Original language:
Japanese Translated from: Japanese
Authors: Murakami, Haruki
Composers: Bučienė, Asta; Rotomskytė, Ada
Translated by: Čepulionytė, Gabija
ISBN: 978-609-479-019-5
Published in: Vilnius
Published on: 2016
Publisher: Baltos lankos
Haruki Murakami (1949 01 12) – the writer whose creations became bestsellers not only in Japan but in the whole world. His books were translated in 50 languages, and over 1mln copies were sold. The master of mysteries gained lots of prestige prizes and nominations.
H. Murakami wrote “Pinball, 1973” as his first novel “Hear the Wind Sing” sequel. The same protagonist as in the first novel, just after 3 years transfers to live in Tokyo. There he starts his business – translation agency. After one strange night 2 mysterious twins who have no name starts to live in his flat. He suffers from unfulfilled love for Naoko and obsession for pinball. Protagonist is searching for the same kind pinball machine called “Spaceship” like he had in his hometown bar.
In the novel we can feel the essence of important topics that Murakami from the current time has. Loneliness, depression, erotics, obsession and apathetic characters who have to deal with reality and mysteries of life. These topics are more well executed in the current, newer works of Murakami compared to his first novels. Pinball, 1973 also has lots of simplistic life details such as brewing a cup of coffee or making food such as listening to jazz. These details are inseparable from Murakami’s works.
Pinball’s allegory with life is an important aspect in this novel. Pinball itself is a predictable game. On the board that never changes you launch balls over and over again with expectation to get a high score or an extra ball. If you’re good at it, it becomes a routine – a game that never changes. The protagonist’s life is like this game. He goes to work every day, he’s always bored. After work he comes back home to the twins and before he goes to sleep he reads the same book over and over again. Even if the life is good, it’s predictable. Protagonist talks to the pinball machine which can be interpreted as accepting to your own routine of life,
It‘s interesting that both of Murakami’s first novels “Pinball, 1973” and “Hear the Wind Sing” are almost 40 years old although they were translated (in English) in 2015. That was the decision of the author. His first novels were a blind attempt to find himself, his writing style. After his first attempt to write he didn’t enjoyed what he wrote. Instead of giving up or continuing with the same style Murakami developed it by writing in English and then translating his works to Japanese. Both of these novels were written at night, after work in his kitchen, because at that time Murakami owned a jazz bar where he worked hard. After the release of his second novel he sold his bar and decided to concentrate only on his novels and writers career.
Haruki Murakami said that his first novels “Pinball, 1973” and “Hear the Wind Sing” played an important role in his later victories. They are irreplaceable, like some old friends. It’s not very likely that they’ll meet up, however Murakami will treasure their memories forever.