People usually point to the Western influences on Murakami's fiction, but I hear a lot of resonance from Soseki and Kawabata. I think some readers don't look past the references to jazz and rock. Murakami is constantly alluding to certain Soseki novels in his own fiction. Sometimes the reference is direct, sometimes it is only the evocation of a similar scene or incident.
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A fantastically good Spanish poet is Olvido García Valdés. I'd read her before, but I met the person herself, heard her read her work (on this latest trip to Madrid) and delved a little deeper. I really liked her and her husband, Miguel Casado, also a poet and one of the best critics around. They are high-school teachers in Toledo.
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Don't send me anything at my home address. I am moving in about a month. I'll be announcing my new address to the appropriate people when the time comes.
Murakami is the shiznit. I didn't pick up Kawabata but I have only read one K novel. I haven't read Soseki yet, well maybe a poem or two but not any fiction. Thanks for the tips.
ResponderEliminarI learned a new word today! Thanks for that.
ResponderEliminarThe connection between Murakami and Soseki is not new. Murakami has admitted that Soseki was the only Japanese author he has read. Antonin Bechler also mentions it in his dissertation on Murakami, which you can find here: http://unetonne.joueb.com/news/27.shtml (it's in French though)
ResponderEliminarSoseki references are not unusual in his work so that I'm sure many others have noticed it before me. Whether he's read Kawabata or not I don't know. I'd be surprised if he hasn't.
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