Today is just one of those days when I've come to realize that Murakami has pulled another trick on me--I am no longer Midori nor Hatsumi and hopefully I don't end up like Naoko*.
Another gender-bending episode and I come up with Gotanda Ryoichi from "Dance Dance Dance". Why him? Because he mirrors everything that I feel or experience now in some aspects. Not that I'm married though, it's actually the opposite. I digress. In a nutshell, he seemed to have everything he could ever want save for the one person that he loved/wanted the most: his wife. For those who still want to read this book, I will offer no other spoilers except for a few quotes:
Gotanda swirled the ice in his glass, around and around. "Funny isn't it? I can get almost anything I want. Except the one thing I want the most."
"That's how it is," I said. "But I never could get everything I wanted, so I can't really talk."
"No, you've got it wrong," said Gotanda. "You never wanted things to begin with." (p. 289)
"That's my world. Azabu, European sports car, first-class. Stupid, meaningless, idiotic bullshit. How did all this... this... this total nonsense get started? Well, it's very, very simple. You just repeat the message and repeat the message and repeat the message. You pound that baby in. Until everybody believes it. Like a mantra. Azabu, BMW, Rolex, Azabu, BMW, Rolex, Azabu, BMW, Rolex... I'm fed up with it. I'm fed up with this life they have me living. I'm their life-size dress-up doll. Sewed together with loans and mortgages. But who wants to hear this grief? After all, I live in a jet-stream condo in Azabu, I drive a Maserati, I have this Patek Philippe watch ... but the worst thing is ... as long as I keep living like this, I can't get what I really want."
"Like, for instance, love?" I said. (p. 290)
*Midori, Hatsumi and Naoko are all characters from Haruki Murakami's book "Norwegian Wood".
Another gender-bending episode and I come up with Gotanda Ryoichi from "Dance Dance Dance". Why him? Because he mirrors everything that I feel or experience now in some aspects. Not that I'm married though, it's actually the opposite. I digress. In a nutshell, he seemed to have everything he could ever want save for the one person that he loved/wanted the most: his wife. For those who still want to read this book, I will offer no other spoilers except for a few quotes:
Gotanda swirled the ice in his glass, around and around. "Funny isn't it? I can get almost anything I want. Except the one thing I want the most."
"That's how it is," I said. "But I never could get everything I wanted, so I can't really talk."
"No, you've got it wrong," said Gotanda. "You never wanted things to begin with." (p. 289)
"That's my world. Azabu, European sports car, first-class. Stupid, meaningless, idiotic bullshit. How did all this... this... this total nonsense get started? Well, it's very, very simple. You just repeat the message and repeat the message and repeat the message. You pound that baby in. Until everybody believes it. Like a mantra. Azabu, BMW, Rolex, Azabu, BMW, Rolex, Azabu, BMW, Rolex... I'm fed up with it. I'm fed up with this life they have me living. I'm their life-size dress-up doll. Sewed together with loans and mortgages. But who wants to hear this grief? After all, I live in a jet-stream condo in Azabu, I drive a Maserati, I have this Patek Philippe watch ... but the worst thing is ... as long as I keep living like this, I can't get what I really want."
"Like, for instance, love?" I said. (p. 290)
*Midori, Hatsumi and Naoko are all characters from Haruki Murakami's book "Norwegian Wood".
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