Though I only read the first three
chapters of a book with eleven chapters, I already fell in love with its tone.
The personal voice of the narrator is cynical, yet honest and descriptive. The
narrator seems to tell the audience what actually happened and how he really
felt at the time. This authentic tone helped me sympathize more easily with him
in various situations. Moreover, he definitely has got some wit in his voice.
His cynical and detached tone while describing funny situations such as the
line “The fever stayed high for a full day, but on the morning of the second
day he jumped out of bed and started exercising as if nothing had happened, and
his temperature was absolutely normal” makes it even more humorous. Along the
elaborate depictions, there are also parts that can be considered “cheesy.” Death exists, not as the opposite but as a
part of life. Life is here, death is over there. I am here, not over there. Although
the overall mood is quite gloomy and dark, the voice itself goes neither too
sentimental nor dramatic; rather, it blends well within the text, and therefore
generates positive effects.
Throughout the story, the most
interesting part was the relationship between the characters. Based on the information
given until now, Kizuki and Nagasawa seem to be on the parallel line. They both
have strong oratory skills -the ability to “inspire people in awe”- which force
the narrator to wonder why they “chose” him, “a person with no distinctive
qualities, to be [their] friend.” They are both authentic and caring to him,
with their “attractive” girlfriends. Despite these similarities, the narrator
clearly states that “[his] relationship with Nagasawa stood in stark contrast
to [his] relationship with kizuki.” He feels attached to Kizuki’s sincerity
because Kizuki shared his “talents” only with the narrator and Naoko. On the
other hand, he admits that he “never once opened [his] heart to [Nagasawa]”
because Nagasawa uses this “talents” to tempt girls. But I suspect that the
clear difference in his perceptions towards them may have been distorted or
exaggerated due to the abstract reminiscence of Kizuki. He may unconsciously
want to remember Kizuki with his positive sides only. I am curious whether the
parallel relationship between the two would be intensified throughout the
story.
Although Naoko seems to be the most
important character here (the narrator’s vague yet strong memory of her pushes
him to start the flashback in the first place), how she affects the narrator after
all is still unclear. I get the complicated feelings involved in their
relationship and the consequent atmosphere of the story, but it is hard to
express it in a few words. In my point of view now, the narrator’s complex
affection for Naoko is not truly towards Naoko as a person but towards “the
girl who once was my best friend’s lifelong lover,” whom he cannot -or should
not- express his feelings directly when considering Kizuki’s death and the
convention of the society. As Georges Bataille argues in his book “Eroticism,”
people in general feel more excited about something that they are restricted in
doing so. Although not directly stated in the text, the invisible yet present
restriction in dating a (dead) friend’s ex-girlfriend may have made him more obsessed
with his feelings. I am looking forward to see what further influence Naoko and
the narrator’s desire for her will have on him.
Considering the individual
characters and their relations, sex and death are likely to be the recurring
themes of the story. The narrator openly discusses his sexual life and puts certain
amount of emphasis on it. For a long time, sex has been a rather vulgar topic that
is often discussed separately from pure love. It is possible to infer that Murakami
wanted to show the inseparable nature of the two concepts. In a similar sense,
people do not like to talk about “death,” primarily because they are afraid of
it. The narrator, however, states that death is only part of his life. Death is
related to his best friend Kizuki; sex is related to Naoko and other possible
girls. I get the feeling that I should pay closer attention to these two
concepts as the story progresses and try to find out how they are used here for
what purpose.
Overall, I loved the beginning
setup of this book. I am so excited to read more, and yes I am being very
serious. I want to see the big picture as soon as possible so that I can really
discuss this book in depth. J
