Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakamiis a contemporary Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country. The critical acclaim for his fiction and non-fiction has led to numerous awards, in Japan and internationally, including the World Fantasy Awardand the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. His oeuvre received, for example, the Franz Kafka Prizeand the Jerusalem Prize...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth12 January 1949
CountryJapan
You’re optimistic one moment, only to be racked the next by the certainty that it will all fall to pieces. And in the end it does.
If a person remains tense for a long time he might not notice it himself, but it’s like his nerves are a piece of rubber that has been stretched out. It’s hard to go back to the original shape.
Of what value is a civilization that can't toast a piece of bread as ordered?
I'm not human. I'm a piece of machinery. I don't need to feel a thing. Just forge on ahead.
Sometimes when I think of life, I feel like a piece of driftwood washed up on shore.
Time really is one big continuous cloth, no? We habitually cut out pieces of time to fit us, so we tend to fool ourselves into thinking that time is our size, but it really goes on and on.
Letters are just pieces of paper," I said. "Burn them, and what stays in your heart will stay; keep them, and what vanishes will vanish.
Original manuscripts are private information. Like personal letters, there are parts I don't want other people to see.
As a writer, I felt it necessary to raise the alarm that a rampant, clandestine and unlawful trade in original manuscripts exists.
In principle, ownership of handwritten documents lies with the author. A large number of my manuscripts have been leaked and are now missing. These are stolen items of sorts, because they were taken without permission and sold for financial gain.
I don't want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision.
If you cannot concentrate, you are not so happy.
I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high.
Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. With each new work, I move up a step and discover something new inside me.