“Professore, ma Murakami Haruki esiste davvero?”
Well, 2017 began for me with the excellent news of a new novel by my beloved Murakami, a novel (the english title should be “Killing Commendatore”) that will be released in Japan in February. That means we’ll have to wait sometimes (especially in Italy) to read the translated version, but still, it’s something we can start wondering and speculating about really soon! In the meantime, you can keep yourself busy with and interesting reading that will lead you in Murakami hidden world. The book I would like to recommend is Murakami no Himitsu (“Murakami’s secrets”) by Tsuge Teruhiko.
This book is organized in several sections that will explore different aspects of Murakami’s life, character, attitude and behavior, beginning with the first, striking question: is Murakami a real person?
After the well-known episode of the Jingu Stadium (the one the pushed Murakami to write his first novel), the book then goes on analyzing all the different influences that contribute to build Murakami’s writing sensibility, such as his love for Fitzgerald and Chandler, and his passion for Linch’s movies.
Finally, Tsuge lingers on the specific atmosphere of Murakami’s work, his Wonderland half way between Alice and Chihiro (from Spirited Away).
This is definitely a book that will open a new window on Murakami’s inner world, and on his writing process. Possibly, you will fall deeper in love with him and his fantastic visions.
