@ikea_femme I think it's always the numb guy. My impression of Murakami is that his whole artistic persona depends on the quirky girl being someone the narrator can't really understand.
@ikea_femme @Eve I'm not sure I really understood murakami until I read raymond carver, and then it all clicked
@morae @ikea_femme maybe he is like the ultimate Iowa Writers Workshop writer?
@ikea_femme @Eve this compelled me to read this page, where raymond carver is one of two people with the note "(did not graduate)", which is so raymond carver: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iowa_Writers%27_Workshop_people
@morae @ikea_femme Murakami oneups him by not even attending lol
@ikea_femme @Eve I'm imagining a scene where murakami is invited but ditches to write a story called "the 100% perfect cornfield" where a middle-aged man struggles with his feelings about his father, in a cornfield
@morae @Eve For all I joke, I do love Murakami's books. The detached male characters gave me the language to describe my dysphoria. I actually mentioned Creta Kano's emotional arc in my four-page coming out letter to my psychiatrist.
Anyway, that is to say, I should get a tramp stamp that says in Kanji "Murakami made me a girl" and tell people it means "Tired but strong."