Other Words for Home

 Other Words for Home

By Jasmine Warga

This novel-in-verse tells the story of two Syrians, Jude and her mother, who are forced to flee their homes at

the outbreak of the conflict there and make their way to Cincinnati to live with relatives. The story itself follows a fairly predictable story line that is quite similar to Inside Out and Back Again. At first, Jude finds it hard to fit into the US, where she faces suspicion and outright hostility -- especially after she decides to wear the hijab. But little by little, she gains acceptance from others and herself. It ends with her in the spotlight of a school play,  symbol of Jude reconnecting with that part of herself that craved to be seen and heard, which came naturally in Syria but was march harder in the US.

Despite the similarities between the two books, this still feels like an important story. Maybe even more important because of the two similarities. My students, for example, attributed the discrimination Ha faced in IOBA to a specific time and place. But, turns out, modern-day Cincinnati isn't all that different than 1970s Alabama on that front. It would be interesting to have students read the two books to compare and contrast.

I have mixed feelings about novels in verse. When I began reading, it struck me that it is, in a sense, just lazy. But as I finished the book, I was struck by how much the character had come alive in my mind. With so few words, my imagination had to work overtime and fill in the gaps left unspoken. But maybe this is a case of less is more. I do wonder about the author's process. Had she always planned to use poetry? Or was this a second choice? And why are such novels so appealing right now? 

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

 Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

By Haruki Murakami

I think I might have to take a Murakami break after this one. What's familiar: A thirty-something man (Tsukuru Tazaki) is reckoning with a break up and is searching for an answer to what happened. A plot that fits The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Killing Commendatore, and A Wild Sheep Chase. What's different: In this case, the man isn't reeling from a break up with a woman but with a friend group. Back when he was in college, he was inexplicably banished from a group of five friends that were unusually close. The breakup wounded him deeply. Now, on the cusp of a new romantic relationship, he seeks to find out what happened. The answer is surprising and strange: One of his female friends told the others in the group that Tsukuru had raped her; though the others didn't really believe her, they felt they had no option but to cut off ties with Tsukuru in an attempt to salvage her sanity.

It's a rift on a familiar theme, as are the ideas that Murakami explores, namely the ability for the dream world to coincide with the "real" world. Though there is less emphasis on the magical in this book, Tsukuru nevertheless wonders about whether sexual dreams he may have had about his accuser might have actually constituted rape. There is also an emphasis on names, which I remember from the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. The "colorless" of the title refers to the fact that the main character's surname doesn't refer to a color; his compatriots' all do. Tsukuru's name references making, which is odd given how passive he is throughout. There is also an emphasis on the underground. Tsukuru is a train station engineer, which keeps him underground a lot of the time. And there is a specific piece of classical music: Listz's "Years of Pilgriage", which echo the main character's own search.

One character I can't quite figure out is Haida. He is a young man Tsukuru meets in college. They become fast friends. Then Haida relates a story from his father's past. His father took to the road in his younger years and one day met a man at an inn in rural Japan. They connected, and the strange man revealed that he had been destined to die, which had given him the ability to see people's auras. That evening, Tsukuru felt Haida's presence in his room even though the latter was sleeping on the couch in another room. And then Haida disappears from Tsukuru's life, much like his friend group. I'm not sure how that fits into the narrative. It seems like an add on.

I will say that the ending of this book is about the least satisfying I've ever encountered. Tsukuru has finally taken initiative in his life, telling his girlfriend -- who he had recently seen with another man -- that he loves her. The girlfriend, Sara, says she'll be "honest" with him in three days. The book ends the night before their scheduled meeting. It is a horrible cliffhanger. But I guess that's life.  

Kafka on the Shore

 Kafka on the Shore

By Haruki Murakami

This is a story told in two voices. The first belongs to a 15-year-old who dubs himself Kafka when he

decides to run away from home. Kafka, he later explains, loosely translates to "crow"; he has an alter ego, more determined and tougher than he is, who he calls "Crow Boy". We don't know exactly why Kafka runs away. He alludes to an oppressive, possibly evil, sculptor of a father. However, it quickly becomes a search for his mother, from whom he was separated at 4 years old and who he has not seen since. On his journey, he winds up working and staying at a private library, where he meets Oshima, a transgendered bibliophile who becomes something of his protector, and Miss Saeki, with whom he falls in love and who may or may not be his mother. 

The other is Mr. Nakata. He is in his sixties. He suffered a mental disability after a strange event during World War II. His teacher took his class on a walk to gather mushrooms. A few minutes into the picking, all of the students suddenly collapsed into a coma-like state, unresponsive, their eyes scanning back and forth at something no one could see. While most of his classmates recovered quickly, the same was not true for Nakata, who stayed in this state for quite some time. When he came to, Nakata could not read or write nor remember any basic facts of his life. He was, however, imbued with a strange ability to talk to cats. This led to a job as a cat finder in his neighborhood. 

It was while searching for a cat that Nakata came into contact with Johnny Walker -- or at least a concept who has taken on the form of Johnny Walker. Walker is also involved with cats; he decapitates them, slices open their bellies, and then eats their hearts to capture their souls, which is using to build a magical flute. Right. Anyway, Walker performs this ritual in front of Nakata, all the while admonishing Natakata to kill him, which he does. Or does he? Kafka wakes up on the night of the death inexplicably covered with blood. The implication, I think, is that somehow Walker conjured Kafka into Nakata's body to do the killing. Walker, it turns out, is, in "real" life, Kafka's father.

The murder sets Nakata on a journey of his own. Guided only by intuition, he winds up in the same town as Kafka, where he helps to close an entrance -- to what we don't really know -- that bring some of the characters some peace. Long summary, eh? It's an involved book, and despite the zaniness, it all feels natural the way Murakami tells it. Colonel Sanders as a pimp on a back alley? Sure, I'll accept that. Two imperial soldiers alive and well a century after disappearing? Seems perfectly normal to me! I still can't put my finger on how Murakami draws you in like that. Some common themes emerge:

Pastiche/Allusion: Murakami likes to weave literary traditions from different cultures and times together. Here, for instance, there is Greek Theater, especially Oedipus Rex, as well as Japanese literature, especially the Tale of the Genji. And there are all sorts of references to music; here Beethoven's Archduke Trio plays a particularly important role. 

Cats: These animals seem to hold a special power for Murakami. They operate as emissaries between worlds. No one in a Murakami novel is allergic to cats.

Fate: Murakami keeps exploring the extent to which people really have control over their lives. In this book, Kafka's father puts a curse on him, telling him that he will murder his father and sleep with his mother and sister. Does it come true? Kinda...?

Dreams: In Murakami's novels, dreams are not separate from the "real" world. In this novel, Kafka has sex with his sister in his "dreams", but it might have actually happened. This is similar to Killing Commendatore, where the protagonist has sex with his wife in his dreams that might -- we never know -- result in her pregnancy. Dreams impact the real world; and the dreamer is "responsible" for them in some way.

Holes/Wells: Not in this one! Thank goodness. Lots of holes out there.

The Deep State: There is a sense in Murakami novels that there is another realm/dimension -- something -- operating in the shadows of the world we see. It is this world that really controls our actions. In this novel, it seems a bit different, more like an afterlife than a deep state, but still.

Sex: This book had lots of sex in it. Too many references to "cock" for my liking. Is that the best euphemism we can come up with. It made me think that there is actually a lot of sex in Murakami books. I need to pay more attention to what he might be saying with it.