Haruki Murakami

He is not only an amazing author, but Murakami has also introduced some of the most accomplished authors to the Japanese public by translating the works of Fitzgerald, Carver, Irving and Theroux.

He was inspired to write his first novel while watching a baseball game, and the rest is history.

Murakami has spent years traveling around the globe and living outside Japan, which he said helped him relate his novels to a global audience. His writing has brought those of us who have not been lucky enough to visit Japan right into the busy streets of Tokyo.

His work has been translated into 16 other languages, which is proof that he is one of the greatest writers of the modern day.

Dance Dance Dance was published in 1994. It is the first novel that I read by the author, and the one that I love to come back to time and time again.

Dance Dance Dance is the first murder mystery that I've ever read, but I know that it cannot be like typical novels of this genre because Murakami is not an ordinary author.

The foundation of the novel is based on the narrator's search for a woman who he had a short, but intimate relationship with. The woman is crying out for him in his dreams, and he can't escape the feeling that he must find her before he can go on with his life.

However, this search takes us into other worlds in different dimensions of reality where people can disappear and a man is sheep's clothing gives us clues from a hidden room in a luxury hotel. You will find yourself existing somewhere on the fringes of reality in a constant limbo of imaginary events based on real circumstances. A mystery that can only be solved with the help of a thirteen-year-old psychic and a B-rated movie star.

A novel that involves high-class prostitutes who have the ability put the men they seduce into a world of illusion and somehow lead them in the right direction.

I know this sounds like a cast of miss-fits, but believe me they all have a purpose and connection in the end.

I think the narrator sums it up best in this quote:

"So another person had joined the group in that most bizarre chamber of my world. Four down, two to go. Sooner or later, bleached white bones ferried to that room via some impossible architecture. Death's waiting room in downtown Honolulu, connected to the dark chill lair of the Sheep Man in a Sapporo hotel, connected to the Sunday morning bedroom where Gotanda lay with Kiki. Was I losing my mind? Real events, under imaginary circumstances, filtering back, wild, distorted, bizarre. Was there nothing absolute? Was there no reality?"

This is the book in a nutshell. You will probably have the exact same thoughts throughout. And they probably won't dissappear after you read the last line and place the novel back on the bookshelf.

However, that is the genius that is Murakami. His characters and their experiences will be replayed in your mind for years to come.

I've read this novel multiple times, and during each read I pick up on elements of Murakami's writing that I haven't seen before. I'm truly in awe of his genius, and I recommend this book and all of his others to you. I have an inkling you will come away feeling the same.

The purpose of this lens and the ones to come in the near future is to educate the public about this fantastic author and to promote his work.

I will be adding my synopsis and review of, A Wild Sheep Chase, in a weeks time. These novels link to one another in a strange and subtle way, so I want to feature them on the same lens. After that I will create a new lens for some more of his work.

I've read these novels in the past, but to ensure the best quality reflections and synopsis I'm reading them again before I promote them.

If you haven't already please view the blog I created for Dance Dance Dance. A Wild Sheep Chase will be feautred at this same address under the March heading.