While this
novel is excellent in many ways I would also like to acknowledge one point that
I found a bit on the down side. This is Murakami’s method of characterization.
While this book has gone through translation in order for me as well as the
rest of us to be able to read the book what was lost in the process of
translation is in question. Several of the characters appeared to have the
exactly same ‘voice’; there are several large passages where we are reading a
letter or listening to a story told by a character other than our narrator (Mr.
Okada) the protagonist, and the syntax remains the same for an elderly war
veteran as for a young prostitute. This brings me to my next point, the small
issue of all female characters being succubae (in other words a demon woman who
has sexual intercourse with sleeping men); they phone Toru to molest his ears,
enter his dreams in order to force themselves upon him, they tantalize and
frustrate him before threatening his life or else pay hard currency for the
privilege of sapping his spiritual energy. Despite their universally famished
appetite for Toru’s spunk (in all senses of the word), the female characters
only appear to obtain any sexual pleasure during adultery or rape. Leading on
from this, there is a big problem with sex, which occurs frequently and takes
on a level of spiritual significance. Sex can be a way of getting into
somebody’s head and it is a small step to seeing this in spiritual or else
supernatural terms, but it surely has to be fairly spectacular intercourse;
that kind of inverted torture where a person can be drawn out to the edge of
themselves. Unfortunately however, there is nothing about Toru’s many sexual adventures
that make them appear above the level of a contact sport. Of course this is all
very well for dispassionate Toru, still it becomes a bit boring to read and one
begins to suspect all this sex has been put in to prove something. Fortunately
though there is one positive force in the shape of Toru’s teenaged neighbor,
May Kasahara. While she is yet another blood-sucking temptress she is the
funniest, wisest, most realistic and thoroughly loveable character in the book.
Still, I wasn’t really wasn’t convinced by his characterizations. Again there
is a question mark over what might be lost in translation. What do you guys
think? Have noticed anything irregular or disappointing in the book?
I read another blog/review about Murakami's female characters. (http://plotshield.blogspot.com/2010/05/murakami-haruki-godfather-of-moe.html) This one guy thought them "quirky" yet "vulnerable" - but I would agree there is a pattern - especially seen across several novels. Here's an extract...
ReplyDelete"One of the key recurring themes of Murakami's female characters is the way that all of them are presented as a mixture of quirky and vulnerable, in just the right balance that lets the (male) reader admire their unique and independent mind, but also fills the (male) reader with the desire to protect and care for her. . . Murakami's women appear in various shades of male fantasy, but the main types have traditionally fallen into three basic categories:
First, there is the whore with a heart of gold. She is usually a college student who sells herself willingly, which is a neat way of circumventing a lot of the less pleasant aspects of the trade, and she uses sex in a therapeutic way, healing the metaphysical wounds of her clients. She is probably the most well-balanced of the Murakami femmes, and her vulnerability stems from the fact that for all her independence, she is nevertheless being exploited . . . e.g.Creta Kano . . . The second type is the ethereal beauty, disconnected from our reality, but who hints at vision beyond our realm. She is often vulnerable through an innate fragility and an inability to relate in a normal day-to-day manner with our world. . .
Thirdly, we have the spunky, boyish, inquisitive, female take on Holden Caulfield. Her brash, self-confident exterior usually masks a sensitive, easily damaged soul. She will invariably mock and feign scorn for the main character, but gradually come to care deeply for him. In some of Murakami's books this character is presented as a child, explicitly out of the hero's sexual strike zone, and on others she will be of equal age and a valid romantic partner. e.g. May Kasahara"
What impresses me about the way sex is treated in this novel, is that there is the honest acceptance of sex as a mere commercial transaction to satisfy lust on the one hand, (while clients also pay for psychic/spiritual healing) and on the other, there is the tenderness of Toru's desire for Kumiko. There is the gentle erotica of Toru's contemplation of May Kasahara's ears, and the violence of sexual aggression and exploitation by predatory types like NW. Women however, are not passive sexually. Does this make them succubae?! I think it's very sweet that Toru loves his wife so much, that her infidelities - though they distress him to think about - are not sufficient to abandon her. Perhaps there is a cultural element here where lust and love are two different entities, both of which are openly acknowledged as part of human sexuality. What matters most is how we treat one another as human beings.