Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words

Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words is a non-fiction book by Jay Rubin, published by Harvill Press in 2002.

The book includes some original essays written by Rubin along with some existing works by Murakami, including some entire stories and some excerpts of such. It also includes a biography of Murakami. Steffen Hantke of Sogang University described it as an "attempt to provide its readers with everything but the kitchen sink." Hantke described the book at the time as "the most comprehensive single work of scholarship on" Murakami.

It argues against the idea that Murakami's novels had little value.

Ann Sherif of Oberlin College wrote that Rubin was "frank" in his appraisals of Murakami's literature.

Background

Rubin had been the most frequent person to translate Murakami's books, and also is friends with Murakami.

Content

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Brian Keeley of the Far Eastern Economic Review stated that the details present in the biographical information were "some significant, too many trivial".

"Translating Murakami" is in Appendix A and describes how Murakami's works are translated. The bibliography is at the end of the book and lists works in English and Japanese. Hantke stated that the bibliography "functions as a list of suggestions for further reading."

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2024)

Hantke stated that the book was important as a means of collecting critical information on Murakami in a single work, even though, in his view, the book covers little new information, because at the time the critical reviews of Murakami were scattered across multiple sources, and that was especially the case for information written in English.

Keeley stated that the content was "often interesting stuff", and he praised the "useful insights". He felt Rubin at times was "a little too keen, a little too gushing."

Sherif stated that the work has "much critical acumen". Sherif praised Appendix A for having "interesting insights".

References

Hantke, Steffen (2003). "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words". Modern Fiction Studies. 49 (4): 886–888. doi:10.1353/mfs.2003.0069. - Also at ProQuest
Keeley, Brian (2002). "Shaken and Stirred". Far Eastern Economic Review. 165 (48): 70. ProQuest 208233252 – via ProQuest.
Sherif, Ann (2003). "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words / Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki". The Journal of Japanese Studies. 29 (2): 368–372. JSTOR 25064410.

Notes

^ Sherif, p. 370.
^ Hantke, p. 886.
^ Hantke, p. 888.
Sherif, p. 369.
^ Keeley.
^ Sherif, p. 371.
Hantke, p. 887.
Hantke, p. 887-888.
Sherif, p. 372.

v t e Works by Haruki Murakami
Novels	Hear the Wind Sing (1979) Pinball, 1973 (1980) A Wild Sheep Chase (1982) Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) Norwegian Wood (1987) Dance Dance Dance (1988) South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–1995) Sputnik Sweetheart (1999) Kafka on the Shore (2002) After Dark (2004) 1Q84 (2009–2010) Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2013) Killing Commendatore (2017) The City and Its Uncertain Walls (2023)
Story collections	The Elephant Vanishes (1980–1991) ("The Second Bakery Attack") After the Quake (1999–2000) Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (1980–2005) ("Birthday Girl") Men Without Women (2014) First Person Singular (2020)
Non-fiction	Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (1997–1998) What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007) Absolutely on Music (2011) Murakami T (2020) Novelist as a Vocation (2022)
Other books	Birthday Stories (2002) The Strange Library (2005)
Adaptations	Kaze no uta o kike (1980 film) The Elephant Vanishes (2003 play) Tony Takitani (2004 film) Norwegian Wood (2010 film) Burning (2018 film) Drive My Car (2021 film) Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2022 film)
See also	Dances with Sheep (2002 book by Strecher) Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words (2002 book by Rubin) The Japanization of Modernity (2008 book by Suter)

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