Published: 1996 (Iwanami Shoten)
Setting: A Room
Summary: Haruki Murakami and Hayao Kawai sat down in 1996, and the transcript of their conversation informs the reader as to what they think about life, love, violence, the novel, and psychotherapy among other topics. This conversation lends particularly crucial insight into Kawai’s sand play methods, as well as the conception of Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Kawai and Murakami discuss the difference in the youth of Japan from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, using their respective skills and analytical frameworks to push the conversation into intriguing and prescient directions. Murakami believes that novels are a curative act, and Kawai thinks little acts of violence, such as lying, help people express themselves differently than they did in the 1990’s.
Quote of the book: “Japan has arrived at a difficult point in its history. In the past, we deftly skimmed off the top layer of Western culture, but I think the time has finally come to confront our roots. This is a perception shared by both Murakami and myself” (153). -Hayao Kawai
I can’t comment on the truth or validity of this statement, but this is the type of reflection these two men undertake in this two-day journey.
Favorite character: Kawai, I didn’t know Hayao Kawai at all before this book, but I feel as if I was listening to his conversation in the moment.
Favorite Setting: The mind of a teenager, or a novelist, or even a psychotherapist.
Please Stay for: The links to the Aum Incident and Murakami’s fiction and nonfiction.
Please Question: The fact that these conversations happened in 1996, what would they say now given the same topics?
Will Reviews Things 