It's not usual that I get to take a class on a more contemporary writer, which automatically made the class interesting from the beginning. I took this class because I've read some of his novels but got the sense that I wasn't getting the full value in his works. I wanted to know more about what's going on in Murakami's mind.
After taking this class, I realized that there are many ways to read/analyze his stories. For instance, it's interesting to see that there is a pattern of women being unable to speak, or that men often have trouble communicating with the women. For my second paper, I wrote about the taxi scene in the opening chapter of 1Q84. I read the text once, purely for enjoyment. This time around, even though I only read the opening scene, I felt that I was able to appreciate the story on a much deeper level. Who knew that the music playing in the taxi would align with Aomame's feelings, or foreshadow her long journey? I think the biggest thing I got out of this class was that Murakami had created a story where you could either enjoy the story on a surface level, or really dig as deep as you want and discover some more possible meaning behind his words.
Also, the second time around reading Norwegian Wood made me appreciate the novel even more. I really loved how Murakami wrote the scene of Hatsumi's death; the flashback made for such a wonderful way to tell her story. Murakami is not scared to talk about death; he talks about the things that are often not talked about. There is a pattern of young people committing suicides due to their inability to live in a world where their innocence no longer shields them.
Lastly, taking this class as an elective for my English minor, made me become really interested in Japanese culture. After trying out Japanese food, seeing the slideshow of photos in Japan and simply learning more about the culture in class, I now really want like to visit Japan one day! Perhaps, I'll also run into Murakami.
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