Haruki Murakami on Contemporary Fiction

Haruki Murakami is an exceptional writer who—it seems to me—emits a certain Japanese sensibility and vibe in his writing. Perhaps that’s to state the obvious but nonetheless true and but one small factor for why his writing works so well.

I’ve read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and Men Without Women. Both are excellent, one a nonfiction meditation on what running means to him and the latter a collection of short stories. I highly recommend both.

In today’s New York Times book section there is an interview of him that is well worth reading, but the question and answer that stood out to me was the following:

New York Times: How have your reading tastes changed over time?

Murakami: With newly published books I tend now to prefer reading nonfiction more than fiction.

I have to agree and I think there’s a strong inference here that truly good, compelling, interesting fiction is rare in publishing. Not unheard of or a complete failure, but so much fiction reads as stereotype and lays limply on the page. Meanwhile, nonfiction is, with certain exceptions, quite vibrant, interesting, and breaking new ground.

The other question and answer that struck me was:

New York Times: You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Murakami: My apologies, but I’m not big on dinner parties.

I couldn’t agree more.