Murakami wastes no time explaining the first part: Tsukuru means “to make” or “to create” (depending on which Chinese character one uses to write it). But I compare Murakami to Irving above because I think the two are similar in that they practise the art of character-driven stories almost lacking in plot. Like any categories, these are generalizations, and there are always exceptions and shades of grey and fine lines. We talk about character- versus plot-driven fiction a lot. It’s the kind of novel I can sit down and read for hours without a break, if I have the time, and despite almost nothing ever happening in the modern sense we spoiled readers are accustomed to … I wanted to keep reading, to find out what would not happen next. Whereas Irving seems determined to wrap his characters in layers of the complex darkness of the human soul, Murakami instead proffers to his characters hope for a more optimistic resolution.Ĭolorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is not difficult to follow, and it is very moving and very reassuring. Both authors produce profoundly character-driven novels, often centred on young men trying to find their way through a life clouded by attachments to a deep past. Are you familiar with the works of John Irving? Then you’ll be familiar with the works of Haruki Murakami-because this is perhaps the antithesis of Irving in many ways.
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