The Strange Library: Haruki Murakami

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I just did not get what this book is all about. Is this a children's book? Is this to scare children to go to libraries to read? Is this something like Antoine de St. Exupery's The Little Prince? However, I cannot think of any hidden message of the book. While reading, I was waiting for any of the characters to utter endearing lines like those spoken by the Little Prince or the fox in St. Exupery's classic. None.

The Strange Library | Review | The Skinny Haruki Murakami | The Strange Library | Review | The Skinny

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo. His work has been translated into more than fifty languages, and the most recent of his many international honors is the Jerusalem Prize, whose previous recipients include J. M. Coetzee, Milan Kundera, and V.S. Naipaul. My fascination with dreams is the force behind much of my own writing. I believe there is meaning in the recurring images we see in our dreams. Some are archetypal and some are personal. In the course of our lives we experience various permutations of these images. I believe this is the language of our deepest selves. It is a language I never tire of studying. Yes, we can see from our reading that this did resonate with you. I will lower the ladder now Brendon. Doctor Sato assures me that they have all the reading they need." US designer Chip Kidd, using more allusive, stark images, writes that: "To generate all the imagery, I borrowed from my own strange library of vintage Japanese graphics." 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

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However, it’s not that simple. There are also hallucinogenic suggestions and questions over narrator reliability. Is it magic or is it a dream? Either way, I don’t consider this story suitable for children. It’s about a child but it is undeniably dark and adult in its theme and complex in its construction and delivery. There's much more here than the surface suggests.

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The Strange Library" is a fairy tale-like novella about a boy who gets lured into a labyrinth in the basement of his public library. And ever since I was little my mother had told me, if you don’t know something, go to the library and look it up. Published in the collection Kangaroo Biyori (Heibonsha, September 1983) and by Kodansha in 1986: ISBN 978-4-06-183858-1The Sheep Man is another Murakami character who has made multiple appearances. First introduced in A Wild Sheep Chase, this distinctive half-man, half-sheep character is an enigma among Murakami fans. Even though his motives are unknown, he is often known to aid the protagonists on their journey and give valuable advice. The Strange Libraryis a subteen’s No Exit. . . . Beautifully designed. . . . Perfect for coffee tables in the gladsome season. . . . Readers looking for a light diversion in a heavily loaded holiday season should enjoy this existential vision.”— The Miami Herald Moriko lead me out of the laboratory and the doctors both gave me a bow. I returned a bow to them making sure it was as least as low as theirs. I remember that from something I have read. At the reception Moriko handed my some gift vouchers for Kinokuniya and thanked me again. She then called the elevator for me and wished me goodbye. At the end of the fanciful journey that takes the young narrator from his holding cell in the library to the open air outside of it, he ruminates on his experience: “Did the [the mysterious girl and the Sheep Man] really exist? How much of what I remember really happened? To be honest, I can’t be certain.”