Haruki Murakami fans discussion

Hello Haruki Murakami fans members,
I am Jack and now co-mod with Kelly. I am also a co-mod of the Japanese Literature forum. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Both groups have a long history on goodreads and I hope, with your guidance, to contribute as a co-mod.

I am a retired technical librarian, eg, I worked on electronic systems to support a worldwide technical library, but my love is Japanese literature in all its forms, literary fiction, non-fiction, folklore, light novels and manga. (oops... and anime, live action film also.) I had the opportunity to work several assignments in Japan and greatly valued the experiences.

I read several Japanese Literature fiction and non-fiction a month and will try to mark what I am reading wrt Murakami in the "currently reading" topic.

Please use this thread for questions and suggestions.
I look forward to your input,
with regards, Jack

Under the heading of non fiction, has there already been discussions of
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

I seem to be late to the Murakami discussions.

Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog wrote: "Under the heading of non fiction, has there already been discussions of
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

I seem to be late to the Murakami discussions."

Thank you Phrodrick,
I am just grouping some of the threads to make it easier to find them and to use the threads for a resource.,
I will add the Tokyo Gas Attack to the non-fiction thread.
r/Jack

Thank you for the introduction and your work here! Looking forward to new threads and discussions on the works of Murakami and any other related authors you want to bring up!

:)

Arielle wrote: "Thank you for the introduction and your work here! Looking forward to new threads and discussions on the works of Murakami and any other related authors you want to bring up!

:)"

Thank you Arielle,
I am looking forward to your comments, suggests and insights on Murakami and Japanese Literature.
r/Jack

A project for me in April (I am late on this…) is to create a folder for translator profiles.
I will start with the eng translators and then try to add translators for other languages if there is interest.

Please let me know if your are reading in a language other that English or Japanese so that I can focus on that also.

r/Jack

Jack wrote: "Please let me know if your are reading in a language other that English or Japanese so that I can focus on that also."

Hi, Jack! Nice to see some action going in this group.
I read all of Murakami's works that are translated in Lithuanian. As far as I remember, most of them were translated from English, at least the earlier editions.
If you need any help finding Lithuanian translators, I could try to help. However, I visit GoodReads maybe once a month or even every other month.

Hello Aušrinė,
Thanks for the note.
Question: Has The City and Its Uncertain Walls been translated to Lithuanian or it is planned to?
We will be reading Novelist as a Vocation next month. It is available in Lithuanian?
Who are the translators? I would like to make note of them in the forum.
Thank you, Jack

Unfortunately, none of these books are translated into Lithuanian 🥲
I can't wait to read "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" but there isn't any information about the plans to translate. I'm sure it ill be translated sooner or later.
Lithuanian publishing is a bit weird: nobody is hyping up that a new book of popular author is going to be published at a certain time. Unless it is time for a Book Fair 😆

I found the list of translators of other Murakami works into Lithuanian here (need to expand the table "Vertimai į lietuvių kalbą" at the end of the page): https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/haruki-...
Also, Lithuanian Wikipedia page has a list naming from which language the book was translated (but it is not updated since 2014): https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_...

Going forward:

I will try to have a fiction read every other month that alternates with a HM non-fiction title or a book about HM.

Readers of English translations may have addition challenges that original Japanese or other direct translations do not have. For example, the original translation by Birnbaum for a Japanese audience that is reading in English and then a second translation for an English reading market outside of Japan. Hear the Wind Sing has two English translations, Birnbaum and Goossen.

Let me know what will make this forum of interest to you, the members. Post or message me your thoughts.

The next fiction read with be Hear the Wind Sing. I will try to cover the two translations for English readers. I appreciate the comments and thoughts of those who are reading the novel in other languages.

The May/June non-fiction read is The Novelist as a Vocation. After that will probably be Jay Rubin’s Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words.

I am trying to provide enough heads up on the likely selections so that people can look for used copies or order through their libraries for print, ebook or audiobook versions

Regards, Jack

For summer 2025 we are cycling through the Rat Trilogy, early HM works. The first two, Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are novellas. The last, The Wild Sheep Chase, might be considered HM’s first novel.

This is a chance to read or revisit these works and see the early development of HM themes. These is a background historical context of the student protests, Yuki Mishima’s suicide, and in The Wild Sheep Chase commentary on the Japanese right wing.

As always there is music, cats here and there, and the focus on Pinball machines and their history in Pinball, 1973 is interesting.

I am out on travel for another week. Sorry for the silence during my road trip to remote environs. Back soon.
r/Jack

Jack wrote: "I am out on travel for another week. Sorry for the silence during my road trip to remote environs. Back soon.
r/Jack"

Now we're all curious, Jack. "remote environs" could be so many destinations : )

The masthead photograph is from an event at Waseda University titled "The Owl Reads in Spring" on March 3, 2024 where Haruki Murakami and Mieko Kawakami held a reading party at premiering new stories and reading from past works. HM read "Kaho".

It was published in English by The New Yorker on July 1, 2024:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...