Novelist as a Vocation
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4.3 • 20 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • An insightful look into the mind of a master storyteller—and a unique look at the craft of writing from the beloved and best-selling author of 1Q84, Norwegian Wood, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
"Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers" —New York Times Book Review
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Esquire, Vulture, LitHub, New York Observer
Aspiring writers and readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this engaging book from the internationally best-selling author. Haruki Murakami now shares with readers his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians.
Here are the personal details of a life devoted to craft: the initial moment at a Yakult Swallows baseball game, when he suddenly knew he could write a novel; the importance of memory, what he calls a writer’s “mental chest of drawers”; the necessity of loneliness, patience, and his daily running routine; the seminal role a carrier pigeon played in his career and more.
"What I want to say is that in a certain sense, while the novelist is creating a novel, he is simultaneously being created by the novel as well." —Haruki Murakami
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist Murakami (1Q84) reveals the tricks of the trade in this stellar essay collection, originally published in Japan in 2015. In "Are Novelists Broadminded?" he observes that "people with brilliant minds are not particularly well suited to writing novels," while "A Completely Personal and Physical Occupation" makes a case that it's crucial for a writer to cultivate stamina: "You have to become physically fit. You need to become robust and physically strong. And make your body your ally." In "When I Became a Novelist" Murakami shares stories of his time at the Waseda University in Tokyo at the peak of student protests and recalls his days operating a jazz café with his wife in the mid-'70s: "We were all young then, full of ambition and energy—though, sad to say, no one was making any money to speak of." Especially enjoyable is a mystical tale he shares about a baseball game he attended in 1978 during which "based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel." Lighthearted yet edifying, the anecdotes make for a fantastic look at how a key literary figure made it happen. Murakami's fans will relish these amusing missives.
Customer Reviews
Great book, but…
The formatting of the drop caps at the start of each chapter is terrible. I’m shocked this hasn’t been fixed.