Travel guide: Haruki Murakami

A highly personal travel guide into the mundane and the magical.

I'm sure they're not everybody's cup. But for me, Murakami novels are like calming tea. Every few books, I would return to his work, and I'd know exactly what to expect. Spartan prose. Elaborate descriptions of cooking spaghetti. And then a cat starts talking, probably shortly after the protagonist enters a sleepy mountain town.

I tell you: shoot that stuff straight to into my veins.

Having recently finished all of his fiction, here's my travel guide to Murakami wonderland.

It's highly personal of course. And I think a lot will depend on how much tolerance you have for weirdness.

Because this is the essence of Murakami's prose:

It's full of the most specific scene setting you will ever encounter. He details exactly what ingredients go into a meal (that is of no importance to the story). The same goes for many fingers of whiskey that are poured. Dress codes are described in great detail. As are women's ears. Murakami is a weird, weird dude. He's also very much into jazz. So expect to be told which exact rendition of a song the characters are playing.
Then things get weird. Ghosts are not unheard of. Nor are fish that fall from the sky. Telephone calls are often interdimensional. As are libraries for some reason.

This mixture of mundane and magical is present within a typical novel, by the way, alternating throughout. But some Murakamis are 'baby spice'. Mysterious, rather than magical.

This is why I will divide my travel guide into two destinations: mild, and wild.

Mild

Mild Murakamis still have many of the staples. Maps of towns and neighborhoods. Mysterious women. Meditation through early-morning swimming or late-night whiskey. Most of the time, there will be escapism from either the past (childhood friendships that have ended) or present (office jobs that have ended).

I'm not sure if this is a hot take, but don't read 'Norwegian Wood'. It's not bad. But the cocktail lacks a punch. (The same goes for 'Sputnik Sweetheart'.)

Rather, here are two great Start to Murakami novels:

Also interesting in this category of Murakami appetizers, are his debut novels:

Wild

If you are sticking to the chronological Murakami timeline: the third installment will see you cross over into crazy town.

Just how crazy and wild, you ask? Here are the names of two characters: Sheep Professor, and The Sheep Man. The latter being a man that actually looks like a sheep, whom the protagonist meets in a desolate cabin.

A cabin also plays a central role in 'Kafka on the Shore', one of my favorites.

Be warned though, as we will enter a sort of dream reality here.

Continuing our journey through the land of dreams:

Don't read these two together. (Or do?) As parts of these stories are set in the same fantasy 'Town Beyond The Wall'. Professions? 'Dream reader' and 'Unicorn herder'. I warned you things would get weird.

Reality completely splinters in the '1Q84'-trilogy:

Or more precisely, the world does. Which is why we end up with two moons. And a race of supernatural beings called 'the Little People'. It sounds completely absurd, but I still went along with the ride.

Closing off this supernatural segment, we need to talk about holes.

Like a pit: