Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. Haruki Murakami, (translated by Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin). Published by Harvill Secker, 2006, ISBN 1400044618, RRP $32.95.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is the 12th book by Haruki Murakami in English translation, and his second collection of short fiction. The release follows the excellent Kafka on the Shore (2005), for which avid Murakami fans had to wait three years before it was translated into English. Blind Willow has not taken quite so long to appear in English, though some of the stories have only been available in other, Japanese-only collections for up to two decades.
In the introductory notes to this English language edition of his latest work, Murakami himself declares, ‘I find writing novels a challenge, writing stories a joy. If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.’ This elegant analogy serves to give the reader some idea of what awaits.
This collection of short stories spans Murakami’s career, from 1978 when he sold the jazz club he ran with his wife, through to 2005, when he was compelled by an inner demon (or angel) to write his first collection of (fiction) stories in years. The stories in the collection are replete with the sort of epiphanies and moments of clarity that Murakami thrives on – if there is a ‘theme’ or unifying thread it is one of momentary revelation. As anyone familiar with the works of Murakami would know, this seems to be something of a break from form. Murakami, while not ‘literary’ in the same way that Ishiguro or Oe are, is a master of the obscure, the oblique, and the sometimes maddening.
The contradiction, with some decrying him as a ‘pop’ novelist, and others according him the ever-trite ‘spokesman for his generation’ tag, is alive and well in this collection. These are stories that will delight and intrigue the reader. From A Perfect Day for Kangaroos, an inconsequential nothing about a boy and a girl, to ‘A “Poor Aunt” Story’, a story about a man who has, literally, a ‘Poor Aunt’ appear on his shoulders one day, Murakami’s stories are full of whimsy and intrigue.
Given the amount of time these stories span, one might wonder about how the tone and timbre of Murakami’s voice changes over time. The truth is, simply, they don’t change much. Murakami is possessed of a unique literary