Anyone who knows this book may find it a strange choice for an “influence” for the kind of work I’m aiming for. But bear with me…
Ryu Murakami is probably best known in the west for being the writer of Audition, which was adapted into a film by Takashi Miike, released at a time when Japanese films (particularly those released by Tartan Video in the UK) were becoming hugely popular. Alongside films like Ring and Battle Royale, which I’d argue still hold up really well today (The less said about Battle Royale 2 the better).
I’ve read plenty of manga and non-fiction books from Japan over the years, but Japanese novels were something I’d never dipped into. I asked for this for Christmas in 2022, and because I’m a good boy Santa delivered!
It’s quite a short, but dense book, set over 3 days in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo (if you’ve played the Yakuza games or watched Tokyo Vice then you’ll know the area well). I won’t spoil much, but the basic plot is a first-person story about a guy who shows foreign tourists around the “entertainment” (wink wink) area of Shinjuku, and is paid for a few nights to show an American tourist around while at the same time mysterious murders are being committed.
A year after reading it I’m still not sure I enjoyed it. I liked it, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of book you “enjoy” but rather “experience”. It goes into a lot of detail about the area and how the characters react to the locations and events. But the main thing that I took from it as an influence was how it’s basically a series of conversations. Not exposition about what is happening, but just conversations that would happen (kind of) naturally.
And that’s something I’m hoping to work into my writing. Having characters just chat and (hopefully) be interesting. Not characters just explaining to each other what is happening, but talking about politics, social issues, things that interest them (and this is medieval England, it’s not going to be people chatting about TikTok or any other pop culture reference that will date things).
Will I succeed at that? Only one way to find out…
