So the discussion will be lacking my valuable insight this go around. Nonetheless, I wish you all a very merry and stimulating chat!

Good questions, gb! im too gbidol’d to discuss now ,but i’ll comment sometime in the next 36 hours

I liked the book. I have also read “Kafka on the Shore” and felt that was quality work as well. I will withhold more detailed opinions until the discussion gets underway (plus I finished it three weeks ago and will have to refresh myself of the details). Suffice it to sat that, I felt the character was very identifiable despite the obvious cultural differences.

I liked the book overall. I do think the translation was kind of lame— Watanabe is always saying stuff like “I see what you mean” or “that makes sense.”

Maybe things will pick up more later. I’mma try to answer these questions

1 Many Murakami scholars and fans, including myself, have felt that this book is the most auto-biographical in the author’s canon. Murakami is known for his privacy, yet there are many aspects of this novel that feel very real. What stood out to you that felt more human, that felt more like it could have been an auto-biographical piece of the work?

I am not going to try and comment across the board on Murakami’s work, but this piece felt entirely autobiographical. For me, it seemed that way because the point of the story was these connections.. very human connections.. between Watanabe and the girls in his life.

2 As Watanabe’s story unfolds he becomes very close to both Naoko and Midori. How are these women different from one another? In which ways do you find them similar to one another? How would you describe the different kinds of love they offer Watanabe? Why do you think he finally chooses Midori? Has he made the right choice?

Good question. Might need to think more on this. Naoko is so defined by her illness and her inability to be for Watanabe. Their love is grounded in their past but Kizuki was always between them. Midori is harder for me to get, but she is pretty open and emotional in a non-need-to-go-away kind of way. Midori is a fine choice but it’s hard to say if he made the right choice. She was the one who was ready and loved him openly… but their connection never felt as honest as between him and Naoko so I wondered if he wasn’t just settling for the best available number 2 because he didn’t wanna be alone. Also, I don’t understand how hooking up with Reiko fits in with this. If I was to take a second to psychoanalyze Watanabe on this matter, I’d say that he should be alone and not try so hard to be with someone. I guess he did that to a degree, and I have my suspicion that he and Midori do not end up together because I think the ending of the book is suggesting that he has ended up in a place he doesn’t recognize ‘from the center’ meaning that he finds that he doesn’t know who he is anymore.

3 Watanabe often speaks about "The Great Gatsby" and how closely he relates to Fitzgerald’s novel. Why do you think this is important, and what does it say of Watanabe?

Good one. Even less sure where to begin. I think Watanabe identifies with Fitz’ detached writing style on the one hand and with the dreamer quality in Gatsby on the other.

4 what is the importance of the two central men in Watanabe’s life? Stromtrooper(Kamikaze if you managed to snatch the Birnbaum translation) and Nagasawa? How do these characters help define Watanabe, and how do they define themselves(as little definition as there may be).

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what Stromtroopers role as except to be a great source of comic relief and the source of Watanabe’s willingness and interest in cleaning. Not sure what the meaning of that character was.

Nagasawa makes a lot of sense from a plot and symbolism point of view. I liked this character as a contrast to Watanabe. They are both Gatsby fans but fairly different other than that (which is amusing since Nagasawa likes to say they are exactly alike). Watanabe sees somethings he wishes he could be (like some of the more flashy and gregarious features of Gatsby) in Nagasawa but also quickly realizes that, if he had Nagasawa’s life, he wouldn’t do what he did.. he would instead be thrilled to have someone as great as Hatsumi. In the end, Nagasawa just seemed like a lesson, or a reality check, for Watanabe about what dreams should look like.

5 Many people have agreed that the Jay Rubin translation seems to be lacking and the fairly poor prose takes away from the enjoyment of the novel. How did the prose effect you? Are there any particular instances in which you experienced every translator’s nightmare, that moment where you realized, without a doubt, that you were reading a book that had been translated? I’m dropping this post off and then I have to disappear again for a bit, but will pop in as I can to enjoy, and join, the discussion.

Jake had a good one up there. The two reoccurring moments for me that made the language stand out and feel odd was the sex scenes and the way people commented on the way Watanabe’s spoke. At several points I felt like the sex scenes were written in a manner or used words in a manner that just felt awkward in how they were phrased. I’d be curious to know how these differed across translations. And as far as the way he spoke, I just could never figure out what the girls were talking about. I couldn’t figure out the source of Midori’s constant noting about how weird he says things and wondered if it was lost in translation or if I just missed something.

Good questions, GB. And good book choice. I enjoyed the read even if the words themselves felt odd to me at times I got over it. Also, I feel it’s important to note, that I was emotionally hit hard by this book in ways I didn’t suspect would get me. Young love, suicides, and the words: ‘Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of life’ hit me in a more powerful way today than they would have, say, a year ago.

Which reminds me of the other question that occurred to me was the role and purpose of suicide and sex in this story. If I thought anything negative about the story itself, it was that there times that I questioned whether the sex scenes were necessary or just part of keeping young readers in an otherwise very heady and emotional story. I was more surprised by the sex in the story than I was at the number of suicides in the story.

moby dick is good

It’s mostly Watanabe’s introspective moments that made the work seem autobiographical to me. This line is one example: "Everything was too sharp and clear, so that I could never tell where to start – the way a map that shows too much can sometimes be useless" (10). Although the narrator is Watanabe, talking about how he found it difficult to write about Naoko, it feels like an observation made by the author – who would know a thing or two about writing – himself. Also, the quote that Idol mentions – "death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life" – stands out as a personal revelation that makes it feel more human (25).

The main similarity that I see between Naoko and Midori is that both have to deal with the deaths of their closed ones. That’s about it, because the way in which they actually deal with them differs. Naoko isn’t as strong an individual as Midori; she becomes mentally unstable and eventually chooses death. Midori seems to have this volatile, maybe even eccentric, personality, but I don’t see her as someone who would commit suicide. Even during the rooftop/fire scene, it feels like Midori is saying that she wouldn’t shy away from death if it does come, not that she would actively seek it. As far as their love for Watanabe goes, Midori’s is very obvious. She confesses it many times, and only waits for him to accept her. In the case of Naoko, Watanabe is the one doing the waiting. He even says near the beginning of the book that, "Naoko never loved me" (10). Her feeling for him is confusing to understand, like this line: "I just don’t want to be violated like that again – by anybody" (284). I’m not sure how she feels, or that she knows what she wants. Midori is simpler to understand; she likes Watanabe so she repeatedly takes the initiative to approach him. I agree with Idol as to why Watanabe chooses Midori (next best alternative). Also, I think she is to him as he is to Kizuki, Naoko, and Reiko: a link to the "outside" world. Agree with Idol again that it doesn’t seem like they’ll end up together. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t’ve been surprised if Watanabe had committed suicide himself. (Side note about Midori: page 180, when we find out that she lied about her father being in Uruguay, I thought for a moment that she was the pathological liar in Reiko’s story. Creeped me out.)

Watanabe may identify with Gatsby because he also loves someone that can’t be had. They’re both similar in wanting to distance themselves from their past, to reinvent themselves, too.

I sort of see Storm Trooper as a bridge that closes the gap between Watanabe and the other characters in the book. Watanabe mentions at one point that "the world was at peace and filled with laughter as long as stories of Storm Trooper were being told" (105). Those stories are the first things that he talks to Naoko about. Then he also tells them to Midori, and then Reiko. Even in the dorm, tales of ST jerking off form the majority of the communication between Watanabe and the other guys. Nagasawa: see Idol’s comment. (I wanna add that he reminded me of AK a bit, in how both would acknowledge their flaws, call themselves jerks or whatnot, but they’re completely comfy with who they are nevertheless.)

The translation felt most tedious to me when it was about this city or that train station that Watanabe needs to get to at this or that time. It especially felt that way since I don’t know where anywhere is. Maybe Murakami is implying the significance of the protagonist always being on the move, from city to countryside and whatnot, but some parts felt unnecessarily detailed. Some of the sex scenes were also weirdish.

Overall, I liked the book. Good book selection and questions, GB. My bad for putting this off til now.

Many Murakami scholars and fans, including myself, have felt that this book is the most auto-biographical in the author’s canon. Murakami is known for his privacy, yet there are many aspects of this novel that feel very real. What stood out to you that felt more human, that felt more like it could have been an auto-biographical piece of the work?

Perhaps the lack of story outside that of Watanabe’s his perceptions and his view all the sorrounding developments.

As Watanabe’s story unfolds he becomes very close to both Naoko and Midori. How are these women different from one another? In which ways do you find them similar to one another? How would you describe the different kinds of love they offer Watanabe? Why do you think he finally chooses Midori? Has he made the right choice?

He chooses Midori because he has chosen to live and that is clearly Midori’s choice as well. I definitely think he made the right choice.

Watanabe often speaks about "The Great Gatsby" and how closely he relates to Fitzgerald’s novel. Why do you think this is important, and what does it say of Watanabe?

I feel it is somehow related to the tragedies sorrounding his own life and the detachment of the people sourrounding him regarding life.

This is going to be a two part-er cause you can only make 5 points in the "lists" fanshot. First, what is the importance of the two central men in Watanabe’s life? Stromtrooper(Kamikaze if you managed to snatch the Birnbaum translation) and Nagasawa? How do these characters help define Watanabe, and how do they define themselves(as little definition as there may be). And lastly, many people have agreed that the Jay Rubin translation seems to be lacking and the fairly poor prose takes away from the enjoyment of the novel. How did the prose effect you? Are there any particular instances in which you experienced every translator’s nightmare, that moment where you realized, without a doubt, that you were reading a book that had been translated? I’m dropping this post off and then I have to disappear again for a bit, but will pop in as I can to enjoy, and join, the discussion.

I read stromtrooper as stormtrooper all throughout the book. Admittedly I was feverish while I read it, so I have an excuse. I agree with idol about him. To me he’s there as a way for Watanabe to break the ice with people, and have comedic relief.

The translation was certainly something I noticed, especially regarding, as others have mentioned, the way Watanabe speaks.