HARUKI MURAKAMI was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and the most recent of his many international honors is the Jerusalem Prize, whose previous recipients include J. M. Coetzee, Milan Kundera, and V. S. Naipaul.
"More than anyone, Haruki Murakami invented 21st-century fiction. .
. . He is the novelist of our mash-up epoch and the subversive who,
by intent or not, lit the fuse to whatever 'canon' of the previous
century anybody still takes seriously. . . .Murakami is the first
major Japanese author born in the radioactive white light of the
modern age. . . . [His] atomic sensibility characterizes world
literature. . . . If Murakami's hybrid futurism is a product of
Japanese tradition clashing with local postmodernism, then the
greatest revelation of his debut is how this contradiction has
raged in Murakami from the outset. . . . Recalling the prologue
that Thomas Pynchon wrote more than 30 years ago for his collection
'Slow Learner, ' Murakami's introduction to Wind/Pinball
affords the reader a rare glimpse behind the curtain of a
mysterious creative process. . . . On some subliminal level the
tension and power of Murakami's stories reside in the reader's
hope, sometimes fulfilled and sometimes dashed, for reconciliation
between the storyteller and his story." --The New York Times
Book Review "Powerful, unsettling, mature novels, replete with many
of the same distinctive traits that characterize [Murakami's] later
fiction: jazz, beer, a gentle surrealism, a tendency to treat the
strange and the mysterious as mundane facts of life and characters
haunted by an ineffable, pervasive melancholy. . . . Murakami gives
his characters' quirks a humanizing legitimacy. . . . Both novels'
metaphors, which are often beautifully suggestive, also cluster
around certain core themes." --Chicago Tribune "Murakami's
trademark postmodernist flourishes abound--disrupting the narrative
to insert a song lyric, say, or a graphic of a T-shirt--and never
fail to surprise and delight." --O, The Oprah Magazine "A
fresh, heart-warming dose of the Japanese master. . . . These
new-old books are short but by no means slight. Nor are they only
for hard-core Murakami fans." --The Economist
"[Wind/Pinball] clearly show[s] a writer of innovation
emerging and developing his formidable talent. . . . Both books
have that unique blend of melancholy and beauty that Murakami
manages so well; they are mysterious, moreish. . . . Novella-sized,
they incorporate the themes that preoccupy Murakami to the present
day, and bear much of the same style. . . . What is also there,
especially in Hear the Wind Sing, is reflections on writing
itself, as if Murakami were stating his reasons, and his need, to
tell stories. . . . What stands out in both books is the writing,
beautiful in its simplicity, and also the deadpan humour and
one-liners. . . . The dialogue is sparklingly clever, drunkenly
witty." --The Independent "Elegiac, ambient, and
matter-of-fact in [its] strangeness. . . . Given Murakami's fervent
fan base and the enduring strangeness that characterizes his work,
it's not surprising that an aura of mystery surrounds his first two
novels: the only previous English translations were published in
Japan and they've been difficult to find in the West. Now 1979's
Hear the Wind Sing and the following year's Pinball,
1973, written while the budding author operated a Tokyo jazz
club, are finally available in one volume as Wind/Pinball,
and Murakami obsessives are in for a treat. All the hallmarks of
Murakami are here at their genesis, including his seemingly simple
style, which he describes in an indispensable foreword. . . . Both
novels, of course, feature digressions on beer, historical
oddballs, obscure trivia, and jazz." --Publishers Weekly
"What establishes these two novellas as quintessential Murakami are
not just the themes of isolation and loneliness that will
characterise many of his later works, nor their colloquial style
that positions them firmly in the familiar territory of classic
American coming-of-age novels. It's that both stories hint at the
unique, postmodern blend of the real and the surreal, the quotidian
and the allegorical for which Murakami would later become famous. .
. . Murakami fans will no doubt delight in this new publication.
For newcomers, these early works are an excellent introduction to a
writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists
of his generation." --The Guardian "Electric. . . . A
singular work--actually two singular works. . . . These short works
are among Murakami's most carefully crafted offerings, full of raw
talent, energy and magic, and totally worth getting lost in. . . .
.. Murakami uses white space like Raymond Carver. . . .
[Wind/Pinball] ranks with Murakami's strongest prose."
--Electric Literature "Though these stories--two of the so-called
Rat Trilogy--are more than 40 years old, marking the very beginning
of Murakami's career, they are full of trademark turns. . . .
There's a Beatles record on the turntable at all times, of course,
offering the possibility of peace and love and unity. . . . It's
interesting to see hints of the masterly novels to come."
--Kirkus Reviews "The writing and, above all, Murakami's way
of making emotionally resonant images and symbols bump around on
the page, and in one's mind, remains fresh, miraculously, more than
35 years on." --Evening Standard Indispensable. --The
Free Lance-Star "Electric. . . . A singular work--actually two
singular works. . . . Among Murakami's most carefully crafted
offerings, full of raw talent, energy and magic, and totally worth
getting lost in. . . . .. Murakami uses white space like Raymond
Carver. . . . [Wind/Pinball] ranks with Murakami's strongest
prose." --Electric Literature "Short, darkly magical coming-of-age
tales." --Elle "A sympathetic work that reads almost like a
memoir. . . . Wind/Pinball is a playful introduction to
Murakami's inventive style, tropes and all. . . . With a funhouse
twist, the casual adventures of Wind/Pinball impart a
self-aware honesty that will serve as inspiration for any aspiring
writer while acting as mirrors to the emotional landscapes of our
lives." --The Daily Californian "A reading experience that
causes personal reflection [and] thoughts larger than ourselves. .
. . Even though they were released separately, combining the two
works into one volume fits perfectly, as they feel like two sides
of a tape, and when one side reaches its conclusion, the other is
ready to begin." --Huffington Post "Utterly delightful. . .
. [The novellas] both have that indelible sense of detachment that
permeates all of Murakami's fiction, a deadpan dreaminess that
fatalistically accepts all manner of remarkable goings-on."
--Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette "A great treat--both
for Murakami enthusiasts and for the more casually interested
reader. . . . A pair of early literary excursions that are never
less than insightful and intelligent; brisk and diverting; unusual
and transporting; and that offer a fascinating insight into the
imagination of a young writer. . . . The vigour and playfulness
with which Murakami handles these peculiar, shifting stories makes
for a volume that even those unfamiliar with his writing are likely
to enjoy, and there is plenty here for the aficionado, too."
--The National (UAE)
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