Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

by Haruki Murakami

The two boys’ last names were Akamatsu—which means “red pine”—and Oumi—“blue sea”; the girls’ family names were Shirane—“white root”—and Kurono—“black field.”

Everything about him was middling, pallid, lacking in color.

“And you’re alone, but not lonely.”

“You can hide memories, but you can’t erase the history that produced them.”

“The cook hates the waiter, and they both hate the customer,”

People whose freedom is taken away always end up hating somebody. Right? I know I don’t want to live like that.”

Originality is nothing but judicious imitation.

Haida could tell it was raining only by the slight variation in the air against his skin.

In the still air he’d caught a faint whiff of death, the smell of slowly rotting flesh. But it had to be an illusion. Nobody there was dead yet.

There must be something in him, something fundamental, that disenchanted people. “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki,” he said aloud. I basically have nothing to offer to others. If you think about it, I don’t even have anything to offer myself.

Words don’t come out when you’re hurt that deeply,”

Tsukuru had only recently learned of Shiro’s death, while Aka had lived with the knowledge for six years.

You can hide memories, but you can’t erase the history that produced them

once more felt grateful that what had taken hold of his heart was a deep sorrow, not the yoke of intense jealousy. That would have snatched away any hope for sleep.

Some things in life are too complicated to explain in any language.

“I don’t know if someone pushed me off, or whether I fell overboard on my own. Either way, the ship sails on and I’m in the dark, freezing water, watching the lights on deck fade into the distance. None of the passengers or crew know I’ve fallen overboard. There’s nothing to cling to.

I still have that fear, even now—that suddenly my very existence will be denied and, through no fault of my own, I’ll be hurled into the night sea once more. Maybe that’s why I haven’t been able to form deep relationships with people. I always keep a distance between me and others.”

No matter how honestly you open up to someone, there are still things you cannot reveal.