You didn't say "fiction" - you said "writing style" and this includes both long fiction and short essays.

But word play aside, I just think that framing Murakami as a completely westernised author is wrong. (So is any attempt in depicting him as an author who is deeply rooted in the Japanese culture.)

There's plenty of awesome Japanese literature. You can go on Aozora, but there's also a lot of great stuff beyond that. Though, if you're just trying to learn the language than maybe something more accessible like Harry Potter is a better choice.

[Zgarbas]

Ah, semantics <3. I admit to expressing it wrongly then.

I don't know, I've read quite a few of his novels (stereotypically, he was my first Japanese author) and imho he has way more in common with Sabato or other South-American writers than with any other Japanese author I've read. Sean Connery fetishists, retellings of Oedipus, Beatles intertextuality, an entire book basically dedicated to his listing jazz songs, etc., they're pretty Westernized ideas.

Of course, he does feature the general themes of isolation which is important to Japanese literature, but imho he does it in a way which is more Kazuo Ishiguro (whose books are considered British) than anything.

Either way, what I was trying to say is that if you're going for something that's all about Japanese culture because Western fiction is boring, going for the most Westernized Japanese author there is might not be the best idea. If you're going for something that's totes Japanese, there's always Kawabata, Mishima&Co.

Eikyu Wrote:There's plenty of awesome Japanese literature. You can go on Aozora, but there's also a lot of great stuff beyond that. Though, if you're just trying to learn the language than maybe something more accessible like Harry Potter is a better choice.

I'm also a Harry Potter-hater, so that suggestion isn't exactly the best...

All that really matters to me is a Japanese setting... if it's in the West it's bound to bore me, since this country bores me in general sometimes. Again, apologies for my pickiness.

Zgarbas Wrote:... you are aware that Murakami's only link to Japanese culture is the author's origin, right? His writing style is so westernized that it's basically American.

Must you have a Project MUSE account to read the whole article?

Zgarbas Wrote:imho he has way more in common with Sabato or other South-American writers than with any other Japanese author I've read. Sean Connery fetishists, retellings of Oedipus, Beatles intertextuality, an entire book basically dedicated to his listing jazz songs, etc., they're pretty Westernized ideas.

Of course, he does feature the general themes of isolation which is important to Japanese literature, but imho he does it in a way which is more Kazuo Ishiguro (whose books are considered British) than anything.

Don't forget that what Japanese perceive as Western is quite coloured by Nihonjinron ideology. Throw in a few Western references, and many will say it's un-Japanese. I find Oe Kenzaburo just as 'Western.'

Borges spent his youth reading and translating European literature in languages other than Spanish, was bilingual Spanish/English, and yet nobody would disown him in Argentina as a "European writer" because Argentinians find that "Europeanness" suits their self-image quite well.