The Japanese publication Yomiuri Shimbun recently published, in English, a long two-part interview with Haruki Murakami, about his most recent novel, 1Q84, the complete text of which has already sold about 670,000 copies in Japan. A full summary of the interview is here, part one is here, and part two is here.
According to Murakami, the novel draws upon his memories of interviewing the victims and members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult — in 1995, the cult carried out a nerve-gas attack in the Tokyo subway system, an act of terrorism that eventually gave rise to Murakami’s only work of oral history, Underground — and of course, Orwell’s famous dystopia.
The interview gets particularly interesting when he reveals that a starting point for his story was his imagining of the mindset of one of the cult killers:
My indignation against the incident remains undiminished. But my interest was piqued by Yasuo Hayashi, who is on death row. He fled after killing eight people, the biggest number, in the Tokyo subway attack. Hayashi joined Aum without knowing exactly what he was getting into and committed murder after being brainwashed. I think capital punishment is the reasonable decision when we consider Japan’s penalty system and bereaved families’ anger and sorrow. But I fundamentally oppose capital punishment, and I felt a heavy sense of gloom when the death sentence was given. At that time I imagined the terror of being left alone on the other side of the moon where a Joe Blow unwittingly commits a felonious crime and ends up becoming a death row convict. I considered for years the meaning of this. This served as a starting point for my story.
Murakami elaborates:
It’s also concerned with the issue of fundamentalism. As the world becomes increasingly chaotic, simplified fundamentalism has been steadily gaining traction. It requires considerable effort to think by oneself in such a complicated situation. Therefore, most people borrow ready-made or off-the-cuff quotes made by others and pretend as if they are of their own making. This way of thinking tends to be connected with fundamentalism–all the more so when it is simplified. Such thinking isn’t healthy–it’s like junk food that gives you a quick burst of energy but isn’t good for your health. In these times, it’s difficult to enhance one’s spirituality by yourself.
Overall it’s a great read, including some rather surreal passages that probably didn’t make sense in Japanese either. But if you don’t have time for the full interview, check out this short Guardian UK article that summarizes the main points — it’s the article that Brian linked to the other day.
Thanks are due to Scott Esposito for linking to these transcripts.
