Books : Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage.

As we grow up and time passes ,a lot of things change. People change and nothing stays  the same for ever and often times we  think about the 'good old times' and 'how great the times would be'.

If you have had such feelings about the past ,then Murakami's new novel will strike a chord.

 Tsukuru Tazaki is friends with four others during sophomore.The five remain always
together. They do everything together and remain together . It is asif each one compliments
the other in equal measure "like a pentagon with all the sides equal" ,then suddenly
Tsukuru is cut off by the other four . No reason is given and no one talks to Tsukuru again.

The entire novel is about Tsukuru dealing with this rejection and how he moves back to a normal life accepting the new reality .

As with any other Murakami book there are tense moments and fast moving story. It has
It is his exploration of simple things that I find interesting/unique and  even addictive.

One of the parts I like the most is Haida recalling a story of his father's (also named Haida)
meeting with a strange man called Midorikawa. Murakami's genius lies in linking the story from the past with the present ,blurring fact and faction. The story can be read here.

Personally I found this more anchored to reality compared to other abstract novels like
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka. That way the novel is close to Norwegian Wood.


Some of the quotes that stuck in my mind:

'But you can't go to that orderly harmonious intimate place?".. 'That place doesn't exist
anymore' he said
    - pg  26

'You can hide memories ,but you cannot erase the history that produced them '
    - pg 36

'What is really important in life is always the things that are secondary'
    - pg 60

'No matter how quite and conformist a person's life seems there is always a time in
the past when they reached an impasse. A time when they went crazy. I guess people need
that sort of a stage in their lives'
    - pg 65.

Some things in life are too complicated to be explained in any language
    - pg 218

There is no silence without a cry of grief, no forgiveness without blood shed.
No acceptance without a passage through acute loss.
    - pg 261

Out duty is to do our best to keep on living. Even if our lives are not perfect.
    - pg 271

Life is long, and sometimes cruel .Sometimes victims are needed. Someone has to
take on that role.
    - pg 312.