Finding Magic in Music: Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami. Photo signed by the author. Wikimedia Commons
When we think of the brilliant Japanese author Haruki Murakami, we think of solidarity and hopelessness with a sweet element of magic and even music. Reading Murakami’s works and observing the different realities he creates in every story, we see one common element: the existence of another world. There is never only one answer to the question the author asks, and sometimes the answers he is seeking do not belong to the reality we are familiar with. He deals with the duality between the two worlds. Personally, diving into his world makes me wonder which one is real. Who knows, maybe it is his intention to confuse us and make us fantasize and desire to be a part of the dream-like world he creates in his novels. His novels definitely create a twisted form of reality.
Besides magic, he adds an harmonious element by his constant referral to musical pieces. I want to take a moment to look at his earlier life. He was only 20 years old and studying drama when he met his wife Yōko Takahashi. The two bonded over their passion for music and especially jazz. One thing led to another and they opened the jazz bar Peter Cat in 1974 which was named after their cat.
Music was always a part of Murakami‘s life. In the many interviews he gives, he always mentions how music taught him how to write. His writing has a flow just like a musical piece, it has its crescendos and diminuendos in the story line, creating an harmonious read.
Reading Murakami, pay attention to how smoothly he places music pieces in his novel. One of the most famous examples is his book Norwegian Wood (1987) which takes its name from the Beatles song Norwegian Wood. The author also has a passion for classical music, we see that in his books The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994), Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2013). In the last two, he mentions Tchaikovsky and his Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major, Op. 48.
Music is one of the magical aspects of Murakami’s books. His songs are always in alignment with the story line. We see his protagonists usually sitting in the kitchen, listening to classical music or jazz. Sometimes, a musical piece brings up a memory, sometimes it inspires a thought, and sometimes it is the push the character needs to get things going. If you want to feel like a character from Murakami’s beautiful books, I invite you to listen to some of the magical pieces that belong to his magical stories.