Writer
Writing is like “chatting up a woman”, Japan’s superstar novelist Haruki Murakami has said: “You can get better with practice to a certain degree, but basically, you’re either born with it, or you’re not.”
…I’ll be quoting this for the rest of my life. From this Guardian article about Mr. Murakami’s hilarious new website.
I turned faceup on the slab of stone, gazed at the sky, and thought about all the man-made satellites spinning around the earth. The horizon was still etched in a faint glow, and stars began to blink on in the deep, wine-colored sky. I gazed among them for the light of a satellite, but it was still too bright out to spot one with the naked eye. The sprinkling of the stars looked nailed to the spot, unmoving. I closed my eyes and listened carefully for the descendants of Sputnik, even now circling the earth, gravity their only tie to the planet. Lonely metal souls in the unimpeded darkness of space, they meet, pass each other, and part, never to meet again. No words passing between them. No promises to keep.
…from Sputnik Sweetheart, my specifically third favorite novel by everyone’s favorite marathoning wordsmith, courtesy once again of Reddit.
Murakami realizes that the night bird of the human heart is filled with so much mystery that you really don’t need to drum up more of it with allusions and indirection.
…from this Salon article by the lovely Laura Miller, about Murakami’s new book which I, oddly enough, have yet to pre-order. Great article for my fellow Murakami homers about why his work elicits such varied responses in the states.
I dream. Sometimes I think that’s the only right thing to do.
…from Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami.
Dreams are the kind of things you can borrow and lend out…
…from Haruki Murakami‘s latest short story in the New Yorker, Yesterday, which in some ways is like a LIT 101 primer for his entire body of work.
…from the only realist novel by yours truly’s favorite author, Chapter 10, page 239
The Millions just released the opening paragraph from the English translation of Murakami’s latest, 1Q84, and it made me realize this might be the only consumer product I’d ever stand in line for.
The taxi’s radio was tuned to a classical FM broadcast. Janáček’s Sinfonietta—probably not the ideal music to hear in a taxi caught in traffic. The middle-aged driver didn’t seem to be listening very closely, either. With his mouth clamped shut, he stared straight ahead at the endless line of cars stretching out on the elevated expressway, like a veteran fisherman standing in the bow of his boat, reading the ominous confluence of two currents. Aomame settled into the broad back seat, closed her eyes, and listened to the music.
“Appreciating an attractive middle-aged woman is one of the great luxuries in life.”
…from Dance Dance Dance (via that blog down there)
A Murakami quote a day…brilliant.