Murakami Mind

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“Where was I now? … All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out for Midori from the dead center of this pace that was no place.” – Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

My first encounter of a different culture came when I was about 8 years old. I invaded my best friend’s house almost everyday. I justified my forceful invasion as showing a sign of affection toward my poor, lonely friend who had to wait for her working parents by herself until the evening. As soon as I entered the house, I took off my shoes and ran straight into my friend’s father’s small library. His shelves were filled with thick books covered with leather and exotic prints. Some of them were in different languages. However, even the ones written in Korean were too long and complicated for me.

Amongst  the books, there were a lot of works of Japanese literature. After coming back from work, my friends’ father often told me about his grand collection of Japanese books. One of his favorites was Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. While he was describing the book, he would mention something about loss, agony, despair and confusion. I had no idea what he was saying. As he delved more deeply into the meaning of those words, I would get terribly lost. The thickness of the book and the smallness of the font made me literally run away from him for the entire day. By that time, I hardly experienced any loss in my life. Nothing was yet confusing or frustrating. I wasn’t happy all the time, but satisfied most of the times.

I started reading Murakami’s novels when I entered middle school. So many things happened to me over the five years. I had to overcome countless losses, including my beloved family member’s death, which brought great frustration and confusion in  life. It was then when I thought of what my friend’s father had told me. I borrowed the book from library and started to read it. As I flipped one page to the other, I was able to understand and even perceive the truthful meaning of those words. Without even noticing it, I myself was maturing as an adult.

Murakami’s books are solely based on the adult’s culture. How do adults define their lives? How do they see themselves? Why do they exist that way?  These are Murakami’s favorite questions for adults.  Through my own experience, I was able to broaden my viewpoint on various aspects of life.  Murakami’s insight guided me to answer those questions thoughtfully. he never defines life with the exact words from the dictionary; from the most atypical environment, he looks out  for ordinary people. From insanity, he defines rationality. I love Murakami’s writing not only for his delicate writing style or narrative skills. I love him because he’s one of the few authors who actually makes me think. By encountering new culture, I was able to perceive my life in an entirely different perspective.