Hoponbaby

Ask anyone that knows me and they’ll tell you that I’m slightly obsessed with the works of Haruki Murakami. Having tracked down and consumed almost all of his written work since he first came to my attention. It was during my time working at Books Etc in London, when unknown to me at the time ‘Kafka on the Shore‘ had just been released. A stream of customers entered to ask about the latest book by some guy called “Murakami”?

With so many enquiries, my interest was piqued and I picked up a copy of ‘Norwegian Wood‘ recommended to me by my manager and fellow fan of Murakami. It instantly reminded me very much of one of my all-time favourite books, ‘The Catcher in the Rye‘. It was more than enough to ignite the interest I’ve maintained ever since. This may sound like an odd thing to say but I have a very genuine — almost morbid — sadness about when he passes away for wholly selfish reasons, no longer having any of his work to look forward to reading.

Well until then (which being a Japanese native I hope isn’t for a very long time), I have the surprise release of ‘IQ84′ in Japan to fuel my excitement. A two book volume clocking in at over a 1,000 pages! Now all I have to do is wait half a decade for it to be translated into English. Perhaps this could be the impetus for me to seriously consider learning Japanese?

In a clever marketing scheme, the contents of his new novel have been kept secret. Fans ordering the book know nothing but the title, “1Q84,” which can be read as “1984″ in Japanese.

(Thanks, Japan Probe!)