I’m a firm believer in knowing the rules inside-out before you attempt to break them. I’m also a believer that most of the best literary classics are based on broken rules.
But I’m having a bit of a hard time accepting Murakami’s highly detailed descriptions of the mundane, whereas I would have taken an editorial red pencil to a lot of extraneous writing:
He’s wearing a pair of Armani-type sunglasses, and a striped linen shirt over a white V-neck T-shirt, white jeans, and navy blue, low-cut Converse All-Stars. Casual day-off clothes. (p. 331)
Now I don’t have a problem with the way these words are strung together, nor with Kafka’s describing what Oshima is wearing this day. The problem is that we get a similar rundown on both Oshima’s togs and Miss Saeki’s every day.
This book is 461 pages long. Between the explanations Murakami gives through the characters for what’s going on, the descriptions such as above (even to the point of washing out underwear), there’s a lot that could have been more concisely edited I would think.
On Murakami’s purpose, I might think that the mundane routine might be a sense of grounding that more easily contrasts with the surreal he introduces into the stories and thus provides more impact. He also, I would add, provides easy sentence structure and phraseology that is quick-paced and enjoyable enough though not particularly linguistically outstanding or poetic.
I wonder too if the fact that this is of course a translation has much to do with it. I know no Japanese so I do not know how it translates–with ease or with difficulty–into English. When you’re reading for writing style, I’m finding that you cannot be as opinionated with your consideration of the author’s style when you’re reading it in a language other than its original written version.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology