How Murakami Writes Realism - Kyla

 I recently read an interview with Haruki Murakami that outlined the reasons behind how odd and unrealistic his stories are. 

“The thing is, the more I try to write about things realistically and try to accurately express what lies at the core of those things, the more the story goes off in weird directions. I don't intentionally plan for that to happen, but that sort of development just emerges, naturally, as an inevitable result.

When I think about it, I've had all sorts of strange experiences in my life, and I get the feeling that it's their very strangeness that gives them meaning.” The article where I found this quote from the interview

I found this particularly interesting when thinking about Norwegian Wood, one of his most realistic novels we’ve read. Despite the seeming unreality that some experienced with it, I think this could be a possible explanation for why it still felt so surreal. Murakami himself doesn’t necessarily even know why his writing becomes fantastical; it just does. I believe this also ties back to the short story “Charlie Parker Plays Bosonova”. Murakami writes about the strange occurrences of events that happen in his life. When I first read this, I assumed the story was made up, but upon reading this interview, I think I believe that this genuinely happened to him. And it may be possible that he dreamt or imagined something like this happening to him. But I don’t really think that matters when talking about Murakami’s writing. He writes in a way that coincides with his thought process and personal experiences. I found it really fascinating!