He has a girlfriend, Izumi, with whom he yearns for a physical relationship, though probably only for his own selfish needs. After graduating from University he works a meaningless, boring job and the years go by in a flash. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif [A Review], The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde [A Review], Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck [A Review]. There is no middle ground. “I am a person who can do evil,” he says. Until the end of story, Yukiko as a woman and a wife had the first initial conversation with Hajime, while he feels helpless since Shimamoto left. When spring comes, they head out to the fields again. They spend most of their time together talking about their interests in life and listening to records on Shimamoto's stereo. Its brevity and relative lack of depth may mean it won’t rank among the best or most popular Murakami, but it deserves consideration on its own merits. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_of_the_Border,_West_of_the_Sun&oldid=932884570, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 28 December 2019, at 19:43. We read and post about one or two books each month that are suggested by members and selected by popular vote. She was shocked. Because in Murakami books its very less likely that he writes something absolutely abstract which readers need to interpret and form notions about. At times the author flirts with the method that has made other works of his forgettable: a dreamscape fiction, connected to nothing. However, one mysterious event from these years has never left him. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. There are corporatized villains and surprise endings. SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN. To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker.We'd really appreciate it. Alfred A. Knopf, 205 pages, $22. We know that she had a baby who died in infancy. The significance that just by existing, and following forces that lie beyond one's control, one can hurt others in ways that are beyond repair. Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. It could be called the minimal familial unit as he was an only child. South of the Border, West of the Sun , by Haruki Murakami. I tend to titer back and forth between the idea that shes real or not, but i think ultimately it doesnt matter, as far as his wife os concerned, she is real, or the actions he's done with her is real, to the main character, and so they well go on living as if she was real, rather real as a person or simply as a real desire. But I totally agree about how interesting it was to see how Hajime rationalized his decisions and ultimately caused serious pain to the people around him (Izumi & Yukiko both) and to himself. In addition, she has been acting as a traditional wife who always listen to her husband, but suddenly standing in a strong position in the end and lecture the husband how to be a better man. He opposed the economical bubble of post-war Japanese capitalism. I still don't get it. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. While I may not have liked the main character, I absolutely loved Murakami’s writing style, and am looking forward to reading more of his books soon. He is still struggling over his betrayal of his first lover, shy Izumi. This book was incredible. She is beautiful, intense, enveloped in mystery. Press J to jump to the feed. Hajime obviously felt that he & her were born under an unlucky star (also, a lot of this stems from his own personal selfishness, his only childness, in his own words: "the unbearable meness of being") and he feels he can satiate that hollowness by filling in the 25 year gap. The novel explores seemingly more mundane topics such as a mid-life crisis and a love-triangle, and is the weaker for it. There’s a line only certain people can cross. Note: South of the Border, West of the Sun is a short novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.3 South of the Border is a song about Mexico. He tried to remain unseen and ignore these weaknesses, but someone always happened to point his lack of siblings out. My question is - do you think Shimamoto was real or a figment of the narrator's imagination? Every morning, when the sun rises in the east, you go out to work in your fields. So for me, South of the Border, West of the Sun is the eventual realization for Hajime that Shinamoto was a distraction in his mind, perhaps even an illusion. “Something beautiful, big and soft”. Not knowing it refers to a trip to Mexico, Shimamoto used to wonder about what magical place lay south of the border. He remains unfulfilled and believes the cause might be something he had lost during his boyhood... Shimamoto appeared while Hajime feels inferior as the only child in his family. The last paragraph does leave things a little open to possibility. 2.) These accusations irritate him, but deep inside he fears they are true. It was my favourite metaphor. Cookies help us deliver our Services. One line, in particular, really stood out for me: “Once I began a book, I couldn’t put it down. Shimamoto saved Hajime and gave a great support to his unbearable isolated world. For both this and Kafka on the Shore I haven't been able to put them down. His father-in-law is a deeply corrupt businessman whose practices disturb him. South of the Border, West of the Sun portrays the story of Hajime, a youth born in post-war Japan to parents of average middle-class standing, his interactions and relationships with people through life and his struggles, in later years, to shake off a listless existence.. The mystery in this book was interesting because without the experience of Murakami books, the reader might just assume it was spoiler but with an idea of the much broader range of mysteries he applies through magical realism, the experienced Murakami reader may doubt that it is such a straightforward explanation. This is really important. This is a study guide question posted by eNotes … Then Shimamoto reappears. Fans of Murakami will find much to enjoy in South of the Border, West of the Sun, often described as a ‘Japanese Casablanca’.His recurrent themes of nostalgia and melancholy, of feeling isolated and lost, of young love and adult complications that have made Murakami universally popular; and the deceptively simple style that makes him so easy to enjoy are again on display here. At its best, South of the Border, West of the Sun so smoothly shifts the reader from mundane concerns into latent madness as to challenge one’s faith in the material world. The significance that just by existing, and following forces that lie beyond one's control, one can hurt others in ways that are beyond repair. That a person can, just by living, damage another human being beyond repair.”). I have no idea why.… It’s like art. She and Hajime race back to the airport during a winter storm, and when she suffers a seizure and nearly dies in the rental car, Hajime must resuscitate her. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. “I never consciously tried to hurt anyone, yet good intentions notwithstanding, when necessity demanded, I could become completely self-centered, even cruel. I love the quiet sadness of the mundane life the narrator has crafted for himself and how he both wants to escape it and knows he cannot. The use of music is particularly noticeable; there is hardly a time where two characters meet without Hajime telling us what song was playing in the background to set the mood. The meaning behind the songs also inform the novels messages and themes. Shimamoto called it hysteria Siberia and told one story: "Try to imagine this, you’re a … Dramatically, they met each other at 36 years old again. I remember she thought it was something big and soft and wonderful, only to grow up and realize that the song was referring to Mexico. Hajime is your typical Murakami hero. I don't have a copy of the book with me so I can't check what you're talking about directly. Yet he makes plans to leave his wife and two children for her. This is my second Murakami book. When it’s directly overhead, you take a break for lunch. 3.) In the winter they stay home and do indoor work. This story contains passages that are among Murakami’s finest. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I love your description “the quiet sadness of the mundane life the narrator has crafted for himself”. I really didn’t care for him at all. He says at one point near the end: ”I would never see her again, except in memory. [3] At that time the aftermath of war is almost nonexistent. South of the Border, West of the Sun , by Haruki Murakami. It was like an addiction; I read while I ate, on the train, in bed until late at night, in school, where I’d keep the book hidden so I could read during class.”. No, Mr. Murakami seems genuinely to believe in the existence of what he describes, and when he succeeds, this zone of imagined events becomes more “real” to a reader than the socially approved arrangements from which his narrators depart. Thank you. The story starts when the main character, Hajime, is a child, and follows him through high school, college, and into adulthood, where we find him married with two daughters. Before that Hajime was happy in his marriage. Overall, this novel explores various topics: obsession, love, passion, and the fragile state of human life. [5] However, there is no evidence that Nat King Cole actually ever recorded this song. Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com. This adds a completely different layer of meaning to the book for me. Without her he felt hollow and life was meaningless, and so he jumped between sanity and insanity. But with the story of a man who runs a successful bar, whose world is turned upside down by the return of a mysterious beauty from his past and who considers risking everything to be with her; the obvious comparison would be to Casablanca. Might read some reviews and come back with more ideas later. His style has been described as nostalgic or ‘sophmoric’ and this, albeit short, novel is in keeping with this pattern. So I just finished Haruki Murakami’s South of the Border, West of the Sun (SBWS from here on out). The novel tells the story of Hajime, starting from his childhood in a small town in Japan. He’s never been able to explain this event and the envelope with its cash still sits in his office drawer. At any rate, it’s different from south of the border.” [1].
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