"She was twenty-one, with an attractive slender body and a pair of the most bewitching, perfectly formed ears. . . . I would have to say her natural gifts ran to ear modeling. . . . "I am my ears, my ears are me'"
A Wild Sheep Chase (31)

There are so many ear references in Murakam's books. What's up with this? Is it a Japanese thing? I like to hear your thoughts about how it works as symbol or metaphor or whatever?

Question: Why are you interested in ears.

Haruki Murakami: At some point in my life I was interested in ears. But not now. Those ears are gone.

from
http://www.naxosaudiobooks.com/harukimur...


that either simplifies or complicates the matter. personally i don't know. sounds like murakami may not even know...

Steve wrote: "Question: Why are you interested in ears.

Haruki Murakami: At some point in my life I was interested in ears. But not now. Those ears are gone.

from
http://www.naxosaudiobooks.com/harukimurakami...."
That is a great interview and, as you say, we know Murakami is off ears, but what about his readers?
I've admired a women's legs, hair, lips and more, but ears always flew under my radar. Did you ever hear anyone say like, Wow, she has great ears!!! I'd die for her ears?

Perhaps that is exactly the point! Who would care about ears except for Murakami or someone with a really strange fetish? Most would say that ears are not the greatest looking part of a person, like Henry comments on, yet they are extremely important because through them we connect with the world of sounds (listen to music, listen to conversations, phone conversations, etc). They have a reason for being. Why do we love eyes or lips better than ears? Perhaps we don't use our imaginations enough...:-> Murakami tends to be fascinated by strange and hidden things and that could describe ears quite well. Ears are usually covered by hair, especially woman's ears.

Ears are a mere detail unnoticed by most, and the detail, especially the one that most don't care about can make all the difference in the world of the novel.

Well, these are just a few ideas.

pretty sure its an asian cultural thing, they are found to be very sexy in chinese literature as well...

an interesting cross-author reference to ears from the book Ubik by Philip K. Dick.

... he zoomed in on an excellent caricature drawing of Lola Herzburg-Wright, licked his lips with satisfaction at the naughty exposure of her entire right ear...

i just happened to read that at about the time this thread started. that's all... just thought it an interesting coincidence.

The 'ears thing' is something that totally surprised me and drew me into The Wild Sheep Chase. Call me conservative but I'd never before truly considered the ear. Great writers expand your perception of the world and Murakami did just that. Since reading The Wild Sheep Chase I do look at and occasionally consider people's ears. Of course in the novel she was able to perform some unspeakable or unsaid thing with her ears, another classic Murakami technique, leaving the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks.

I'm just about half-way through Wild Sheep Chase and while I thought that the ears thing was a little strange, I didn't think it was just her ears. Sometimes there is an ordinary person, nothing sticks out, but when you get to know them there is one thing that is mesmerizing. It just happened to be ears on this particular girl. It could have been her eyes that you only notice when she takes off here glasses or her little toe that you only notice when she takes off her shoes. Her majesty only happens to be in her ears. That's my thought.

Angie wrote: "I'm just about half-way through Wild Sheep Chase and while I thought that the ears thing was a little strange, I didn't think it was just her ears. Sometimes there is an ordinary person, nothing s..."

Angie, although I have never read Wild Sheep Chase myself, I think what you said does make a lot of sense somehow. Like you said it doesn't have to be a major thing that is mesmerizing, but just one feature, be it a perfection or a flaw, that really draws someone to another; I guess in some way that is what us makes notice someone.

I recently learned that there are two main features of a potential mate we subconsciously look for: size of ears and spacing of eyes. Maybe Murakami was just tuned really well into that, hinting at who will be the love interest in the story.

And why are the love-interest characters always disappearing in his stories???

Why are the love-interest characters always disappearing in Murkami's stories? I think that's a great question. Murakami's protagonists are often coming out of a break-up and then meeting somebody new, but then that something new leads to other unexpected consequences. His style is all about that strange feeling you get on certain days, when you meet somebody new, hear a song or see something that moves you, when everything normal is suddenly turned on its head. Serious relationship building, for better or for worse, doesn't seem to fit.

I think that these people that his protagonists meet are just those certain people that you meet when you need to. They come along at the right time and when you are over whatever was going on in your life the relationships just fade away. Sad but true.

Henry wrote: ""She was twenty-one, with an attractive slender body and a pair of the most bewitching, perfectly formed ears. . . . I would have to say her natural gifts ran to ear modeling. . . . "I am my ears, ..."


Ironoically if you want to know all about Murakami's obsession, and the importance of ears in his writing, check out Jay Rubin's Haruki Murakmi and the Music of Words. It explains all of his works in detail. As well as provides biographical information about him, and his wife.

Angie wrote: "I think that these people that his protagonists meet are just those certain people that you meet when you need to. They come along at the right time and when you are over whatever was going on in your life the relationships just fade away. Sad but true. "

Angie, I think you nailed After Dark with that comment. The people the main character Mari meets during the one night the novel last, is exactly like you say - they help her deal with what's going on and then even though there's a promise of keeping in touch, it's easy to make promises like that and harder to keep them...

I agree with some of you here, that the ears create the setting of the story superbly.

I myself have always looked at ears, from the time i was a little girl. The funny thing with ears is that once you've started seeing someone's ears, it's hard to see something else. That's why I stopped looking at ears, mostly, as people appreciate it when you look at their eyes.

It's one of those Murakami features, describing something surreal, to explain reality and its absurdity.