Skip to Main Content

Author Study: Haruki Murakami Curated by Ashley Tang '19

This Libguide provides a detailed analysis of Japanese author Haruki Murakami and delves into his writing accomplishments.
“In this world, there are things you can only do alone, and things you can only do with somebody else. It’s important to combine the two in just the right amount.” 
—After Dark
“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I’m gazing at a distant star. It’s dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago. Maybe the star doesn’t even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.” 
—South of the Border, West of the Sun
 
 “We’re both looking at the same moon, in the same world. We’re connected to reality by the same line. All I have to do is quietly draw it towards me.” 
—Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

 

"If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets."
 
 

A writer of great imagination and human sympathy, Murakami has enthralled millions of readers by building fictional worlds that are uniquely his.

("Haruki Murakami Stock Photos and Images.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/stock-photo/haruki-murakami.html.)

 The Japan Times reports that he is open to advice questions of any kind and “Murakami will also answer fans’ questions on his likes and dislikes — including cats, a favorite animal of his, and the Yakult Swallows, the Japanese baseball team he supports."

(Michel, Lincoln. “Haruki Murakami to Pen Advice Column for Fans – Electric Literature.” Electric Literature, Electric Literature, 7 Jan. 2015, electricliterature.com/haruki-murakami-to-pen-advice-column-for-fans-b8e9d3bf0648.)

(Poole, Steven. “Haruki Murakami: 'I'm an Outcast of the Japanese Literary World'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Sept. 2014, www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/13/haruki-murakami-interview-colorless-tsukur-tazaki-and-his-years-of-pilgrimage.)

(“The Politics of Haruki Murakami, Part 1.” That Faint Light, 17 June 2012, thatfaintlight.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/the-politics-of-haruki-murakami-part-1/.)

(“Haruki Murakami Stock Photos and Images.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/stock-photo/haruki-murakami.html.)

(“Haruki Murakami Stock Photos and Images.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/stock-photo/haruki-murakami.html.)