I really enjoyed the mini marathon reading of Murukami shorts at Symphony Space last night. It reminded me that I haven't been to any kind of reading, poetry or otherwise in ages, much less one that featured celebrity readers reading the work of one of my favorite authors.
I was particularly looking forward to Campbell Scott's reading of "The Mirror" but it was Parker Posey's reading of "Airplane" that I loved the most. Each reader naturally brought their own special brand of performance to each piece and it was really interesting to hear pieces I had read before illuminated in different ways through the intonations of others through spoken word. There was humor in stories that I had always characterized as chilling and morbid, adventure in placed that were as banal and standard as the rooms we sit in everyday to work or eat or stand in crowded commuter silence. I believe this is conveyed most successfully because of the care with which Murakami takes in describing many of the small things in our lives, our daily routines, the things which all have in common and linking them enigmatically to our emotional and often tumultuous inner lives.
When I'm in the mood, every so often, when I'm alone, I will pull out a book of poetry and read it out loud to myself. The rooms of a narrative take on different shapes when read out loud and of course depending on the reader, certain elements of that narrative can emerge you never noticed or considered before. To me it's like a meditation. Anything that reveals something new the more and more you take it in is a rare gift. And Murakami is one of those gifted writers who has the ability to create stories which continue to unravel something deeper and more informative over the course of several readings.
During his remarks on his first meeting with Murakami,John Wray, an author and Murakami fan, talked last night about winning over Murukami and his famously wooden reception of people by presenting him with a near mint red vinyl album of Miles Davis' "Kinda Blue." A consummate collector and lover of jazz, Wray described Murakami as being completely transformed in manner after receiving this special gift. It was the beginning of a friendship between them that continues to this day. When Wray told Murakami that own writing wasn't going so well, Murakami said that he should then try putting the things he wanted and liked into his work. They had this conversation over a meal of curried bratwurst. When Wray asked Murakami exactly what he meant by this, Murakmami asked if he liked the bratwurst. Wray answered yes. Murukami said he should put the bratwurst in his writing.
