Hard Boiled Review from 2006

I am currently reading "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words" by Jay Rubin, a  nice dense review of Murakami's books by friend and translator, Jay Rubin which I found in Chelsea his week on a table foe seven bucks. I had exactly seven bucks on me. I had heard about this book in another book on Murakami's literary popularity entitled "A Wild Haruki Chase" compiled and translated by the Japanese Foundation. Since Murakami's latest book which is already released in Japan is not scheduled to be released until October of next year, I've been lusting after anything else I could find by or about him on and off for months. Once I start a book by Murakami, it's pretty much light out on the "real" world until I'm done. No matter what is happening (at least in most cases, I found his last novel surprisingly disappointing l and actually gave it away.) I can open a book of his and be completely submerged.

What Jay Rubin does, albeit not always successfully but as well as can be expected for someone as elusive as Murakami, is take you through his journey as a writer and through his strict disciplinary
process while trying to answer some questions about the strange way he develops characters and where his stories come from inside of him, who his greatest influences are, early and late. It's really revealed a lot more about him for me than I expected and it's thrilling finally to be able to connect some of his strangest plot devices to some logical although at times dream like sensibilities. I continue to be a huge fan.

I was updating this latest read in Goodreads when I  came across a review I wrote 5 years ago of one of his, to understate, most ambitious and eccentric novels.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haunting. Made me think of Radiohead's "Where I End and You Begin." Even if you've read three Murakami books by now, you're still not prepared for this! I can't even explain what this book is about. All I can say is that he does for the literary world what Michael Gondry does for movies. Somehow, as crazy as it all seems, it expresses, at least for me, the intricate workings of those who live very deeply within their own minds. Murakami's imagination crosses a traditional boundary into a whole other level of possibilities. He sometimes reminds me of Robert Cormier (The Chocolate War) who I used to love to read when I was younger because his storytelling disturbed me in a deeply provocative way. The theme of something ominous shadowing a deluded sense of safety combined with humor, sensuality, adventure, intelligence and an irreverent hope. Incidentally his characters (mainly male) always cook great food and listen to jazz. I love that.



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