The Strange Library

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Ever since I was little my mother had told me, if you don’t know something, go to the library and look it up.” The illustrations differ in the various editions, as the US, UK, and German publishers all opted for their own versions rather than using the Sasaki Maki illustrations from the Japanese.

The man on the left bowed first and then the one on the right bowed a little deeper. This earned a reproachful look from the other.These aren't books he can take home with him, and the old man is rather insistent that he read them there -- never mind that it's near closing time ("They do what I tell them -- if I say it's all right, then it's all right").

Here, now, he finds himself swallowed up in something much larger and more terrifying, from books as completely immersive texts (as even something as dreary-sounding as The Diary of an Ottoman Tax Collector pulls him completely into its reality) to a surreal reality of characters verging on the absurd, from the old man who led him into this maze to, yes, a sheep man.I may have mumbled something under my breath at this point. And it may have been amplified by the 'instrument' enough for Moriko to hear. In Camera Lucida Roland Barthes discovers his mother not in pictures of her as an adult, but in a photograph taken of her when she was a child. Does the narrator of The Strange Library find his mother in the ghostly girl? A pesar de todo, debo destacar que el mensaje principal del cuento es importante. Es un mensaje pesimista, aunque real en muchos casos, que nos hace reflexionar sobre la soledad e infelicidad de los niños que se sienten sin nadie con quien contar. El niño protagonista lee muchísimo, y aunque le gusta, es la clara muestra de que hay ocasiones donde sentimos tanto dolor en nuestro interior, que para protegernos, solemos buscar la manera de refugiarnos en alguna actividad que aleje temporalmente las preocupaciones de nuestra mente. En el caso del niño protagonista es la lectura, pero cuando nosotros nos sentimos mal, ¿en qué nos refugiamos? ¿En qué se refugiarán los niños que viven infelices y solos por el mundo? Naturalmente no nos deberíamos refugiar en ninguna parte sino resolver nuestros problemas, pero de ocurrir, en tal caso, la lectura siempre será una buena compañía en los momentos más difíciles. Siempre será preferible resguardarnos en la lectura, y no en actividades perversas como la violencia, las adicciones, etc. The pervasive effect of Murakami's writing is a resounding tension - a degree of consternation - triggered by that sense of a primal concept being put on display, subtle yet impossible to shrug off. Talk of new moons shaping the characters' destinies and the idea of stories intermingling is crucial to Murakami's philosophy: "Our worlds are all jumbled together—[...] Sometimes they overlap and sometimes they don’t". In this particular story, the elected as well as the non-elected - the Kid is purposely generic - are at the mercy of the desperate mission to conserve knowledge, such that the old man comes to embody the forces that allow for a Library to be. Thematically, it seems to touch on the crises of literature and libraries at large, as well as the absurdities inherent in an overly-bureaucratic world that annihilates its value components. In fact, there is at times a resigned sense of powerlessness ("the world follows its own course") that hints at the idea of overarching meaningless, in turn counterbalanced by the inner drive that pulls the protagonists away from the darkness. Murakami seems to argue that fanatic extremism is to be perceived for what it is: ultimately destructive and dehumanising.

When translation of "The Strange Library" was announced with a release of just mere months after his most recent novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, it was like Christmas came early for me. As with most Chip Kidd-designed Murakami covers, "The Strange Library" had a unique look and feel to it, and it won me over as I delved deeper into the story - a fairy tale, urban legend of sorts, one that mothers would tell their children to scare them good into behaving. It's quite unlike Murakami, yet, so very Murakami at the same time. A solitary boy, a mystifying girl, a sheep man and a bird, all entwined in a fantastical, simplistic plot - all nods to past Murakami works. The accompanying illustrations are visually impactful, and add much value to the reading experience. He finds an old man there, and admits he's looking for some information about Ottoman tax collection -- it had popped into his head on his way home from school:

Murakami’s plot might seem a gross-out, but the story is amusing enough for 10-to-13-year-olds and sufficiently resonant to appeal to adults with an affinity for fantasy. (...) Murakami does lapse into bouts of over-playfulness, but whether he is writing for adults or children, he remains a suspenseful and fantastical storyteller." - Joseph Peschel, The Washington Post Moriko wore a small orange hat and had a distinctive port-wine stain on the left side of her face. Despite this, and yet possibly because of this, she was achingly beautiful. Mi primer acercamiento a Murakami no ha sido positivo, espero tener más suerte en próximas ocasiones.