Blog Post 2 - Max Dahlstrom

 

Norwegian Wood left me feeling very emotional because of how immersive the sense of loneliness and, at times, hopelessness felt throughout the novel. Watanabe starts off with a tragic backstory and appears alienated from society as a result of the trauma inflicted upon him by Kizuki’s suicide. Much of the book follows him coping with that trauma or trying to move past it, but his relationship with Naoko keeps him tethered to the past. For most of the novel, he is waiting for Naoko to get better with no end to her battle with mental illness in sight. He appears to be getting better at times throughout the novel on his own, but his commitment to Naoko, which really seems to stem from his inability to get over Kizuki’s death, prevents him from being able to throw himself into the world and experience all it has to offer. This is marked by the vast differences in settings between Tokyo and the sanatorium, and their different love interests, Midori and Naoko respectively. Tokyo is rife with different opportunities and the uncertainty that comes with them, including the prospect of a relationship with Midori, as Reiko explicitly mentions. The sanatorium, on the other hand, clearly provides an escape from this world. It is for damaged people like Naoko who cannot go on living in society because of the trauma or mental illness that they’re suffering from, yet it also brings a sense of security by denying the world and all its uncertainty. Watanabe is constantly torn between these two worlds and the prevalence of suicide in the novel emphasizes his agency regarding the choice of which one to belong to.

The end of the novel is interesting, because it is not exactly clear which world he has chosen, or whether or not he even has a choice by the end. On the phone with Midori, he loses his sense of space and the coherence of the world around him completely breaks down. Is he having some sort of a panic attack and suffering from trauma in the same way that Naoko did? Or is it indicative of him embracing the overwhelming uncertainty of the world he has finally become able to enter? It's very unclear, and I find it difficult to tie it to the beginning of the novel when he's in Hamburg airport. Nevertheless, I think the ambiguous ending suits the story well and reiterates the embrace of uncertainty that Watanabe struggles with throughout the novel.

- Max Dahlstrom

Blog Post 2 - Spaghetti as Loneliness

When Watanabe writes to Midori about how lonely April and May were without her and ends his letter telling her that he wants to make spaghetti for her (page 259), I was immediately reminded of “The Year of Spaghetti.” I was curious which was written first, and as best I could find “The Year of Spaghetti” predates Norwegian Wood by seven years, first published in 1981 and 1987 respectively. For the Boku of “The Year of Spaghetti,” cooking spaghetti is like “an act of revenge” by a “jilted girl” throwing out love letters. This is pretty close to the cause of Watanabe’s loneliness with Midori spitefully ignoring him. For all he knows, she’s destroying his letters too. Having read “The Year of Spaghetti” first gives an added intensity, a special connotation to Watabane’s suggestion, and I wonder if this was an intentional self-reference to his earlier short story. But what might this repeated use of spaghetti as a food of loneliness indicate? It’s peculiar enough to have spaghetti representing this as is, but seeing it appear in two stories, I began to wonder if Murakami himself has a strong association of loneliness with spaghetti or perhaps had a bad experience with it.

-Kate

Blog Post #2

       This was actually my second read through of Norwegian Wood and once again I was impressed. I first read the book probably 2 years ago in the beginning of quarantine and I'm assuming, like most people, they felt an overarching feeling of loneliness and emptiness. I found then as I find now that this book very well encapsulates this feeling.

    When I describe Norwegian Wood to others, I say it is the feeling of fall going into winter. A feeling that is empty, no matter what you do you cannot change seasons and weather, you have no power in this relationship, you just have to accept and trudge through. You know it will be hard, and you will feel down and lonely (or at least us with seasonal depression), but seasons must change so you are forced to accept. Norwegian Wood presents this empty feeling beautifully. I feel for these characters, you can see their pain and longing for something better. But overall the book is lonely. 

    This was the connection in Wild Sheep Chase that I was looking for but never really found. You see the characters in Norwegian Wood for who they are, or at least who they believe they are. Reading through I do find this story as more of a realistic work, yeah there is always Murakami's magical touch, but I like to read this without trying to analyze every line for hidden details. I felt no reason to dig, I found everything I needed to on the surface. Overall I really enjoy this book, and am excited to see how the movie compares.

- Emmett Glazer

Blog Post 2 - Kara Beigh

It was surprising to me how noticeably Murakami’s writing improved since A Wild Sheep Chase. The main issue I had with A Wild Sheep Chase was how detached it was. I didn’t feel drawn into the story and I didn’t gain an affinity for any of the characters. With Norwegian Wood, I felt like I had a better understanding of the characters and was able to get drawn into the story. It seemed like the characters actually had personalities, especially Midori, who probably had the most personality. I will say that despite liking Norwegian Wood, there are still some aspects of Murakami’s writing that I dislike. It seems like it's impossible for Murakmai to write a completely “normal” story. There always has to be at least one thing that’s weird or comes completely out of the blue. For example, the whole thing with the 13 year old. Like… why?? What was the point of including that? I think my main issue with Murakami’s writing is not his style, but the content of his stories. 

As a complete side note, I’m curious what relationships are like in Japan, at least in the time period the book takes place in. In Norwegian Wood, cheating seems normal. Hatsumi and Nagasawa’s relationship isn’t portrayed as being that unusual, and she doesn’t seem that upset with his infidelity.

Blog Post #2 - Cassandra

I really enjoyed the recent short stories that we have read in the past classes, but “Drive My Car" was my favorite out of them. 

I thought “Drive My Car” by Murakami was a very poignant exploration of grief and its impact on a person. In Kafuku’s interaction with Misaki, it is easy to see how grief persists over time and prevents a person from moving on. In their conversations, there are times where the dialogue indicates that Kafuku is not truly open with what he is experiencing. While Kafuku and Misaki find some sort of solace in each other's company, grief reinforces how truly isolating losing someone to death can be. I really liked that Murakami included memories as a way to process grief. In the context of this story, Kafuka’s memories with his late wife is how he reflects on his past actions as well as regrets. There is an air of alienation and loneliness in this story, especially with how Kafuku feels as if there is no one in the world that understands what it feels like to lose someone so close. This is especially clear in his interactions with Takatsuki. Even though it is a bit unusual to drink with the guy that had an affair with your spouse, it is very much in line with the extent that grief dedicates one’s actions over all else. 

- Cassandra Berrette

Insect Exoskeletons in Norwegian Wood- Krisha

There are two very similar insect similes that have popped up so far in Norwegian Wood that I wanted to talk about. On page 45, there is the forgotten white undershirt "waving in the evening breeze like the discarded shell of some huge insect" which is rather similar to the description of Naoko undressing, throwing her gown off "like an insect shedding its skin" on page 131. This imagery of clothes as cast aside insect bodies is unlike anything I have ever read before, and it doesn't really invoke growth imagery the way caterpillar metamorphosis does. It feels more like a nature documentary where the narrator talks about a scorpion pushing through its old hard body, exposing its vulnerable new self to the elements as it grows and hardens. I wonder if that is the intent for the Naoko scene. Maybe it is a different type of growth and development imagery that's less subtle than a butterfly transformation. It follows then to ask if the first cast aside insect shell on page 45 has anything more to it. It is in a section where Watanabe allows a firefly to fly away. There could be something going on with growth and departure.

There are also descriptions of dead cicada bodies in first chapter, and I know wonder if they were just for imagery or if the use of cicada bodies is related to the other insect similes listed above. Cast aside insect bodies seem to be a neat visual Murakami is using. 

(3/1 Blog Early because this reading has been wow)!! - Alanis

 So I know the blog isn’t due until next week but I needed to make this blog now because I just had so much to say about the 2 assigned readings for today (2/22). I really was struck (funny) by the theme of a wife… dying… and a man being left alone and trying to cope with life afterwards. And women leaving/dying is a theme that I saw begin in the Wild Sheep Chase (the pretty ears lady made her departure at the end without her consent. Still disappointed about that), and in “South Bay Strut,” the so-called “detective” tries to defend a woman… and fails miserably… but shows he is just bad at his job, which is comical. And in the kangaroo story, the girlfriend’s feelings are sort of dismissed. But here, in “Drive My Car” and “Tony Takitani,” the men have wives. And they die. One died of cancer, and the other one was struck by a car (in that order).

I  needed to comment on this because the pattern of women is interesting. In both “Drive My Car” and “Tony Takitani,” the man loves the woman dearly and can’t live exactly the same after the death of their wives. In the first story, I think there is something to be said about the child the wife would have had with Kafuku being as old as his new personal driver, and how Kafuku is essentially unphased by this fact except when he first realizes it, and in a way, almost plays a father-like role for her despite the fact she is working for him, and I thought this dynamic was heartfelt: her parents are dead, and it just so happens that the child he would have had was born the same year Misaki was born. However, I will say that the fact he stayed with his wife even though he knew she was cheating on him says something about tolerance of abuse, even if he really loved her. I also want to talk about the appearance of a new woman after Tony’s wife died, but I found it interesting that he denied her the job after he initially gave it to her but let her keep the dresses. Must have taken a lot.

My thoughts have evolved throughout writing this post. But all in all, a lot of thoughts about women came out of me. I don’t know if it’s ultimately good or bad. I know the women are loved and in their time alive are treated nicely, but they still die. Why would Murakami have these women die? One died a painful death (I’d imagine Urine Cancer is painful) and the other one died painfully, but quickly (literally said she didn’t feel anything). Weird. Those are my two cents though. Also.. last thought.. Characters have names How odd. A lot of third person narration.

Blog comments from Yennie

 A Wild Sheep Chase was my first Murakami novel. I’m not normally one to choose to read books from this genre, so really getting into the story was a bit difficult. I found the beginning of the book to be quite slow, and it was easy to put it down and forget about it for a few days. I didn’t feel drawn to continue reading. The slow beginning began to ramp up a bit, but I still had some trouble forcing myself to be engaged with the story.
Perhaps if I had found the introduction to the story more interesting, it would have been easier for me to immerse myself in the novel. I also felt that while the beginning was slow, the ending was packed into the last bit of the book and felt quite overwhelming. However, I did really enjoy the ending of the book, and it caused me to pause every few pages to digest and try to understand what Murakami was trying to impart.
I found this novel to be jam packed with different themes and hard-to-talk-about topics. I felt as though Murakami had so much he wanted to impart to his readers in this novel that he blurted them all out without allowing the reader to fully digest and process what was going on before moving onto the next theme.
Amidst the vast assortment of other themes, I think that what Murakami has to say about independence was eerily peaceful and insightful. The Rat kills himself in an attempt to free himself from the control of the Sheep. The Rat would rather be no longer and choose loneliness than allow himself to be part of a system where he has no freedom. I felt as though the Rat had no sense of individuality, and in this action he was overcompensating.

Blog Post 1 - Getting to know Murakami's inspirations

I had read Murakami’s “A Wild Sheep Chase” in high school and much like all readings required at that time, the assignments were mostly “what does the main character think about this” or “why do you think the main character reacted like that”, very surface level questions like that. During LJ460, we were asked to read both Murakami and Raymond Chandler’s “The Long Goodbye” with the understanding that Murakami was heeeaaaaavily influenced by Chandler’s writing and style. When I was reading “A Wild Sheep Chase” in tandem “The Long Goodbye”,  while obviously not the mirror image of the same story, but there were a vast amount of similarities between the two: the very specific descriptions of both settings and characters, the type of dialogue that the main characters, Philip Marlowe and “Boku”, engage in during narration or passing conversations, and even the fact that both stories are detective mysteries with a twist ending. I probably should have expected a twist having read Murakami’s novel before hand, but Chandler’s twist was very much a surprise I had to reread the chapter to make sure I was reading correctly! These similarities aren’t just between Chandler and Murakami – throughout the other short stories we’ve read in class by other authors, we can see how Murakami’s sources have a profound influence on his writings, such that when you read the works side by side, you would swear they were written by the same person under two different names.

This class so far has allowed me to have a greater appreciation for Murakami’s novels and his source’s works as well. I am looking forward to continue reading and discovering even more similarities between the texts and reignite an old passion for reading.

Alexander Wen

Blog Post 1 - Initial Impressions

Back when I’d read Kafka on the Shore and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, I’d found myself intrigued yet frustrated by an aspect of the work I couldn’t quite pin down. I now think it was a combination of Murakami’s minimalistic and anticlimactic style. The more we’ve learned about Murakami’s personality, writing techniques, and influences, the better I can retroactively apply that understanding to those texts which seemed anomalous on their own. For example, at times I found myself really baffled by story direction choices, especially in the relatively grounded Kafka on the Shore. Though absurdity itself isn’t too unusual to employ in writing, when the method of integrating those absurdities was seemingly randomly and without explanation it was difficult to come to terms with. But after reading A Wild Sheep Chase and the various assigned short stories, I've been able to get a sense of how Murakami operates. It’s not that A Wild Sheep Chase doesn’t have its share of unanswered questions, but I don’t find myself as troubled over them as I might have been. Loose-thread elements now feel characteristic of Murakami’s work to me, and I can accept them as part of his method of story-telling.

-Kate

Comments on Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words - Audree

When asked about his detached writing style, Murakami himself said that it "comes from my having a strong desire to write, but having nothing to say." This struck me because it is very much opposed to the way I have conceived of creative writing, specifically through that one popular Fitzgerald quote "don't write because you want to say something, write because you have something to say." Of course, I do believe that Murakami has something to say in his works, and his works do indeed convey, if anything, an insight into Boku's view of the world. But just in considering how Murakami views his own process, about stripping back everything he didn't want to write about and realizing there was nothing left, conveys the idea that Murakami thinks of his process, at least early on, almost as arbitrary. Rubin, however, adds an extra layer to this by speaking to Murakami's discipline, to the fact that he was determined to write something, even if he didn't feel like he had anything to say. The result of this is Boku, a laid back character who doesn't seem to have very set in stone convictions or views on the world, a lost man who half the time doesn't even feel real to himself, and yet his perspective and commentary on relationships, media, and historical events/figures are very much present. Finally, I found it interesting how Rubin makes the distinction between the Murakami who writes, the creative Murakami, and the other Murakami who just lives his life, who is laid back. In the few stories we've read by Murakami, there is always this motif of Boku feeling like there is another him, it is present even in the spaghetti story, and perhaps this speaks to how Murakami himself feels— how there is the normal him, and the writer him. 

Murakami and the mundane

Diving back into a Murakami novel many years after reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was an entirely exciting experience reintroducing myself to his writing style and the ridiculousness of his storylines. When I read my first Murakami novel I was taken aback by the magic realism because that was my introduction to the style– I thought maybe I just wasn't smart or cultured enough to "get" it. However, my experience reading The Wild Sheep Chase was much more enjoyable because I began to see the humor in Murakami's writing– that sometimes things don't make sense on purpose. While reading that first novel, I also wasn't paying attention at all to the references, but discussing them in class challenged me to find more easter eggs. Interacting with the text in this way made me feel even more connected to the story and Murakami's thought process. 

In the reading for today, I was fascinated by the point Rubin was making about the mundanity and almost boring qualities in the novels and their protagonists. I do agree that Boku leads a rather boring life and almost always stumbles into interesting situations, never seeking them out. In a way, it almost feels as though he is trying to lead a boring, quiet, life but the "other world" that Murakami uses so often, keeps pulling him back. Rubin argues that Boku is boring so that he can collect or highlight the interesting stories or quirks of the people around him, but never allows those around him to be perceived as full individuals. We see this in the way he describes people, based usually on their clothing and an unusual characteristic, or often with women, their body parts. I quite like the "boringness" of Boku, I find it humourous how someone so devoid of character reacts to these ridiculous situations that he finds himself in. Murakami argues his character is "boring" because "mere humans who root through their refrigerators at three o'clock in the morning can only produce writing that matches what they do. And that includes me." While yes, the settings and activities that the characters in Murakami find themselves in are usually rather ordinary, Murakami is able to dive deep into the psyche to explore interesting themes within those boring activities– like cooking spaghetti– and somehow makes it so captivating to read. 

Having understood the reference to hard-boiled fiction, I enjoyed being taken along The Wild Sheep Chase and could almost picture the novel as one of the film noirs we watched in class. 

-Sarah 

Reading and Thoughts as of Now - Alanis

 Hi all,

Thanks to me working full-time and being stressed out, this post is late. Great. Just great.

But anyway, going back to commenting on everything we have done in class so far. I wanted to begin with my impressions of the readings. For today we had to read 2 stories about spaghetti, and first off, they made me a little hungry thinking about it. These stories both talk about spaghetti, but in different ways. I find it interesting how Murakami is not a big fan of lists even when it is convenient to use them. In The Year of Spaghetti, when talking about where he got his ingredients, he uses the paragraph form to talk about where he got his spices, the cookbook, tomatoes, and his other ingredients, whereas the other story of spaghetti outright lists all of the ingredients that will be used to make spaghetti - a very big difference between the two works.  Also, I like seeing how Murakami takes the style of other authors and makes it something of his own. Thinking about that in the context of intertextuality, I still think originality is possible, and as someone mentioned in our discussion, one can have “inspiration” from other sources and end up making a product of their own. I don’t see any harm in inspiration from others.

I also wanted to take a moment to state my opinions on Chandler and comment a little bit on Murakami’s relationship with Chandler’s work as a way to influence his own. My takeaway from Chandler (jokingly) is that sometimes faking your death and starting a new life could be as cool as it sounds in the movies, but doing that in real life is near impossible. Cool thought, though, and that definitely was not an ending I was expecting. As I said in class, I finished the book and said “What did I just read?” out loud. I can see why Murakami and many other authors took inspiration from Chandler. I mean, Philip Marlowe is full of himself, but not really, but it’s shown to us that he’s prone to failure and distractions even if he never really admits to it. It really makes him seem human in some ways and a stranger in others, but still a cool character nonetheless. The narrator in A Wild Sheep Chase seems to mirror the qualities of Philip Marlowe, but I think that Boku is even more nonchalant about many things than Marlowe is. 

All in all, I’m having fun reading everything so far and it’s a lot of information. I hope I retain it.

 Blog Post 1 - Anna-Maria Marinescu

    In all honesty, it had been years before this class that I had read my first and only Murakami book. Even worse was when we all introduced ourselves no one had read the same one I did (Men without Women). Together, these thoughts left me questioning if I really did like Murakami. If I in actuality, read a novel of his that was not "classic Murakami" or that years in between reading warped my perception/understanding of his works. Luckily, I can say that after reading A Wild Sheep Chase neither was the case at all. 

    The novel and its plot was enjoyable enough for me, including the daily struggles of Boku developing into a sort of hero's journey to find the truth of the star sheep. However, what reminded me of my love for Murakami many years ago were the details in a Wild Sheep Chase that would bring back memories of Men Without Women. When we discussed the prevalence of the ocean and its animals in Murakami, my mind wandered to Drive my Car, where Kafuku's wife brings up her past or future life as a lamprey, being one with the flow of water. Or when we were introduced to J's bar, I could not help but picture it similarly to Kino's bar where men who lost women, like Boku, would go to drink and talk. Even the odd circumstances of Boku's girlfriend and her ears led me back to thinking about Men Without Women, where the short story "Samsa in Love" can be argued to be just as odd. What made it all the more better though was that these small similarities I casually remembered were purposeful and speak to Murakami's writing as a whole. Connecting the themes of magic, his influences, and mystery shrouding different details, allowed me to remember the book I read so long ago and enjoy it even more knowing that it is connected in specific ways/themes to A Wild Sheep Chase regardless of the books being more than 30 years apart in publishing.

    In a more general sense as well it was nice to read A Wild Sheep Chase because it was solely one story, saturated in various Murakamisms successfully while still keeping to its own theme. But, when looking at Men Without Women, an idea or two is integrated into each story allowing for a somewhat unified, but also incomplete picture to what elements Murakami writing usually has. Thanking about it all makes me very excited to start Norwegian Wood and compare it even further with the previous two read novels.

-Anna

first impressions + intertextuality

 Prior to this class, I had never read any Murakami before, and I really enjoyed A Wild Sheep Chase. Murakami filters these absurd, sometimes almost supernatural experiences through a detached narrator, and I think this way of framing the narrative makes everything stand out just a bit more. By making Boku’s narration feel emotionally distant, it forces the readers to try and figure out their own feelings on what is occurring, rather than just reading how Boku feels and running with it. Some parts of the book, like when the Sheep Man appears, would have made a different kind of protagonist try to rationalize what was happening, but Boku just went with it, adding to the uncanny feeling of the story.
I was also interested in the idea of intertextuality in both Murakami and Chandler, and how some of the references in the books hinged on other cultural contexts, thus creating a web of prior knowledge needed to truly grasp what was being said. The thing that stood out to me the most, however, is how the characters themselves interacted with these references. On page 356 of The Long Goodbye, Amos mentions the poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” to Marlowe, and the two have a short conversation referencing it before dropping the subject. Personally, I really enjoy this poem, so hearing how they didn’t understand it was sort of funny, especially given how the aimlessness of the actual poem, to me, reflected the general aimlessness of The Long Goodbye itself—I wasn’t a huge fan of the book and found the plot very meandering. A lot happened, but in the end the inciting incident of Lennox’s death turns out to be fake, and it just left me wondering what the point of any of it was. Either way, this scene in The Long Goodbye left me thinking about how the opinions characters within a book can have about another book or piece of media then puts the two works into a comparison of sorts, leading to associations that may not previously have appeared before. 

- Laura Hurley 

(1)

     A Wild Sheep Chase is quintessential Murakami. Having encountered his writing- and the voice of his nameless protagonists, Boku- in Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, returning to Murakami's literary world felt like visiting an old pal. That familiarity is what initially drew me into Sheep Chase, and kept me helplessly engaged as each knot came undone in this tangled rope of a novel. Without even realizing it, I had become oddly attached to Boku and his girlfriend as they trekked the Japanese archipelago. Each mention of The Rat had me feeling as if I, too, had known this elusive character for years. So much so that upon the climax of the novel, when Boku and The Rat gave each other a final farewell, I found myself strangely emotional. The same feelings came about upon Boku's girlfriend's disappearance.

    Murakami has a way of writing Boku where certain things mentioned seem superfluous. It seems almost as if we, the readers, are watching a man ramble on a tangent, thoughtlessly. Yet, in that same vein, it also connects us to Boku in a way I have yet to be by any other literary protagonist. Despite being set in a world in which the bizarre is abound, the internal monologue of Boku provides a sense of groundedness. And in A Wild Sheep Chase, the groundedness of Boku coupled with the recurring motif of time serves to suck the reader into the novel's world effortlessly. The passage of time is palpable and the reader, too, can feel Boku's world progressing around him like set pieces being hurried on and off the stage.

I really enjoyed it!!!!!!!!! :)

-Evan Laufman

Blog Post 1 Brittany Olson

 Hey y’all!

I was never really into “detective” novels in the past. However, I think reading both “The Long Goodbye” and “The Wild Sheep Chase” may have changed that for me. I loved the characterizations of both Boku and Marlow, as they are by no means perfect people, but have their own principles when it matters. “The Wild Sheep Chase” was also the first first-person novel that I have enjoyed in years. I normally avoid anything besides third-person fiction like the plague. I think it has something to do with Boku’s personality; he treats most things with indifference, which should be sad but is better than the alternative of a narrator obnoxious at every turn. I had a lot of fun searching for connections between Chandler and Murakami as well as motifs that pop up in a lot of Murakami’s work. It felt like I was playing my own game of detective.

I am more familiar with Murakami’s short stories than any of his long form content. I enjoy the humor and absurdity that seems to manifest in most of them. I think my favorite out of the ones we have read in class is definitely “Sydney Green Street”. The familiar characters in a new setting was definitely a welcomed surprise. Quick shout out to Prof’s past students for their translations by the way. I have translated a short story by Murakami for the Japanese Fiction class and it is definitely not an easy feat.

- Brittany Olson 

Blog Post #1 - Thoughts on Political Connections in Murakami

 Hello all, I wanted to expand on some thoughts I had regarding parts of Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase that I read as political allusions, and discuss interpretations in the context of Japan's history. These sections were of note to me particularly as I researched Mishima and American occupation, so I felt that they stood out as potential political commentary. 

For some context in time, A Wild Sheep Chase was written in 1982, the same year that Yasuhiro Nakasone assumed presidency of Japan under the Liberal Democratic Party, a conservative party that supports neoliberal economics and close relations with the U.S. Murakami seems to comment on the U.S. influences on Japanese politics, which arose distinctly after American occupation and continued onward to affect governmental policy, when he puts contrasting ideas directly next to one another. This can be seen when the chauffeur drives Boku to meet the secretary and Boku notes that "it seems to have been a Meiji-era Western-style manor... then some joker of an architect came along to attach another wing of the same style and color scheme onto the right side of the original structure. The intention wasn't bad, but the effect was unpalatable." Immediately, this quote drew up ideas of right vs. left-wing ideologies to me. The house, as a representation of Japanese politics, was "fine" until another "wing" or party was attached to it that had the same bearing and composition as the rest. In this reading, Murakami suggests that the division between right and left wing politics is unnecessary, as the two parties are the "same", just on opposing sides. Furthermore as an observer, or in the political metaphor a member of society, the architecture or opposition between the two parties is difficult to look upon. 

Furthermore, the secretary works for the Boss, a prominent right-wing figure once possessed by the Sheep and another inclusion of political elements in the story. Later on, the secretary comments that the sheep "have no historical connection with the daily life of the Japanese", were briefly imported and raised, and then forgotten about. He goes on to say that the sheep are the "very image of modern Japan". Interestingly, the sheep are brought over from America, another possible comment on the effects of American occupation in "raising the sheep" to Westernize and then leaving Japan behind to reconcile the consequences of overturning the government. Boku's girlfriend, after examining the chronology of the history of Japan, comments that the "Japanese seem to live from war to war". Again, she makes this comment only after two ideas are put next to each other, the history of Junitaki-cho and the history of Japan.

The last quote that I wanted to draw attention to was a description of the sheep house, during which "the evening sun cast red over the sheep on the right side, plunging the sheep on the left side into a murky blue shadow". Similarly, this recalls up imagery of right vs. left-wing parties, but of a distinctly American styling, with the red commonly associated with Republicans and the left with Democrats. Notably, the two sides are made of the same composition, sheep. However, the sun, which could be alluding to Japan's Rising Sun Flag that represents Japanese imperialism, is what differentiates the two halves. Synthesizing these sections together, American influence on Japan comes off as an excessive area of conflict that has led to negative consequences of perpetual war and increased separation. Overall, I had a good impression of A Wild Sheep Chase, I felt that the addition of surreal plot elements against a realistic detective background was an interesting mix that made the story fun to read, and I wanted to bring these quotes up to provide additional analyses that could enhance one's reading of a story that otherwise does not talk about politics directly.

- Alice Liao

Blog Post 1 - Max Dahlstrom

Hello!

I’d like to preface my blog post by saying that this is the first (and only) English class I’ve taken in my four years at BU, and it’s been a nice change of pace from constantly reading political theory as a philosophy and political science major. I’ve appreciated the close readings we’ve done in class of The Long Goodbye and A Wild Sheep Chase and our practice of calling attention to the eerie similarities between the two has reshaped the way I think about intertextuality. I’ve always bought into the argument that debates over the originality of pieces of art and literature are a bit pointless because it seems obvious that every work is influenced by existing conventions, patterns, and stories in some way. Analyzing the influence that Chandler had on Murakami, not just in story structure and tone but also regarding similarities in minute details has really cemented this belief in me. I was also quite interested in the Daniel Chandler article on Intertextuality because it explored these ideas more explicitly. It was fascinating to find out that notions of ‘authorship’ and ‘plagiarism’ as we understand them today did not exist before the 1500s. I think that these concepts ought to be questioned given the complexity (and perhaps the arbitrariness) of what constitutes originality, and I wonder if artistic and linguistic expression may become more interesting and innovative if we loosened the legal definitions of these concepts, or even did away with them entirely.

Regarding the two main texts that we’ve read, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I have to say that I think I enjoyed reading The Long Goodbye a bit more because of Chandler’s vivid and scathing descriptions of characters and places. Marlowe’s observations of the world around him and his cynicism towards American institutions provided a much more interesting perspective to me than Boku’s narration, which felt painfully dull in comparison at times. Nevertheless, Boku’s perspective as an ‘ordinary guy’ certainly had its charm in its own right. The most interesting part about The Wild Sheep Chase for me was not Boku, however, but rather the setting and description of places. As I was reading along, particularly during the part where they travel to Hokkaido, I constantly found myself looking up the regions that they traveled through, whether it be Sapporo or the fictional town of Junitaki further north.  In addition to learning more about the geography of Japan, my enjoyment of The Wild Sheep Chase largely came from the way Murakami framed the Japanese attitudes and understandings of their own history post-WWII. I thought that the little nod to Mishima’s coup attempt was quite genius and funny, and I thought the history of ‘the Boss’ and even the section about the Ainu youth were some of the most intriguing parts of the story.

- Max Dahlstrom

Blog Post #1: Thoughts so far

Hey! 

For this first blog post, I thought I would just look at what we've done so far and my thoughts around those. First off, reading, and wow am I rusty. This course is my first course english course in years and honestly I forgot how slow at reading I have become over time. But on the other-end it was good to hear what Ted Goosen had to say about his first translation, at least with all the time the reading takes, my comprehension has been pretty solid down to the details (the moth on Marlowe's desk wasn't getting past me). Overall I am glad we will be shifting down to one book at a time...but that may just be me.

In the past I have read a decent amount of Murakami's novels, and while I enjoyed A Wild Sheep Chase, I have preferred his other works more. To me, while it still had his usual cast of strange characters, the blurring of lines of what we know to be normal and strange, and even a cat; I never felt as strong of a connection to Boku or the other characters. I find that through all of his books the weird often never gets explained, but with all the talk of sheep it never felt like there was as much of a point. Also the romantic in me wanted him and the woman to work out... so honestly that was a bit disappointing. While overall enjoyable it just didn't leave as much of a lasting impression where Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and Kafka did. 

I did enjoy reading it with The Long Goodbye. It was cool to see connection between two book that I probably would have never found. Next I need to sit down and watch the movie, because I know it is a bit different from the book, but it is actually one of my dad's and sister's favorite movies, so they were excited for me reading it. 

Looking forward to continuing reading and lucky for me Norwegian Wood will be a reread so hopefully I'll pick up on some new details!

- Emmett Glazer

Blog Post 1 - Comments on Murakami's Writing

 Aside from The Strange Library, A Wild Sheep Chase is the only Murakami book that I have finished (started but never finished Kafka on the Shore). Despite not having much experience with Murakami’s writing going into this class, I already had an idea of which parts of his writing I liked and which parts I disliked. After reading A Wild Sheep Chase, I’m able to better pinpoint these parts. 

Starting with what I liked, I appreciated his use of metaphors and similes, something inspired by hard-boiled style. They painted a picture in my mind and drew me into the story. One simile I liked was at the beginning of Ch. 34: “Loneliness wasn’t such a bad feeling. It was like the stillness of the pin oak after the little birds had flown off.” Another element borrowed from hard-boiled style I liked was the full action descriptions. Instead of simply having Boku make coffee, Murakami would provide a play-by-play of every step in the coffee-making process. 

While I appreciate Murakami’s descriptive style and magical language, I think sometimes he gets a little too weird or abstract for my taste. For example, I don’t really understand the purpose of including the section about Boku's girlfriend's ears. I also find that the conversations between characters can be aimless or nonsensical. A lot of times throughout the book, I found myself a bit confused, questioning “Why???”. I feel like I had these little ?? moments almost every chapter, and they ended up distancing me from the story. Also, Murakami writes in a style of detachment that I don’t appreciate either. Instead of making a connection with the characters and the story, I feel like I never fully engage with the book. I’m curious to see how I enjoy Norwegian Wood since I’ve heard it’s supposed to be a bit more straightforward than his other books. 

-Kara Beigh

Blog Post #1 - A favorite already?

 Hi all, 

After finishing Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase, as well as five of his short stories, I finally feel semi-qualified enough to pick a favorite. I know perhaps comparing a short story to a novel is like apples to oranges, so I hope not to offend anyone with my choice. Of the Murakami I've read so far, I have enjoyed "The Last Lawn of the Afternoon" the most.

To explain my choice of favorite from among the six Murakami texts we've read in class so far, I call upon this version of Boku's relatability. I feel as if the 19 year old university student who simply wants to do his best is among the most relatable versions of the loveably aloof protagonist I've encountered in Murakami so far. Murakami's other versions of Boku I've encountered thus far have all retained an air of cynicism, but it feels as if this version does not have the same overtly negative outlook on life (yet?). Perhaps it is the heartbreak he experiences during this short story that will lead to the development of his cynicism further to match that of the other Boku's of Murakami's works, however I believe him to be a special case. 

I think that this version of Boku is the most similar to Murakami as a person. It is a bold claim, especially given the fact that Murakami has stated he wishes to remain separate from his protagonists, however I feel as if this Boku's belief towards producing good work he can be proud of is something that Murakami aligns with very much himself.

- Sam Soares

Blog Post #1 - Cassandra

 For my first Murakami novel, I was not impressed. 

In all honesty, I was not fond of A Wild Sheep Chase. I found it to be unengaging, and quite frankly boring. I struggled to be interested with the narrative, many of individual characters, and the overall direction of where the narrative was going. 

Yes, this novel is unusual, but that should not be its downfall. Oftentimes, when reading this novel, I found myself questioning many of the plot points. Why is the Rat central to the story? Is the translational debate of the Rat and the Mouse really that important? Why does the protagonist seem to have a kinship to the Rat? If the protagonist is 'going with the flow of life,' then why is he susceptible to blackmail? What is up the hyperfixation of body parts (e.g. the girlfriend's ear or the whale's penis)? Why is the sheep important? Is the lore of the sheep original? What is the point of this? 

Whilst reading this novel, I was often curious on how Murakami implemented his influences into his writing. Sure, I could see how certain plot points and things were similar to what happened in The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, but it did not really connect in my head. To me, the only instances of Westernization is when Murakami mentions 'Western' things like films, musicians, books, etc. All this talk of influences have stirred up a central question in my head: Why is 'Western' literature seen as a source of inspiration, something that others, especially 'foreign' authors, should draw inspiration from or emulate? 

- Cassandra Berrette 

A Wild Sheep Chase: What A Fun Read- Krisha Madhav

 As my first Murakami book, A Wild Sheep Chase was extremely enjoyable. It had a slow start for me in my opinion but it developed quickly and had a satisfying conclusion to its strange story. In particular, the way Murakami handles the loss of friendship as a melancholy goodbye was amazing, as it felt both too brief and yet long enough to be meaningful. In a way it felt very Chandleresque, Terry's goodbye was also brief but powerful. As a text with elements of The Long Goodbye, it captured everything I loved about Chandler's novel and added really cool aspects of folklore and surrealism.

I am curious about how A Wild Sheep Chase connects or interacts with the detective style short stories Murakami wrote. "Sydney, Green Street" feel like attempts at getting the detective style down, and references both the Sheep Man and the Sheep Professor. Are these meant to be related to the narrative and characters from the novel, a potential precursor story, or something completely new with similar ideas? The short story certainly doesn't cover the full depth of ideas as the novel but the ideas it does explore (wealth, expectations, purpose of self) is just as fascinating. Plus, the description of Green Street had an enjoyable Chandler cynicism to it, in contrast to the disorientating and surreal streets of Hokkaido. Speaking of surreal, "Where I'm Likely to Find It" just cements in my mind that mirrors are magic in Murakami's work. This is the third story where mirrors are gateways (portals?) to the surreal and bizarre and I am fascinated to see in which other works mirrors pop up in.  

Blog Post 1 - Viv Johnson

Now that we have a better idea of Murakami, his literary inspirations, and his style I can't seem to get a grasp on what I should take away from these novels. A Wild Sheep Chase bounces between themes of capitalism, colonialism, identity, magical realism, mystery, boredom, suicide, wasted marriages, friendship, alcoholism, and so so so many more. Does anyone else get so overwhelmed with the scope of ideas that they can't seem to point to what it all means? Or does that defeat the purpose? Often, when I read something new, I try to walk away having understood what the author was trying to convey or the main idea. If I tried to do that with A Wild Sheep Chase, I could make the case that it's about "coming to terms with the loss of a friend" but then there are so many other threads I could follow.

Murakami creates these entertaining, bizarre, and complex stories filled with allusions to history, art, politics, and literature, and I walk away wondering what the hell I just read. What strategies do you use to map out other Murakami stories? Are they meant to be understood or is the perplexing nature of the stories what makes them good? Maybe their power comes from their ability to baffle us while still making us care about the story and its characters, who knows? 

BONUS: Okay, this is completely off-topic from what I wrote above and I don't know Japanese but I've been listening to The Blue Hearts song "リンダ リンダ" (Linda Linda) and the first line is: "ドブネズミみたいに美しくなりたい" my questions is: rat or mouse?

Blog Post 1 - Alex DeRosa

  Wild Sheep Chase was the first Murakami book I’ve ever read. Going into it, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect—I had heard things about his surreal writing style and abstract themes but didn’t know much more. I really enjoyed this book. By the end of it, I felt very attached to the characters, like Boku, The Rat, Sheepman, and the girlfriend. I found myself growing very sad when it is revealed that The Rat is dead, and he has his last conversation with Boku. 

    One thing I found interesting was Murakami’s way of writing. Murakami’s style is straightforward while also being ambiguous—he states things directly, even if those things are bizarre. He doesn’t overexplain or try to make things make perfect sense, which I really appreciate. I find that when authors try to explain their surrealism too much, it detracts from the altered and strange feeling that it’s supposed to convey. Murakami’s characters also mostly accept these strange, otherworldly occurrences as nothing too unusual, which I think really adds to the immersion. For instance, when the Sheepman is first introduced, Boku simply says “At 2 o’clock the Sheep Man came,” (293) and he immediately invites him in without questioning who he is, why he is wearing a sheep costume, etc. These characters exist in the universe that Murakami created, and it’s one that’s not quite normal. I think this adds to the overall surreal effect. 

    Overall, I liked this book a lot, and I had a hard time putting it down towards the end. I'm curious to see how Norwegian Wood will be similar/different in terms of style. 

Intertextuality Discussion - Alanis

 Hi all, 

Welcome to the discussion post on Intertextuality. Here, I took some quotes from the reading and had some discussion questions associated with them that I thought were interesting and I was thinking of these while I read. Feel free to respond here if your answer doesn't get said in class. Obviously there is no right or wrong answer, just say how you feel! 

“To communicate we must utilize existing concepts and conventions”

• Discuss: Today, we sometimes see new concepts and phrases being used to communicate meaning, such as the creation of memes and the expansion of slang terms. Is this quote still true, or can we see communication happen using new concepts and conventions? If it is true, to what extent do you see it being applicable/true today?

“This rather extreme but important example thus serves to highlight that every reading is always a rewriting.”

• Discuss: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? When you think about reading and writing yourself and your essays, do you think of it as rearranging words that have already been written? Is originality just an abstract concept, as the text on Intertextuality suggests? 

“The notion of intertextuality problematizes the idea of a text having boundaries and questions the dichotomy of 'inside' and 'outside': where does a text 'begin' and 'end'? What is 'text' and what is 'context'?”

• Discuss: Are there any reasonable examples of texts or works that you know that don’t relate to anything else that you know of immediately? Can a piece of literature stand on its own or is it constrained by relationship to other texts and ideas? Is it a constraint to know that one’s text has to relate to something else?

“Would the 'most intertextual' text be an indistinguishable copy of another text, or would that have gone beyond what it means to be intertextual? Would the 'most intratextual' text be one which approached the impossible goal of referring only to itself?”

• Discuss: Can plagiarism be considered “intertextuality”? Is there power in being a text connected to the world in some way, or would it be better if we could somehow make an intratextual world where somehow, nothing is really connected? Is there power in seeing an advertisement without words and being able to know most of the context without needing it read or spelled out?