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Jay Rubin. Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words. London: Harvill, 2002. ix + 326 pp.
At first glance, it would be easy to dismiss Jay Rubin's book on Japanese writer Haruki Murakami as scholarship-lite. Right from the start, Rubin admits to being a fan of Murakami's, a position irreconcilable with the dictates of scholarly objectivity: "I knew I would like the man himself when I read his work," he admits, "and I've written this book for other fans who feel a similar kinship with him and would like to know more about his life and art" (viii). That the two of them have become personal friends over the years is also reason for either suspicion or trust. Rubin sprinkles anecdotes from his personal acquaintance with Murakami throughout the book as it covers Murakami's writing career from his first novel Pinball in 1973 to his most recent publication in English translation, After the Quake. The two are professionally connected as well: Rubin, together with Alfred Birnbaum and, more recently, Philip Gabriel, has been Murakami's primary English translator. Rubin's book is driven by this odd mixture of personal and professional motives: the intent to broaden Murakami's readership in English is first among them, coupled with the wish to see him rid of an undeserved reputation as literary lightweight.
Rubin's book also comes across as somewhat of an oddity because of its well-intentioned attempt to provide its readers with everything but the kitchen sink. It is, in equal parts, a biography of the author, rich in exclusive insider information, and a series of essays on...