Friday, May 22, 2015

“Underground “ by Haruki Murakami

The Murakami book I’m reading now, “Underground “is non-fiction, but it’s still brilliant. It brings back memories of one of the creepiest days of my life.
I was on the train the day an apocalyptic cult released lethal nerve gas on Tokyo trains. I wasn’t on a train that was attacked, but on one of the same train lines, on my way to one of the same train stations, an hour or so later.
I had no clue what was going on. The train stopped for a long time, and somebody said something about a gas leak. I worked at the National Noh Theatre then, and had to walk to work. I arrived about ninety minutes late. I was stunned when my coworkers told me they were ‘very relieved’ to see me, and told me I should call my wife immediately to tell her I was safe. The entire country was in shock.
Strange times. Bad nostalgia.
( Ken Lawrence)

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Haruki Murakami

Lately I’ve been rediscovering Murakami Haruki. My wife turned me on to him back in the day, when I first moved to Japan, long before anyone outside Japan had heard of him. I’m rereading everything, most recently ‘Kafka on the Shore.’ I keep spotting noh plays – or at least ‘noh essence’ – in his work. Or is it just my imagination?