The forbidden worlds of Haruki Murakami / Matthew Carl Strecher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Strecher, Matthew, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Murakami, Haruki, 1949---Criticism and interpretation.

Murakami, Haruki.

Murakami, Haruki, 1949-.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xiv, 275 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2014]

Summary:

" In an "other world" composed of language--it could be a fathomless Martian well, a labyrinthine hotel or forest--a narrative unfolds, and with it the experiences, memories, and dreams that constitute reality for Haruki Murakami's characters and readers alike. Memories and dreams in turn conjure their magical counterparts--people without names or pasts, fantastic animals, half-animals, and talking machines that traverse the dark psychic underworld of this writer's extraordinary fiction. Fervently acclaimed worldwide, Murakami's wildly imaginative work in many ways remains a mystery, its worlds within worlds uncharted territory. Finally in this book readers will find a map to the strange realm that grounds virtually every aspect of Murakami's writing. A journey through the enigmatic and baffling innermost mind, a metaphysical dimension where Murakami's most bizarre scenes and characters lurk, The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami exposes the psychological and mythological underpinnings of this other world. Matthew Carl Strecher shows how these considerations color Murakami's depictions of the individual and collective soul, which constantly shift between the tangible and intangible but in this literary landscape are undeniably real. Through these otherworldly depths The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami also charts the writer's vivid "inner world," whether unconscious or underworld (what some Japanese critics call achiragawa, or "over there"), and its connectivity to language. Strecher covers all of Murakami's work--including his efforts as a literary journalist--and concludes with the first full-length close reading of the writer's newest novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 New Words, New Worlds 27

2 Into the Mad, Metaphysical Realm 69

3 Gods and Oracles, Fate and Mythology 117

4 Murakami Haruki as Literary Journalist 159

5 Forbidden Dreams from "Over There" 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780816691968

0816691967

9780816691982

0816691983

OCLC:

877365036