HARUKI MURAKAMI (b. 1949) is a bestselling Japanese writer and the most widely translated Japanese novelist of his generation. Considered an important figure in postmodern literature, his work has garnered critical acclaim and numerous international awards.
From the start his writing was characterized by images and events that the author himself found difficult to explain but which seemed to come from the inner recesses of his memory. Murakami's fiction is frequently surrealistic and melancholic or fatalistic, marked by a Kafkaesque rendition of the recurrent themes of alienation and loneliness he weaves into his narratives. He has often been criticized as "un-Japanese" by his country's literary establishment, and his perceived lack of a political or intellectual stance irritated "serious" authors (such as Nobel laureate Oe Kenzaburo), who dismissed his early writings as being no more than entertainment.
His first novel, HEAR THE WIND SING (1979), won a prize for best fiction by a new writer. Murakami then published PINBALL (1973) and A WILD SHEEP CHASE (1982), novels that feature the narrator from HEAR THE WIND SING and his friend, known as "the Rat", thus constituting a loose trilogy. The narrator and the Rat also appeared in Murakami's next important novel, HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD (1985), a fantasy that won the prestigious Tanizaki Prize. Murakami adopted a more straightforward style for the coming-of-age novel NORWEGIAN WOOD (1987), which sold millions of copies in Japan and firmly established him as a literary celebrity. He then returned to the bizarre milieu of his earlier trilogy with DANCE DANCE DANCE (1988).
While teaching in the United States, he wrote one of his most ambitious novels, THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE (1994-95). The narrative represents a departure from his usual themes: it is devoted in part to depicting Japanese militarism on the Asian continent as a nightmare. Murakami returned to Japan in 1995, prompted by the Kobe earthquake and by the sarin gas attack carried out by the AUM Shinrikyo religious sect on a Tokyo subway. The two deadly events subsequently served as inspiration for Underground (1997), a nonfiction account of the subway attack, and AFTER THE QUAKE (2000), a collection of short stories exploring the psychological effects of the earthquake on residents of Japan.
The novel SPUTNIK SWEETHEART (1999) probes the nature of love as it tells the story of the disappearance of Sumire, a young novelist. Subsequent novels include KAFKA ON THE SHORE (2002) and AFTER DARK (2004). 1Q84 (2009), its title a reference to George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-four", shifts between two characters as they navigate an alternate reality of their own making; the book's dystopian themes range from the September 11 attacks to vigilante justice. COLORLESS TSUKURU TAZAKI AND HIS YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE (2013) delves into a young man's existential quandaries, precipitated by his ejection from a circle of friends.
The short-story collections THE ELEPHANT VANISHES (1993) and BLIND WILLOW, SLEEPING WOMAN (2006) translate Murakami's stories into English. His memoir, WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING (2007), centres on his love for marathon running.
The following books are in ePUB format unless otherwise indicated:
== FICTION ==
* 1Q84 (Knopf, 2011). Translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.
* After Dark (Knopf, 2007). Translated by Jay Rubin.
* Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Knopf, 2014). Translated by Philip Gabriel.
* Dance Dance Dance [The Rat, Book 4] (Vintage, 1995). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* Hear the Wind Sing [The Rat, Book 1] (Kodansha, 1987). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Vintage, 1993). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* Kafka on the Shore (Knopf, 2005). Translated by Philip Gabriel.
* Norwegian Wood (Kodansha, 1989). 2 volumes. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum. -- PDF
* Norwegian Wood (Vintage, 2000). Translated by Jay Rubin.
* Pinball, 1973 [The Rat, Book 2] (Kodansha, 1985). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* South of the Border, West of the Sun (Vintage, 2000). Translated by Philip Gabriel.
* Sputnik Sweetheart (Knopf, 2001). Translated by Philip Gabriel. -- ePUB + PDF
* Strange Library, The (Knopf, 2014). Translated by Ted Goossen.
* Wild Sheep Chase, A [The Rat, Book 3] (Vintage, 2002). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum.
* Wind / Pinball: Two Novels [The Rat, Books 1-2] (Knopf, 2015). Translated by Ted Goossen.
* Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, The (Vintage, 1998). Translated by Jay Rubin.
== SHORT STORIES ==
* After the Quake: Stories (Vintage, 2003). Translated by Jay Rubin.
* Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: Stories (Vintage, 2007). Translated by Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin.
* Elephant Vanishes, The: Stories (Vintage, 1993). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Jay Rubin.
* "Samsa in Love" (New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2013) -- PDF
* "Scheherazade" (New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2014) -- PDF
* "Town of Cats" (New Yorker, 5 Sept. 2011) -- PDF
* "UFO in Kushiro" (New Yorker, 28 March 2011) -- PDF
* "Yesterday" (New Yorker, 9 June 2014) -- PDF
== ESSAYS & NON-FICTION ==
* Art of Fiction, No. 182 (Paris Review, Summer 2004). Interview by John Wray. -- PDF
* Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (Vintage, 2000). Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel.
* What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir (Knopf, 2008). Translated by Philip Gabriel.
== ANTHOLOGY ==
* Vintage Murakami (Knopf, 2004). Various translators.
