:: 1Q84 Haruki Murakami

:: 1Q84  Haruki Murakami

::

On Politics:

“I don’t think people think of America as a model anymore,” he said. “We don’t have any model at this moment. We have to establish the new model.”

::

The Barcelona Speech:

“I am 99 percent a fiction writer and 1 percent a citizen. As a citizen I have things to say, and when I have to do it, I do it clearly. After 1945, we have been working so hard and getting rich. But that kind of thing doesn’t continue anymore. We have to change our values. We have to think about how we can get happy. It’s not about money. It’s not about efficiency. It’s about discipline and purpose. What I wanted to say is what I’ve been saying since 1968: we have to change the system. I think this is a time when we have to be idealistic again.”

::

On Writing:

“I live in Tokyo, a kind of civilized world — like New York or Los Angeles or London or Paris. If you want to find a magical situation, magical things, you have to go deep inside yourself. So that is what I do. People say it’s magic realism — but in the depths of my soul, it’s just realism. Not magical. While I’m writing, it’s very natural, very logical, very realistic and reasonable.”

Leoš Janáček - Sinfonietta
(Short Version)

— 1Q84

"The taxi’s radio was tuned to a classical FM broadcast. Janacek’s ‘Sinfonietta’ -- probably not the ideal music to hear in a taxi caught in traffic. The middle-aged driver didn’t seem to be listening very closely, either. With his mouth clamped shut, he stared straight ahead at the endless line of cars stretching out on the elevated expressway, like a veteran fisherman standing in the bow of his boat, reading the ominous confluence of two currents. Aomame settled into the broad back seat, closed her eyes, and listened to the music.” 

Leoš Janáček 
Sinfonietta

Source: The NYT