Blog Post 3

            Since I missed a couple of blog posts, I'm going back through my notes and reflecting on stuff we talked about in class. One theme that always interested me in Murakami books are the author's depiction of daily life, monotony, and routine. Naturally, I went online and tried to glean some information on what Murakami’s daily life is like. I was surprised to see that Murakami was interviewed and featured in a book called Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. To Mr. Currey, I respectfully suggest using shorter titles in future books.

            According to Currey, Murakami wakes up every day at 4:00 AM and works for five or six hours straight. In the afternoon, he runs or swims (or sometimes does both). Then he takes care of errands, reads, and listens to music. Murakami is in bed by 9:00 PM, when I’m usually starting to think about dinner. In 2004, Murakami told The Paris Review that he’s stuck to this exact routine for a reason: “The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.” This is fairly unsurprisingly, first because most of Murakami’s characters follow a similar routine. But I have to admit, it sounds a bit like getting hypnotized. Murakami’s emphasis on repetition can be seen throughout his works, too. We’ve been maddened as a class by “Murakami-esque” elements that seem both completely random and central to the story. Why melted almonds in the story Alison translated? Why lemon drops, birds, talking cats, or any of the other red herrings sprinkled throughout Murakami’s works?

            When foolish interviewers try to parse out which details are symbols, Murakami provides no answer. To borrow Murakami’s words, maybe it’s just the repetition itself that matters. Murakami never claims that any of his writing, symbols, or literary explorations are meaningful at all. It’s up to the reader to decide. When experiencing the routines of Murakami’s characters, I do feel that it has some kind of strange, mesmerizing effect on me. In Colorless Tsukuru, the main character wonders how much time is wasted commuting, waiting, or otherwise meaninglessly spending time. Murakami’s exploration of repetitive daily life reveals that what many people consider to be meaningless and everyday is not only fascinating, but otherworldly.