None of his former companions so much as answers a phone call for the next 16 years. The story ends before that meeting even takes place. He thinks he will always be alone, because he is empty, colorless. All Tsukuru knew was Haida had transformed his daily life into something much richer and more colorful (132). His psychic dissonance from the loss of the group is finally given some relief when he comes to realize this after meeting his peers later in life. Become a member today. Tsukuru takes this to heart. The most that can be said without revealing too much is that this character falsely claims to have been raped. I think it pushed me into a darker headspace and it wasnt very fun to read. Even though the truth is that he was an essential part of the group of five friends, cutting Tsukuru off was the hardest thing they did. He is afraid of intimacy because homosexuality is not socially acceptable, and he may be in unrequited love with Tsukuru, and so feels the need to cut him out of his life. He was the only who decided to go away to college in Tokyo, and the others chose to stay close to home and pursue less ambitious plans. One might be quick to compare Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage to Murakamis 2004 novel, After Dark, which also incorporates supernatural dreams, yet the latter novel merely uses magic as a backdrop for metaphysical exploration. I also found it interesting that the plot had a slight cinematic structure with the protagonist having to go from one destination to the other, each one being its own separate act. Remember, Tsukuru owns his own apartment and he's a well-education engineer in his late thirties, he can be a little picky. Taking colorful in the literal sense, each friend has a color in their last name: Kei Akamatsu or Aka (Red), Yoshio Oumi or Ao (Blue), Yuzu Shirane or Shiro (White) and Eri Kurono or Kuro (Black). We (Tsukuru) needed Midorikawa (green) to make sense of the mixture. What is he doing with metaphor? Murakami is certainly at his best when he composes the novels metafictional sections. Haidas mystery seemed, initially, to demand an answer. In the novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Tsukuru is lucky enough to be part of a group of five harmonious friends, and he basks in their affection and acceptance. For the introverted Tsukuru, losing his four best friends left him completely isolated. She played a song by Franz Litzt called 'Le mal du pays.' Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage performs the most delicate balancing act between what many of Murakamis devoted readers describe as the two fundamental categories of Murakamian style: highly imaginative magical realism and subdued yet equally philosophical and introspective realism peppered with supernatural occurrences. The easygoing and unflaggingly polite Tsukuru acted as the "colorless" background against which these four could shine, and he was the invisible glue that held the group together. is a writer from Buffalo, NY. Saras urging that Tsukuru should find his former friends takes on added intensity. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning 'red pine', and Oumi, 'blue sea', while the girls'. When Tsukuru swims he is not just exercising, he is doing his own sort of mediation. I honestly loved this book. I wanted to ask you all your thoughts. We never really got to understand Shiro's motives for pointing the finger at Tsukuru, or who impregnated her/killer her. I personally also related to Tsukuru a lot and really liked the ending as well. The edition for this guide is the Kindle edition published in 2014. This book felt like he was having external trouble with editors or something and said fuck it. Over the course of the pilgrimage there are moments of gorgeous, contemplative prose. At other times, though, I wanted to edit out lengthy descriptions of dreams and stilted language: "The tension of suppressed sexual feelings began to take on greater significance than Tsukuru could imagine." Haruki Murakami, quote from Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage "One heart is not connected to another through harmony alone. Kuro hypothesizes why Shiro might have accused Tsukuru. Murakami paints him as introverted and extremely. The first is more obvious, involving long conversations between Tsukuru and Haida, a close friend at Tokyo University and a philosophy enthusiast who, unlike Tsukuru, loves to deconstruct things. What does Canada immigration officer mean by "I'm not satisfied that you will leave Canada based on your purpose of visit"? Life, daily life, doesn't tie itself up in neat endings, and expecting that it should leads to all sorts of unhappiness. and Why didHaida leave? I had a similar circle of very close friends during my high school years and had experienced a similar sort of dissolution later, although neither in the case of the dynamics of our "circle" or its breakup were the circumstances anywhere near as extreme as in this book. Aren't some great modern novels "a slice of life"? But I had a theory, what if the five friends/Haida are suppose to be representative of identites through gender and or sexuality. Idk, that's what I took from it anyway. The water becomes a place where he can create order with his body, and interestingly enough it is also transparent and colorless, as he also considers himself to be. Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. This discussion, particularly Haidas respect for and exasperation with boundaries, sets the stage for the rest of the novel. This latest work seems more polished, cohesive, and puzzling than its most similar predecessor, Norwegian Wood. He quickly learns it is because Shiro, mainly referred to as Yuzu, claimed he had raped her in their sophomore year of college. Additionally, the novel examines mental health issues surrounding trauma, including eating disorders, depression, and emotional distress. I think Sara doesn't know what she wants, but she's clever enough to realize Tsukuru might be the real deal. Did Sara say she loved him back as he hoped, or did she really have another boyfriend as he suspected? It is possible then that the sixth finger is the death token. Right away, they realized that all of their last names had a color.. I read Kafka and Windup Bird when I was in a pretty low period of my life and I felt like Kafka helped me out of it and wind up was really cathartic and relatable. Cookie Notice They gave each other nicknames: Aka (red) and Ao (blue) for the boys and Shiro (white) and Kuro (black). The sixth finger is unnecessary, and indeed, Haidas disappearance was not the same to Tsukuru as that of his other friends. Evidence for this: Like the pianist with the death token, Haida bestows on Tsukuru a glimpse of enlightenment. The only time he recalls his father was pleased with him is when his father noticed that Tsukuru's name, which means 'maker', was a perfect match for a train station engineer. Create your account. So this is my fourth Murakami (the previous ones being After Dark, Norwegian Wood and Kafka) but the first time that I'm feeling conflicted. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what Japanese readers of Murakami think? The mystery behind Yuzus rape and death remains mostly unresolved. I am sure it's not everything, but I thought it was an interesting perspective/paralel. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. This connection is drawn partially subconsciously;duringthe conversation the stationmaster says, One pianist who has six fingers said the extra ones get in the wayfive is just the right number' (229). This structure (problem + answer = resolution) is distinctly at odds with the inordinate violence that Murakami often employs, and Colorless Tsukuru is no exception. 5 chapters | He sits there, the people arrive and then they leave. The narrative returns to the present, where it remains for the rest of the novel. Content Warning: The novel portrays graphic sexual imagery, and rape is discussed explicitly. * From the good people of reddit and others who inspired this piece: Again, like Tsukurus other friends, Haida leaves without explanation. He's both easy to read and not so easy to understand, but I didn't mind. What must have happened? Specifically: To fully understand Haida, one must understand his role in the otherwise perfect balance of Tsukuru and his four other friends. I have good memories of it and Im thankful for the role it played at the time and dont really want to ruin that. Colorless Tsukuru's mystery is solved before the end, but the mystery of the spell that the great Murakami casts over his readers, myself included, goes, as ever, unsolved. I'm going to wax philosophical here for a minute, just musing, not in answer to any one comment, but just a thought. Literature Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for scholars and enthusiasts of literature. I began the book at 11 PM on Saturday and finished at 3 AM on Sunday. At first, it seems to have been nothing more than a dream, but considering Haidas unexplained leave of absence and Yuzus rape, he begins to question if he is to blame and suspects something supernatural had taken place. The narrative returns to the past. What is not? Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In fact, Tsukuru never even seeks to contact Haida. He now lives in Tokyo and has started seeing a new girlfriend, Sara Kimoto, who works at a travel agency. Instead, heleaves to a certain death, taking with him the burden of possibility. Like the melody that begins Le mal du pays, Colorless Tsukuru is aloof, quiet, and finally, dissonant. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. He lives in Tokyo and is unmarried and virtually friendless. I think there may be, or, better said, I would be interested to know if there was, a Japanese take on Murakami that is different from that of Western readers. Like a distraught mind, the branch quivered slightly, then returned to stillness.". By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. And what constitutes place? Obviously, it's not unrecognizable from his other books, because it has your usual Murakami fare- insular middle aged protagonist, sexuality, nostalgia and friendship, death, memory and dreams that may or may not be real. When Kuro first sees Tsukuru, she is speechlessshe cant believe that he would come all that way to see her without calling first. 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