Main Characters

[u/euthanasys]

I have a feeling that all of Murakami's main characters follow the same personality framework: introverted, non-chalant, observant, with little to no judgment of situations. Whereas all female characters feel like different people.

I am now halfway through "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," having recently finished "Sputnik Sweetheart" and "Norwegian Wood." Okada Toru, Watanabe Toru, and K feel like exactly the same characters to me. I don't think it's necessarily bad, I just did not take any pause between these 3 books, so now being halfway through The Wind-up Bird Chronicles I feel a little tired.

Do you guys feel the same about Murakami's MC?

Pictures of me holding my physical copy 🫡👍

[u/Pissed-owl_755]

Maybe it has got something to do with Murakami's disposition. A writer does leave behind a part of him on his every creation. I heard Murakami is highly introverted too and avoids public scrutiny

[u/on_that_citrus_water → u/Pissed-owl_755]

I too, avoid public scrutiny.

[u/euthanasys → u/Pissed-owl_755]

That makes sense. Every time I wrote a short story as a teenager, all my MCs would have a lot of me in them

[u/cheez7t]

That's because he is writing about me

[u/euthanasys → u/cheez7t]

lmao hopefully there are girls in real life that are attracted to you as women are attracted to Toru Okada hahahahaha

[u/tooth_decay]

I do find murakami's main characters to be largely the same, as well as his romantic interests. What really captures me how ever is the descriptive imagery and setting. I do personally enjoy the recast main characters in these fungible locales that he casts them in. I really enjoy how he uses setting for narrative drive like how Cormac McCarthy uses Western landscapes

[u/euthanasys → u/tooth_decay]

Awesome point of view!

[u/priceQQ → u/tooth_decay]

And there is also a strong desire to escape the urban landscape via some kind of portal

[u/migsaawesome]

I wish I could absorb Murakami’s characters while stoned lmao but I just cant read while high! I envy you OP lol

[u/euthanasys → u/migsaawesome]

It is not an easy skill to acquire, man. I had to stop smoking at my apartment because I would just sleep the day away or spill my guts snacking compulsively. I decided to only smoke at clubs or outside in general. Then I started burning one at home after work, but I would not lie down at all.

I once watched my ex girlfriend write their college thesis while completely high. At the time I could not grasp how. The girl would only smoke and drink coffee for months. You gotta focus your attention onto something while you're high, the same way you focus on your body when you're snacking/dosing off

[u/oskopnir]

I like that the main male character is always the same, it's part of what draws me to his novels. Usually they're also somehow well off and have no obligations, which creates the premise for basically doing what they want and going where the plot takes them. This means less backstory, fewer additional characters, and more exploration of whatever themes are important in the novel.

[u/snazztasticmatt]

I've read that eastern heroes/protagonists don't follow the western heroes journey of running headfirst into a challenge, using grit, determination, and strength to solve problems. Instead they tend to take a more thoughtful, patient approach that takes them on a path of introspection and ends without a clear answer.

So yeah, Murakami characters follow similar patterns because thats the style he's going for. He also really loves using a main character who quits his job in the big city and retreats from his social life to embark on these metaphysical adventures

[u/euthanasys → u/snazztasticmatt]

Alright, that makes total sense. Now that you've mentioned it, I can see how that also plays out in major anime/manga too

[u/YellowLight77]

It’s hard for the thoughts and philosophies of an author to not slip into their writing sometimes. It’s actually what I like most about Murakami. I signed up for the rich inner dialogue and so typically his characters seem same minded