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Haruki Murakami: 'My lifetimedream is to be sitting at thebottom of a well'The Japanese author talked writing, heroes,domestic life, dreams and how his life informshis novels at a Guardian book club at theEdinburgh international book festival – and heanswered some of your questions

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Marta Bausellstheguardian.com, Sunday 24 August 2014 04.03 EDT

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When you start reading Murakami novels, life startsbeing like them. That’s their special magic. So saidGuardian book club host John Mullan, introducing thismonth’s guest, the revered and multiselling Japanesewriter, at Edinburgh international book festival

Mullan told of having that very experience as heordered a coffee on the train to Edinburgh. “You likeHaruki Murakami!” exclaimed the waitress, noticing hiscopy of The WindUp Bird Chronicle. “So do I, what acoincidence!” You and 27 million other people, he wastempted to say – but instead he couldn’t help butmention that he would meet the author later the sameday.

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Rarely seen in public or in the media, Murakami wascheerful, relaxed and very funny as he answered all thequestions in English (“I’ve lived in Hawaii for a while, somy English is different than yours”, he warned).However, a translator was on hand to help out – awoman who, he revealed, was once upon a time awaitress at a bar he and his wife Yoko ran in Tokyo.

The author of 13 novels and many short storiesadmitted to having completely forgotten what he haswritten – or indeed why – when asked about specificplot points, without seeming bothered at all. “Really?”and “I don’t remember that” were two of his mostfrequent answers, and he had the audience laughing athis frankness every time. “It was published 20 yearsago and I haven’t read it since then!” he said of TheWindUp Bird Chronicle, around which the eventcentred.

Here we offer you the main points of the session, inquotes, including his answers to some of yourquestions. NOTE: even if there was very limited timefor the session and therefore for squeezing in as manyof your questions as we would have liked, many of yourqueries were answered during the event anyway, sohopefully this summary will satisfy a good amount ofyour curiosities.

1. “I feel uncomfortable writing in the third person: it’s like lookingdown on your characters”

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I wrote my first novel in 1979. Since then,I’ve written every novel in the first person. Itried a couple of times to do the third person(it took me 20 years: the first was Kafka onthe Shore) – and every time, I feeluncomfortable, like I’m looking down fromabove. I wanted to stand at the same level asmy characters. It’s democratic!

2. “When I was younger, I wanted to be a quiet person and live aquiet life”

Toru Okada [the protagonist of The WindUpBird Chronicle] is my hero. When I wasyounger I wanted to be like him. I just wantedto be a quiet person and live a quiet life. It’snot so quiet anymore! Life is strange.

3. “I love ironing. And I do my wife’s too!”

Murakami explained that a lot of the recurring themesin his books are from his own life – his cats, hiscooking, his music and his obsessions. Continuing withhis writing process, here’s his comment on why hecreates many different storylines in one book:

When I write a novel, it takes one or twoyears – and I write day after day … I gettired! I have to open up the window to getfresh air. I write another line of the story toget entertained – I hope the readers will be

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entertained as well! Also, I write in the firstperson, so I need something else [to developthese storylines]: letters, or somebody’sstory.

4. “I don’t like writing about violence and sex abuse – but I have tofor the story’s sake”

Some of his stories are about terrible things – he talkedabout a couple of horribly gripping moments in TheWindUp Bird Chronicle:

I was so scared when I was writing it! All thetranslators complained to me, saying it wasscary. But writing it was much scarier! / Ihave to do that. The violence and sex abuseare a kind of stimulation for the story. I don’tlike to write them but I have to for the story’ssake.

5. “My lifetime dream is to be sitting at the bottom of a well“

It’s my lifetime dream to be sitting at thebottom of a well. It’s a dream come true. [Nota nightmare? asks John Mullan. “No!” “Whynot?” “I dont know.”] I thought: it’s fun to writea novel, you can be anything! So I thought: Ican sit at the bottom of a well, isolated …Wonderful!

6. About translations of his books: “You can relax!”

Many readers asked about translation and hisinvolvement in the English translations of his books.Beaslie asked:

Given much of his storytelling relies onnuance and subtlety, I’d like to know what hethinks readers who experience his novels intranslation lose by not reading in the originalJapanese language.

I can read the books in English. Not inFrench, Russian, German or others. Butwhen an English translation is complete, theysend me the manuscript. When I read it, it’sfine for me! I don’t know what’s going tohappen next! My point is that if I enjoyed it,the translation is good. So you can relax! .Sometimes I find mistakes and I call thetranslator. But three or four things in a book,maybe.

7. “When writing (as well as every day), I don’t have any idea at all ofwhat is to come”

Several readers wanted to know about his writingprocess. EdwardLlewellyn asked:

Is each book you write fully formed in yourmind before you start to write or is it a journeyfor you as the writer as it is for us as readers?

I don’t have any idea at all, when I start

writing, of what is to come. For instance, forThe WindUp Bird Chronicle, the first thing Ihad was the call of the bird, because I hearda bird in my back yard (it was the first time Iheard that kind of sound and I never havesince then. I felt like it was predictingsomething. So I wanted to write about it).The next thing was cooking spaghetti – theseare things that happen to me! I was cookingspaghetti, and somebody call. So I had justthese two things at the start. Two years Ikept on writing. It’s fun! I don’t know what’sgoing to happen next, every day. I get up, goto the desk, switch on the computer, etc. andsay to myself: “so what’s going to happentoday?”It’s fun!

8. “My imagination is a kind of animal. So what I do is keep it alive”

I’m obsessed with the well. And the elephant.The refrigerator. The cat. And the ironing. Ican’t explain it.

9. “My life is full of strange coincidences”

Mullan asked why he was so keen on usingcoincidence in his novels, when so many writers tried toavoid them because they often seemed unlikely toreaders.

Dickens’s books are full of coincidences; so

are Raymond Chandler’s: Philip Marloweencounters numerous dead bodies in theCity of Angels. It’s unrealistic – even in LA!But nobody complains about it, as without it,how could the story happen? That’s mypoint. / And so many coincidences happen inmy real life. Many strange coincidences havehappened in many junctures in my life.

10. What is good about being a novelist? “No commuting, nomeetings, no boss.”

No need to add anything, as he didn’t either. This wasa question from a member of the audience.

11. “When writing fiction, I need music”

An audience member asked how he chooses the musiche includes in his novels – does he set out to have asoundtrack? Many of our readers asked questionsalong similar lines. Here’s what he said:

It comes naturally. When writing fiction, Ineed something musical, and the songscome automatically to me. I have learned somany things from music – harmony, rhythm,improvisation. Rhythm is important to me –you need it to get the readers to keep writing.Usually I listen to music when I’m writing,and that’s where the songs in the books tendto come from.

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12. “I have no intention to write about sad characters”

An audience member asked why so many of hischaracters seem so sad. “Really?”, he asked,astounded. Toru Okada is certainly sad about hismarriage, offered Mullan. “Everybody is!”, joked (wethink) Murakami. “I have no intention to write about sadcharacters”, he concluded.

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All comments Staff replies Guardian picks

Yasuda

The author of 13 novels and many short stories admitted to having completelyforgotten what he has written – or indeed why – when asked about specific plotpoints, without seeming bothered at all. “Really?” and “I don’t remember that” weretwo of his most frequent answers,

Seems rather strange that he didn't re-read the novel before speaking about it, if hecouldn't remember any of it. But, also, what does it say about his writing if even theauthor considers it forgettable?

24 August 2014 9:20am9

Guardian staff

MartaBausells Yasuda

Hi – you're right, the event was about that book, and he did say he hadn'tread it in 20 years, which could perhaps seem strange. But he seemed to beexpecting more general questions about the book rather than some veryspecific ones he got... And more importantly, that seems to be his outlook:he didn't say his writing was forgettable, but he did say that as soon as hefinishes a novel he moves on to the next (as you read, it's all very muchimprovised, so to speak). He did talk about his writing process and spokevery fondly and thoughtfully of his books.

But I agree with SleepingBear that this honesty made me like him evenmore... I don't think many writes would sit in front of an audience and admitto forgetting things they wrote (or why). He even apologised for notremembering the meaning of Malta Kano's read vinyl hat: "There must havebeen some reason!!" he laughed. Very, very curious man.

24 August 2014 1:43pm34

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