World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

i just finished reading 'the wind up bird chronicles' by haruki murakami and the whole time i felt like i was reading something by david lynch. it was a beautiful read. it had a huge twin peaks/lost highway/mullholland drive vibe to it. i can't help but think how awesome a david lynch directed 10 part HBO special would be!

ah well. dreaming on...

I recently read the book, and know exactly what you mean. It would be amazing....

Do some of Murakami's other novels have a Lynchian vibe to them? Which most resembles Wind-Up Bird?

Kafka on the Shore is another surreal one of his books.

I've just read his shortish book, After the Dark, which was very Lynchian in certain aspects. The one character is constantly sleeping and at one point is transferred to the other side of a television screen.

I've read several Murakami novels, and they all seemed Lynchian to me. They all take place in Japan, however. I'm not sure how they would translate to an American locale with American characters, or if Lynch would want to make a Japanese film. There are a lot of books that might make interesting Lynch films, and he did adapt a Barry Gifford novel for "Wild at Heart", but he seems to want to use his own ideas these days. I hope he doesn't have to spend too much more time "fishing" for them.

In the afterword for the version of the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles included in the 2003 Japanese collected works Murakami writes how he wrote Wind-Up Bird while living a couple of years in the US on several university campuses. It was during the first Gulf War that on Tuesday evenings he, his wife, and people living near him would all come together to watch Twin Peaks on tv.

(The afterwords for parts 1&2 and part 3 are included in the unabridged Dutch paperback edition)

philosofish wrote:I've read several Murakami novels, and they all seemed Lynchian to me. They all take place in Japan, however. I'm not sure how they would translate to an American locale with American characters, or if Lynch would want to make a Japanese film. There are a lot of books that might make interesting Lynch films, and he did adapt a Barry Gifford novel for "Wild at Heart", but he seems to want to use his own ideas these days. I hope he doesn't have to spend too much more time "fishing" for them.

It's true they all take part in Japan, but it's written in a very western way. Especially with all the references to western music, especially of the Jazz variety. As well as references to western authors and movies. I suppose the most Japanese themes are the character's personality, which are often very introverted and wracked with issues.... which actually are very similar to Lynch's characters.