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Getting to know Haruki Murakami

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IQ84: Murakami's Latest Novel

Haruki Murakami is a famous Japanese writer. He was born in Kyoto, Japan on January 12, 1949. He has won various international literary awards that include the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize. Considered as one of the most important figures in postmodern literature, he can be considered as among the world's greatest living novelists. The young Murakami grew up in Shukugawa , Ashiya and Kobe. Both of his parents were literature teachers. Murakami's grandfather was a Buddhist priest. He grew up reading various works by American writers like the satirical Kurt Vonnegut. His Western influences are what sets him apart from other Japanese writers.

Next week in America and London, bookshops will open their doors to sell Haruki Murakami's latest novel entitled IQ84. The1,600-page translation of the novel from Japanese has generated a lot of excitement in the literary world. Learn why!

In 1987, Murakami's novel, Norwegian Wood was published. It is a moving nostalgic story about losing someone and mixed sexuality. It was very popular to the young Japanese readers and sold millions of copies in Japan. Haruki Murakami has now become a literary superstar in his country. Printed in two volumes, the number of books that were sold was doubled, which helped make it sell a million copies.

For the author, Norwegian Wood was an experiment in writing. Unlike his previous works, the Norwegian Wood novel was completely realistic. It was obviously a commercially-minded novel that veered away from the surreal oddities that had always characterized Murakami's earlier and later works. It was markedly different from his novel entitled A Wild Sheep Chase, which gave him his first taste of literary success.

Director Anh Hung Tran's adapted Haruki Murakami's bestselling novel Norwegian Wood into a movie with the same title. It opened in the UK last March 11, 2011. The soundtrack for the film features an instrumental score by Jonny Greenwood performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Emperor Quartet, as well as three tracks written and performed by CAN.

"The last time we did this was for Harry Potter. It's hard to find a book that merits that kind of an event."

-Miriam Robinson of Foyles, one of the bookshops in London that will open at midnight for the 1Q84 launch.

Kafka on the Shore

In 2002, Murakami published his novel, Kafka on the Shore. It was a book that once you started reading, you cannot put it down anymore. It was translated to English in 2005 and won the the 2006 Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize-winning translation by Philip Gabriel from PEN. Receiving numerous positive reviews and critical acclaim, it landed a spot at The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2005. The book also won the World Fantasy Award.

Murakami said that the secret in understanding his novel is by looking behind the words. He said that: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction, the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write."

"He was the first Japanese author who broke through these Orientalist expectations - readers stopped perceiving him as a Japanese author"

Anna Zielinska-Elliott
Boston University

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1Q84

Two years ago, Haruki Murakami released his new novel, 1Q84, in Japan. In one day, most of the print-run was already sold out. The country's largest bookshop, Kinokuniya, was reported to have sold more than one book per minute. On it first month, 1Q84 sold a million copies. In France70,000 copies were printed last August and more books had to be reprinted within a week.

It is yet to be released in English. Two English translators have worked on the book to speed up its publication. Before the book's launching, It is already on the top 20 list of Amazon.com. This book contains 1,600 pages and will be sold in two parts in the UK. Two weeks from now, 1Q84 will have simultaneous midnight openings, in the UK as well as across the US, from New York to Seattle. Signature Murakami themes are used in the new novel, which is love and loneliness. It is set in an alternative and surreal worlds. The characters are enigmatic persons who appear impassive but are actually capable of strong emotions emotions. The novel also raises questions pertaining to free will and cult religion.

"I like the way he never really explains what is happening, he just presents storylines and just lets them flow. Also, there is no real resolution at the end of the book, which leaves you wanting more. He does inspire devotion. He goes on and on about his routine and how it bores him to death but he still does it. He is an utter enigma, he is really strange. I think that's what people like about him."

- Dan Pryce, Waterstone's Bookshop

Getting to know Haruki Murakami

IQ84: Murakami's Latest Novel

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Norwegian Wood

Kafka on the Shore

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1Q84

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Murakami is cooking up his next novel

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Haruki Murakami's Lunch Break

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