The first chapter of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki felt quite unique for a Murakami story. Throughout this course, we have read works of Murakami primarily written in the first person, and the switch to the third person was surprisingly welcome. I think that his literary voice lends itself remarkably well to the third person, providing a similar sense of detachment to that of his first-person Boku. In fact, despite Boku being the protagonist in any given first-person Murakami novel, it often feels as if it's written in the third person. I also found it very interesting how a somewhat large cast had been introduced from the outset. In my experience, his stories tend to have very compact casts, but introducing five important characters immediately definitely made my ears perk up, so to say.
Having read the first chapter of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki, I find myself very eager to pick the novel up. I have heard others' opinions on Murakami's novels saying that he uses certain tropes as a crutch and that a lot of his novels are very similar. While I disagree, as I think each Murakami novel has its own distinctive vibe, I think that the multiple factors that already seem to set Tsukuru Tazaki apart from his other works have me intrigued.
P.S., Auster's Ghosts brought back extremely strong memories of The Long Goodbye. There is the obvious connection of a 1940s-style detective, but the general ambiance of the story made me feel the same way I felt reading Chandler. I think it is very clear why Murakami enjoys Auster's work, and why it inspired aspects of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki.
No comments:
Post a Comment