When Reading Murakami

Haruki Murakami is known to repeat elements in several of his novels. This is apparent to such an extent that illustrator and cartoonist Grant Snider has even made a bingo card. Though this turns many readers away from exploring Murakami’s numerous works, I’m not too bothered by it. To me, it’s just his flavor of writing, but on the other hand, I have become incredibly suspicious when reading his novels. These are some common thoughts that emerge in that process.

“Are they gonna die?”

What’s a Murakami novel without death? There is most certainly a ton of deaths in Murakami’s novels. The only books I’ve read by him so far without any character deaths are After Dark and South of the Border, West of the Sun. After Dark includes death threats from a Chinese gang member though, and South of the Border, West of the Sun also includes a potential love suicide. So yeah, can’t really say they’re void of death. Not to mention Dance, Dance, Dance, where death is a central theme. As a matter of fact, just moments ago, I grew impatient like I often do and skipped ahead in Colorless. The first word I saw was death. I doubt anyone's going to die, but it was a moment of “nope”. Yeah, I didn't read further in, and returned to my spot a few pages back. The struggle is real.

“Are they going to disappear?”

This one is especially frequent while reading Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. First, his friends all shun him, then the only other friend he’s made disappears twice - the first time on family business, the second time final and without explanation. There’s this feeling that Sara will abandon Tsukuru as well, just like everyone else in his life, but who knows. A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance also face the disappearance of the nameless protagonist’s girlfriend, Kiki. There’s also Eri’s somewhat disappearance in After Dark, where her body is present, but no one has witnessed her consciousness in months.

Is any of this actually real?

This one really became a question asked after South of the Border, West of the Sun. South of the Border is quite reminiscent of American Psycho in some ways, but in the context of unfaithfulness. At the end, the protagonist is revealed to have possibly imagined everything. Murakami loves to dwell in a space between reality and something else. Fun stuff, really.

The ending is going to be a cliffhanger.

This one isn't even a question.