Now what Haruki Murakami is once again on everyone’s lips for his award Princess of Asturias of Letters 2023, it is possible that more than one has become curious to read his work. The truth is that despite Murakami he is a writer quite important (and perhaps you have already given one of his books a chance), there are people who have never given his work a chance yet. If this is your case and now that he has been recognized with the award, you want to start delving into his world, we give you 5 proposals with which to discover his style.
Five books to get to know Murakami’s style well
The 74-year-old Japanese writer has a rather particular in his way of telling things and creating characters that not everyone is convinced. Even so, a Princess of Asturias of Letters is not reached without a work of value and the truth is that Murakami has quite renowned titles that have even been made into movies.
Today we are going to review five that you should consider if you want to start reading it:
tokyo blues
One of his great classics and possibly his most successful book. Talk about youth, first loves and how difficult it is to grow up.
In her Toru Watanabea 37-year-old executive, looks back at Tokyo in the 1960s, remembering his teenage years and the mysterious Naoko, his best friend’s girlfriend. After his suicide and the estrangement of Toru and Naoko, they both meet again and start a relationship. However, this is soon interrupted by a new woman, who will turn all of Toru’s schemes upside down.
The Commander’s Death
Another famous Murakami title. In it, a portrait painter leaves his house, where he is going through a deep relationship crisis, to get away for a while in the north of Tokyo. There he will be given shelter by a friend in his house, a place surrounded by trees that belonged to his father, a famous painter. One day in the attic he discovers a chart, wrapped, with a note that says “The death of the commander.” From then on, nothing will ever be the same for our protagonist.
1Q84
This clear nod to George Orwell and his 1984 takes us back to Tokyo in 1984, with love me, gym instructor, and Have, math teacher (at least apparently). Two lonely people without any connection, at first, who will soon find a common destiny and with a background in which there is no lack of religious sects, mistreatment and corruption.
afterdark
Mari is sitting alone at a table in a bar when a young musician, Takahashi (whom Mari has only seen once) interrupts him. At home, at the same time, Eri, Takashi’s sister, sleeps peacefully.
Mari has missed the last train back home and will spend the whole night in the bar reading; Takahashi leaves to rehearse with his group, but promises to be back before dawn. Mari is interrupted again: this time she is Kaoru, She is in charge of a hotel by the hour and asks her to help her with a prostitute attacked by a client. In Eri’s room, which is still submerged, her TV will come to life, displaying a disturbing image on the screen… even though the TV isn’t even plugged in.
Kafka on the shore
We close the selection with another of the most famous works of the Japanese writer. In her kafka tamura He leaves home on his fifteenth birthday, tired of the bad relationship with his father and the feeling of emptiness caused by the absence of his mother and sister, who also left home when he was very young. He will find refuge in Takamatsu, southern Japan, in a peculiar library where he will meet the mysterious lady Saeki.
We have on the other hand satoru nakata, who as a child, during World War II, suffered an accident from which he left with sequelae, with difficulties to communicate, except with cats. At the age of sixty, he decides to leave Tokyo and undertakes a journey that will also lead him to the Takamatsu library.
