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“Reading Haruki Murakami is an experience; not like your usual fiction, which in most cases logically progresses according to the established structures of storytelling. In his works, the unexpected things that happen, (or expected things that happen in unforeseen ways) add not to the buildup of the plot, but to the strangeness of the characters' lives; and at the end the reader is often left wondering what the entire thing was all about. These are not negative qualities at all; on the contrary, despite the bizarre, metaphysical surrealities that populate his stories, Murakami's writing seems true to life because of this unpredictability and lack of clear-cut endings and explanations. If his stories lack structure, it is because our lives often lack structure. Life is not a novel.
It is not often that one finds this type of story, and when one does, it's not often that it is as powerful as these offerings from one of Japan's most significant and well-known modern authors. Murakami is something special; yet the trick of his writing is that his lead characters are the most ordinary, mundane and mediocre people one could hope to meet.
I've probably used up my entire life's supply of superlatives in these Murakami reviews alone, but oh well. That's how I feel about this author. He is definitely not the usual fare.
I finished Dance Dance Dance last night at work during my break. I was not disappointed. I may seem like a broken record, but I cannot help but thinking, that with every new piece of Murakami's work I read, that he is one of the most talented writers active today. This particular novel opens up four years after one of Murakami's earliest, A Wild Sheep Chase, ends. It is not necessary to read this earlier book in order to understand Dance Dance Dance, but I feel that it is helpful and only adds to the complexity and enjoyment of the story. The nameless central character, an early- to mid-forties writer who describes his occupation as "shoveling cultural snow," finds himself in a rut of depression following the events of Sheep Chase, until he begins to feel that someone is calling out to him, crying for him, in his dreams. From there the story wanders and meanders, taking us to locations as varied as Tokyo, Sapporo and Honolulu. Several chance encounters occur, and in many places what seemed likely to remain casual acquaintances to the unnamed protagonist become his closest friends. Hovering in the background of this story are the Sheep Man, who probably does not exist in any concrete way, and an equally metaphysical room full of skeletons whose significance is unknown.
Between watching vapid, sentimental romance films and dealing with unexpected call girls with names like Mei and June, the central character does his best to live life, interact with people, and above all, to keep right on dancing. Easier said than done. Murakami understands the unexpected ways our lives work, how they un-purposefully mingle and tangle up with others', how they can quickly and subtly get away from us and go down a different road than we'd anticipated almost without our even realizing it.
The story's central theme, if there is such a thing to be found in the works of Haruki Murakami, is twofold: that reality is comforting; being with other people is not only healthy but crucial to one's sanity. But even in the midst of this, to paraphrase the central character, "The world is a more tenuous place than we know." Anything, no matter how random or unusual, can happen at any time. Including things like people who are important parts of our lives vanishing without a trace. Indeed, this is how Sheep Chase ends, and Dance Dance Dance begins.
I would have to say that this book has earned a place on my favorites list, and is also my new favorite of Murakami's works. Perhaps it is not as deep and complex as The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, and not as heart wrenching as Norwegian Wood, but it is probably the most satisfying of his works, and it most closely approaches life as I know it. Though the main character is the same as the lead of A Wild Sheep Chase, I can't help but think of how much he's grown, how much he has stepped out of his detachment and started to really live.”
Michael wrote this review Saturday, February 28 2009.
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