やがて哀しき外国語 [Yagate Kanashiki Gaikokugo]

by Haruki Murakami

アメリカ・プリンストン大学での滞在記。 ’91年から、’93年まで、フィッツジェラルドの母校で、しっかり根をおろしてアメリカを考察したエッセイ。ユ-モアがあって、小味のきいた楽しめるアメリカ

Genres: Literature, Japanese Literature, Nonfiction, Japan

283 pages, Tankobon Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Growing up in Ashiya, near Kobe before moving to Tokyo to attend Waseda University, he published his first novel Hear the Wind Sing (1979) after working as the owner of a small jazz bar for seven years. His notable works include the novels Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994–95), Kafka on the Shore (2002) and 1Q84 (2009–10); the last was ranked as the best work of Japan's Heisei era (1989–2019) by the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun's survey of literary experts. His work spans genres including science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction, and has become known for his use of magical realist elements. His official website cites Raymond Chandler, Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan as key inspirations to his work, while Murakami himself has named Kazuo Ishiguro, Cormac McCarthy and Dag Solstad as his favourite currently active writers. Murakami has also published five short story collections, including First Person Singular (2020), and non-fiction works including Underground (1997), an oral history of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007), a memoir about his experience as a long distance runner.
His fiction has polarized literary critics and the reading public. He has sometimes been criticised by Japan's literary establishment as un-Japanese, leading to Murakami's recalling that he was a "black sheep in the Japanese literary world". Meanwhile, Murakami has been described by Gary Fisketjon, the editor of Murakami's collection The Elephant Vanishes (1993), as a "truly extraordinary writer", while Steven Poole of The Guardian praised Murakami as "among the world's greatest living novelists" for his oeuvre.

Reviews

[Sepehr f80 · Rating 4 out of 5]

زبان غریب غمگین...
کتاب شامل جستارهای موراکامی از زمان زندگیش در آمریکا بود از استاد دانشگاه شدنش از دیدار با نوه اسکات فیتزجرالد یا پل استر نویسنده معروف از تماشای فیلم اکران خصوصی اقتباسی از کارهای کارور و از تفاوتهای فرهنگی فکری و زبانی ژاپن و آمریکا
توصیه میشه بخونیدش؟ بستگی به خودتون داره

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and surprisingly timeless musings about Murakami’s life as a visiting scholar in the US in the 90s, on anti-Japan sentiment, cultural differences, gender roles etc. Read during my long trip back home from the US, the timing couldn’t have been better.

[Misa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of writings in general, although I feel like I could never fundamentally enjoy Murakami's writing style. The Japanese language itself contains much personality and/or identity in the very words one chooses to write and I have a fluctuating reaction to both his fiction and non-fiction.

Here also there were some hits and misses. Nonetheless, my favourite article was where he discusses translated texts (between Japanese and English) because this was exactly what I feel about the loss in translation that occurs when a text is translated.

[Gambel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only non-fiction work of Murakami that I have read so far, and I suppose I enjoyed it. For some reason the artwork on the cover really captivates me, perhaps in its simplicity, and the title just tickles my ear for some reason as well.

I think it was nice to read some non-fiction for a change and see how foreigners view America for a change. Murakami has some interesting thoughts. Unfortunately it's still SO boring when he talks about jazz, or music in general, or art or movies. Like dude, I DON'T care, unfortunately.

[PanChienKuang · Rating 4 out of 5]

＜終於悲哀的村上大叔＞總覺得村上大叔這幾年來力求突破，希望能從「挪威的森林」這本暢銷書中的陰影突圍，重回到純文學的範疇，出了很多書也看到他的努力，但我已經沒有興趣跟隨。 主要在於我把村上大叔的作品當作私小說，不論小說或散文，再再都給我看到的是村上大叔式的想法，而我無法認同。 於是，看完這本書，我想起 Calvino的「帕洛馬先生」以及Harabal的「過於喧囂的孤獨」，然後想到悲哀的村上大叔無法企及的境界。

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.几十年前东方视角下的美国社会掠影，其中不乏对本国民族性的反思与对文化差异的思考，有关美国的feminism思想的女性，在本土卖不动的美国车，来到美国后依旧持有可笑精英攀比思维的日本做题家。讲到了村上作为异乡人自我身份的探寻，这大概是所有居住国外者面临的任务之一。2.回忆自己天天不学无术轻轻松松考上早稻田文学系，大概是早期凡尔赛文学模本？顺带黑了一把早稻田文学院。3.依旧是那个对爵士乐、电影颇有研究的村上，以及浓浓的时代气息，其中的许多人名、车名都不了解，因此也难有共鸣。

[Ally Yang]

比小說作品跟貼近村上，也比小說更令人折服於作者細膩的觀看角度。

雖然村上總是謙虛的說自己懂得不多，對某某事情沒太深入的研究（當然，爵士樂除外），但村上事實上是對視兼任和大小事情都默默地仔細體察比較，對任何事都心有所感的人啊！難怪他的作品被評論為充滿了現代感呢！
2010年7月16日


Purchased online.
Store: 博客來網路書店
Price: NT$130.00

[Cherries LIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

有趣的 輕鬆的小品 但內容有些一點也不輕鬆 當然也不一定沉重 屬於生命中值得審視思考的東西 很村上春樹 非常的直截了當。

[Miyu · Rating 5 out of 5]

小説よりこういう随筆系の方がライティングスタイルが合ってる気がする、すらすらと読めたけどどのチャプターも面白かった。1990年代って大昔と大昔でない時代の間みたいなところがあるから内容も勉強になったし満足

[Lumi · Rating 3 out of 5]

还是小说比较好看。这本散文集里聊到很多车啊电影的 我不怎么感兴趣

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

村上旅居美國的觀察和感受。三十年了，很多現象並沒有多大變化。如他所講，短期旅行的第一印象和長居的觀察都各有所長。讀者未必贊同村上的所有看法，但不能否認他是一個敏銳的觀察者，也是保持開放心態的感受者。也許也是因為他抱持著「無論身處何地，總有一部分是異鄉人」的心態，所以他始終有旁觀者的平視和冷靜，隨筆讀來輕鬆有趣又能讓人思考。想起讀過其他標榜為最瞭解某國社會文化的書，字裡行間透著自上而下的傲慢和對被訪者想當然的主觀臆測，那是完全讀不下去。

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

村上春树 (Haruki Murakami)

[Supi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's super interesting.

[JOE C · Rating 3 out of 5]

2020-05-04 读过 标签: 村上春树 日本文学 无甚新意。多描述美国客居生活，间掺日美文化比对。外国语的悲哀性，仿佛横亘在两种文化之间怎么都填不满的沟壑，我们为其无法百分百传达自明的东西而悲哀，也为自己而悲哀，悲哀自己的局限。