Who is Harukami Murakami and why are his books so popular?

 

His novel The City and Its Uncertain Walls, published in the spring of 2023 in his native tongue and not yet translated into English, is speculated to be the "next big thing" in literature (The German translation, published Januarz 2024 is already a bestseller). His collection of short stories called First Person Singular, published in 2021, also became an instant success. The author, Haruki Murakami, is world-famous and has been writing fiction for over 50 years, including a number of bestsellers. Over a dozen novels are published under his name and he has won highly-valued awards for his works. So, who is Haruki Murakami and what makes his books so special?

About the Author

Haruki Murakami, born in 1949 in Kyōto, is a renowned Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and translator, known for his deeply imaginative and often ambiguous works that have achieved international acclaim.

Murakami's early novels, including Hear the Wind Sing (1979) and Pinball, 1973 (1980), introduced his distinctive style characterized by enigmatic imagery and events drawn from his subconscious. Despite criticism from some literary circles, his novels garnered popularity among readers, particularly the youth disillusioned with mainstream Japanese literature.

In subsequent works like A Wild Sheep Chase (1982) and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Murakami continued to captivate audiences with his surreal narratives. His breakthrough came with Norwegian Wood (1987), a coming-of-age novel that catapulted him to literary stardom in Japan and abroad.

Murakami's international success grew with novels like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), which departed from his usual themes to explore Japanese militarism, and 1Q84 (2009), a dystopian tale referencing George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. He further delved into existential themes in works such as Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2013) and explored art and loneliness in Killing Commendatore (2017).

Throughout his career, Murakami's writing has been influenced by personal experiences, including his time in Europe and the impact of tragic events like the Kōbe earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, which inspired works like Underground (1997) and After the Quake (2000).

Most of Haruki Murakami's novels fall into the genre of magic realism.

What is The City and Its Uncertain Walls about?

Continuing to push boundaries, Murakami released The City and Its Uncertain Walls in 2023, building on themes of existentialism and surrealism established throughout his prolific career.

The story revolves around a walled city, accessible only to those who leave behind their own shadow: Here resides the true self of the girl, into whom the nameless narrator falls deeply in love at seventeen. He sets out in search of her, entering the city and its mysterious library, yet the girl no longer recognizes him. Under mysterious circumstances, the narrator finds himself back in the world beyond the wall. He moves to Tokyo, works in a bookstore, has changing girlfriends. The memory of the girl and the walled city haunts him. Eventually, he quits his job and takes a position at an old library in Fukushima Prefecture. Reality begins to tremble – and the narrator must question what binds him to this world. A melancholic, tender, and philosophical novel about lost love, the quest for self, and the possibility of overcoming walls.

 

Most famous Works of Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore is the most read novel of Murakami, an international bestseller and award-winnder. The story starts with Kafka Tamura, aged 15, fleeing from home, haunted by his father's ominous prophecy.

Meanwhile, Nakata, an elderly man with a knack for locating lost cats, finds his tranquil existence disrupted by unexpected upheaval, stemming from a peculiar ailment he suffered during his childhood.

As their separate journeys unfold, peculiar events occur: cats engage in conversations with humans, fish rain down from the sky, a spectral-like figure employs a philosophical prostitute, and a forest shelters soldiers seemingly untouched by time since World War II. Amidst these occurrences, a brutal murder takes place, yet the identities of both victim and perpetrator remain enigmatic, contributing to the overall elegant and dreamlike quality of this narrative masterpiece.

 

Norwegian Wood was Murakami's first great, international breakthrough and is, first and foremost, a love story. Upon hearing her beloved Beatles tune, Toru Watanabe is flooded with memories of his initial love, Naoko, who happened to be the girlfriend of his closest friend, Kizuki. Instantly, he finds himself catapulted nearly two decades into the past, revisiting his tumultuous student years in Tokyo, filled with precarious friendships, fleeting romances, intense emotions, and profound longing. Amidst this journey down memory lane, a spontaneous and spirited young woman named Midori enters his life, presenting him with the dilemma of choosing between the allure of the future and the pull of the past.