure there will be a preorder date on amazon this year!
ReplyDeleteYeah, if there is, sign me up!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be several ironies embedded in this post! I feel your pain: even though I was probably the most advanced student in our class, I'm far from being able to read a newspaper.
ReplyDeleteI used to be mad for HM, and about ten years ago, would've gone ga-ga on hearing this kinda news. Things went downhill for me since the triumph of WUBC (though Kafka OTS recaptured some of the past magic). Which leads me to believe that we've both (obviously changed), and it's hard to say which changed more -- my readerly sensibilities or his writerly preoccupations.
Oh yeah, well I agree with you a bit here. I still think Wind Up Bird is his best work, and I haven't felt that his writing since then has been able to reach the same level as that acme. But I still have the hope... hence really wanting to read his latest novel... it appears to be quite ambitious, so we'll see... in like another year! gahhhh...
ReplyDeleteWhen you get back, we'll have to have that Murakami discussion! For now, just wanted to note that my 2nd favorite novel is Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World -- one of the very few novels (along with Wind-up Bird) that I've read more than once.
ReplyDeleteYes, we will definitely have to have that conversation when I get back! I agree with you on Hard Boiled Wonderland too. So have you by chance then read Kobo Abe's works? He is Murakami's predecessor. I don't know if he actually had a direct influence on Murakami's work, but it definitely has some relation. Kobo Abe is closer to Kafka in my mind. He is also far more non linear and bizarre. I recommend him if you haven't read his books yet!
ReplyDeleteYou probably won't be that surprised to learn that I've read 3 of Abe's novels: The Face of Another, Woman in the Dunes, and Kangaroo Notebook. I can't recall reading in any interviews with or bios of HM that Abe was an influence -- usually, Western authors are so named (Carver, Vonnegut, Dostoevsky). But I agree with you that there are clearly some resonances. I liked Woman in the Dunes best, but also found TFOA interesting -- the voice of the narrator was creepy, foreboding, and strangely compelling. Couldn't really make heads or tails out of KN though -- a bit too strange for me (which is saying something because, of all the arts, literature is the one for which I have the highest tolerance for and appreciation of avant garde strategies).
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