If you were asked to list the most popular Japanese writers in China? I believe there is one person whose name you will definitely not miss, he is Haruki Murakami.

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1949. Influenced by his family, Haruki Murakami likes reading very much. Haruki Murakami graduated from Waseda University's Department of Literature, majoring in film and drama. Waseda University is also a famous university, equivalent to 985 in China. Japan’s 13 prime ministers and more than 1/3 of its members of parliament graduated from this university. Out of his pure love for music, Haruki Murakami and his wife ran a jazz bar for seven years in his early years.

Haruki Murakami has won numerous awards. So far, he has won many awards such as the Kafka Prize, the Andersen Prize, and the Jerusalem Prize for Literature, and is also known as the "Nobel Prize Runner." Although commercial value has long been recognized by the global market, Murakami is obviously not satisfied with ordinary business writing. He represents the new generation of Japanese born after World War II. He is deeply influenced by European and American artists, loves jazz, and creates a unique Murakami-style style. Although he is running for the Nobel Prize every year, Haruki Murakami has always been active on the list.

"Assassination of the Knight Leader" was published in February 2017. A year later, the simplified Chinese version was introduced into the country by Shanghai Translation Publishing House. This novel is divided into two parts, the first part "Appearing Ideas" and the second part "Flowing Metaphors". The Chinese version is nearly 800 pages, and the Japanese version is said to be more than 1,000 pages. While I was reading, I felt like I was being pulled along by the suspenseful plot, and I read it several times. But overall, this novel is easy to read but not easy to understand.

What kind of story is this?

The novel is written in the first person. "I" is a 36-year-old portrait painter. Because my wife suddenly announced that she was having an affair and could no longer live with "me", I was deeply shocked. That day He drove away from home in a second-hand jalopy car at night and headed north. After the one-and-a-half-month trip, I, who was homeless, asked for help from my classmate Masahiko Amada of the U.S. University. His father was a famous Japanese painter and had a house that doubled as a studio in Odawara. However, his father suffered from cognitive impairment. The disorder was admitted to a nursing facility, and the house happened to be vacant. Masahiko Amada let "me" live in his father's home, firstly to help him look after the house, and secondly, because the quiet environment was suitable for creation. Masahiko Amada also introduced "me" to a job teaching painting at a painting class in front of Odawara Station. A series of strange events happened in the nine months after I moved.

If you could sum up this story in one sentence: "I" experienced all kinds of incredible adventures from being abandoned by my wife to getting back together with my wife. I was brought to the world by a person and a painting. An unreal world, and then after many tests, it finally met itself and was reborn.

Next, we will sort out the main plot of this novel through the stories of three men.

The Story of Three Men

(1) The Mysterious Neighbor——Menseki

This is a mysterious neighbor, a tall, rich and handsome man who has achieved his goal early achieve financial freedom. Menshiki is handsome, owns four British cars, lives alone in a mansion on the mountain, and lives an elegant life. It is worth mentioning that the character setting of Menshiki is very similar to the protagonist of the famous novel "The Great Gatsby". Murakami personally translated the Japanese version of "The Great Gatsby" and was very obsessed with this novel. Murakami also said when talking about Menshiki's appearance in the interview: Isn't this Gatsby?

Mense, the literal meaning of a person’s name is to be free from color. The impression Menshiki leaves on people is that he is white, with white hair, white clothes, and even his business cards are white. In an era where information is so developed, "I" can't find any information about him. "I" heard from the grapevine that Menshiki once had the experience of being detained in a detention center. There was a "room that couldn't be opened" at home, that's all.

Although Menshiki is a non-marriage person, he once had a girlfriend who he dated for two and a half years. The whole outfit. Fifteen years ago, my girlfriend ended their relationship with a rather active sex without any warning. She married someone else two months later and gave birth to a girl seven months after the marriage. Therefore, Menshiki deduced based on the time that this girl might be his own child. Unfortunately, this girlfriend passed away seven years ago. She was stung to death by a golden-ringed wasp while walking in the mountains. The daughter she left behind is thirteen years old this year and her name is Akikawa Marie.

Manshiki spent a lot of money to buy the white mansion opposite Akikawa Marie's house, and used binoculars to observe Marie's every move every evening. After "I" moved to Odawara, Manshiki commissioned me to paint his portrait with a large sum of money through his agent. Manshiki carefully planned to approach me, but actually took Marie as his ultimate goal, because Marie happened to be a female student in my Odawara painting class.

Things seemed to be happening as Menshiki planned, and everything was under his control. Menshiki, until the end, we didn’t quite know what kind of person he was. This person has many advantages, but it’s also obvious that he also has his own dark side. But it’s Menshiki who ties all the stories together. The story unfolds through Menshiki.

In the final analysis, that mysterious cave was opened by Menshiki who hired professionals to remove the stones. When "I" encountered a river in the underground world that I entered, it was Menshiki who provided important revelations. Finally, "I" was removed from the cave. The one who was rescued was Manshiki. Murakami also said that in a sense, Menshiki is also the person who drives the plot and is the engine. Without him, the story wouldn't work.

(2) Author of "Knight Leader Assassination" - Tomohiko Amada

After reading this novel, I was fascinated by the soul of the painter Tomohiko Amada. I returned to Odawara late at night and sat down On the wooden bench in the studio, I was particularly impressed by the scene where I was looking at the painting "Knight Leader" with concentration.

A few months after moving into Odawara, the protagonist "I" discovered "The Assassination Knight Commander" hidden in the attic. This painting was painted by the famous Japanese painter Tomohiko Amada and is a typical painting. Japanese paintings have not been made public. Characters from the Asuka Period, scenes from the opera "Don Giovanni". Murakami describes the paintings in such detail that any reader will feel as if they have witnessed it with their own eyes when they actually read it.

When Tomohiko Amada was young, he was interested in modernist painting and went to study in Vienna. However, after returning home, he suddenly turned to Japanese painting. I don't understand when and how he decided to boldly turn to Japanese painting. Tomohiko Amada studied abroad in Vienna from the end of 1936 to the beginning of 1939, when Hitler was in power in Germany, and Austria was annexed by Germany during this period.

Tomohiko Amada has a younger brother named Tsuguhiko Amada. In June 1937, Tsuihiko, who was studying at Tokyo Art School, was forcibly drafted into the army. Subsequently, Tsuihiko's division was sent to the Chinese battlefield and directly participated in the Nanjing Massacre. Under the orders of the young superior officer, Ji Yan's hand that should be playing the piano was forced to hold the saber and chop off the heads of unarmed innocent civilians again and again, which caused Ji Yan to suffer severe psychological trauma. After he was discharged from the army the following year, he committed suicide by slitting his wrists in the attic of his home.

Also during the same period, in order to oppose various evil deeds of the Nazis, Tomohiko Amada, who was studying in Vienna, participated in a plan to assassinate senior Nazi officials. However, the assassination failed and his lover was brutally murdered by the Nazis. None of the companions escaped. Only Tomohiko Amada barely managed to save his life due to political considerations. Tomohiko Amada lost precious people one after another, and his heart was severely traumatized. In this painting, he achieved something that he could not actually achieve in another form, that is, in a new way.

It is written in the novel that Tomohiko Amada painted this painting with his own blood and shaved flesh. I'm afraid it's the kind of painting that can only be done once in a lifetime. This is a painting he painted for himself and for people who are no longer in this world. "It is something that has been separated from his living soul." Tomohiko Amada could not forget this painting before he died, so much so that his soul returned to Odawara's studio at night, wanting to take a last look at this painting. A painting that puts your soul into it.

In the nursing facility, "I" and the Knight Leader reenacted the scene of "Assassination of the Knight Leader" in front of Tomohiko Amada. Tomohiko Amada's soul was saved, and he passed away peacefully a few days later. When he died, an expression similar to a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The story behind this painting is a recreation of the career of Tomohiko Amada. We like to use the word lifelike to describe a painter's superb skills. In the novel, the characters in Tomohiko Amada’s painting, including the knight leader, the long-faced man, and Donna, come out of the painting one by one. The appearance of all the characters in the painting "regenerates" his experiences that he has never expressed in words.

(3) Portrait painter - "I"

As a 36-year-old portrait painter, "I" has two clues worthy of special attention: First, as a portrait painter The painter "I" wants to make a breakthrough in my career; the second is the shadow left by the death of my sister.

Regarding the first point, as a painter, "I" want to paint something for myself. "I" graduated from an art college, and painted abstract oil paintings while in school. After graduation, due to the pressure of survival, I started a business of painting customized portraits for elites from all walks of life, but "I" was unwilling to do so. I always feel that it goes against my pursuit back then. Therefore, these days in Odawara became the best opportunity for "me" to find myself and achieve self-breakthrough.

During this period, "I" spent 4 paintings at a time. These paintings are as important as the characters in the story.

1. Menshiki’s portrait. This was an opportunity for Menshiki and "I" to get to know each other, and the finished product tends to be in an abstract style. "This painting is a breakthrough from "my" previous style, beyond the scope of my logic and understanding. It accidentally depicts some negative elements that Menshiki himself is unwilling to admit. Menshiki is very satisfied with this painting, and the painting He was taken away by Menshiki and hung in his study.

2. The man driving the white Subaru Forester was an unknown man that "I" met while traveling. I couldn't even determine whether that person actually existed. This painting was also in an abstract style and was never completed. It was placed next to the painting "Assassination of the Knight Commander" in Odenono's attic and was eventually burned to ashes.

3. Akikawa Marie. This painting was also commissioned by Menseki and was a realistic painting. Before the painting was completed, Akikawa Mari disappeared and the painting was not completed.

4. The hole in the forest was drawn by "I" myself. This painting can be said to be the "eye" of the whole story.

As Marie Akikawa's portraits alternate with the holes in the forest, "I" always have an ominous premonition. After Akikawa Marie disappeared, "I" found her amulet in a hole in the forest. This painting was eventually given to Menshiki.

Although, in the end, "I" returned to the job of painting portraits for others, my state of mind has been very different after experiencing various tests.

Secondly, my sister’s death left a deep shadow on me. When "I" was 15 years old, "my" 12-year-old sister died of a heart attack. This had a great impact on "my" life. My sister and I had a very good relationship, but we lost it when she died.

This novel is probably a story about trying to restore the relationship with his sister Xiao Xiao. "I" have been looking for someone like my sister. When I first met my wife Yu, she reminded "me" of my dead sister. My wife Youyou is three years younger than "me" and the same age as my sister, and our birthdays are only three days apart. Although their appearance is different, the changes in their expressions, especially the movements and flashes of their eyes, give me an almost magical impression that they are exactly the same. It was as if the past time was revived before my eyes due to magic or something. "I" am attracted to my wife precisely because of her eyes.

However, one month before the 6th wedding anniversary, my wife You suddenly announced that she was having an affair and wanted to break up with "me". During the days when Odawara lived alone, "I" kept reflecting on what went wrong in our relationship. Suddenly one day, "I" finally realized: "The problem between my wife and I may be that I subconsciously want her to replace my dead sister."

There is another protagonist in the novel here, Akikawa Marihui. Marie is a taciturn 13-year-old girl who is my student in Odawara's painting class. Marie was the first person other than "me" to see the painting "Assassination of the Knight Commander", and she was also the person other than "me" who could see the form of the "Knight Commander".

She has a pair of eyes that are similar to "my" dead sister. The souls of the two girls seem to have merged into one through time and space. The appearance of Marihui gave "I" a lot of comfort. In a sense, "I" regarded Marihui as the continuation of my sister's life and protected her very carefully. Zhen Hui played a key role in the transformation of "I".

She is very keen. She instinctively noticed that the telescope in the white mansion opposite was monitoring her home, but she did not know for what purpose. She sensed the danger of Menshiki, broke into Menshiki's white mansion alone and was trapped there. During this period, there were many crises, and she was attacked by golden-ringed wasps like her mother. Marie spent 4 difficult days there, and with the help of the "Knight Leader", her mother's clothes saved her while she was hiding in the cloakroom.

After Marie disappeared, "I" "reunited" with my sister in the metaphorical passage to save Marie. My sister's voice encouraged me to "listen to the news." I was able to look directly at the loss of my sister again, and managed to get out of the narrow cave and into the stone room. "I" finally understood that to "me" my wife Youzu was not a substitute for my younger sister. The problem between "I" and my wife Youyou was resolved, and "I" was able to fully meet Youyou again.

After returning to my wife, she gave birth to a girl, although "I" didn't know whose child it was. The novel writes: "I am happy that the child born is a girl. Since my sister Xiaolu and I spent childhood together, having a little girl by my side always seems to make me feel at ease." At this point, I lost my sister. It can be said that this knot in my heart has finally been solved.

Artistic Features of the Novel

(1) Closed Circle Ending

Haruki Murakami claimed to be quite satisfied with the ending of this novel. . The more common plot trend in Murakami's works is from loss to pursuit, until lost again, and the ending is often a feeling of loss. The ending of the novel "Knight Leader Assassination" is a closed circle. The protagonist has a relatively happy ending, and even Marie gradually loses her wariness about going to Menshiki. The character's physical body seems to have wandered into a surreal fantasy and then returned to its original point, but his soul has been truly redeemed after some cleansing. This is also one of the different experiences of reading this novel.

(2) Concrete abstract concepts

Most of Murakami’s novels use realist style to promote unrealistic stories, which is also the writing method that Murakami is extremely good at. This novel is Haruki Murakami's attempt to make abstract concepts concrete. The concept is borrowed from the body of the knight leader, and the metaphor is transformed into a long-faced man. The double metaphor is the white Subaru man. Even the conceptual "assassination" is modeled on a scene from the opera "Don Juan".

In the second part of the novel, especially the interpretation of the leader of the assassination knights, the long-faced man poked his head out from the ground, and "I" followed the long-faced man into the underground world, where I met the faceless man. The person, Donna, finally returned to the hole in the forest. This non-realistic approach is very thought-provoking.

Knight Leader: Calls himself Idea. Ideas are neither good nor evil, they vary from person to person.

The Man with the Face: According to the Man with the Face himself, metaphors can only exist in relation. In contrast, an idea has nothing to do with correlation and can exist anywhere as an independent entity.

The long-faced man is a window into the subconscious.

"It is my duty to see what has happened and record it." His actions were dictated only by the relevance of the matter and expression. So before entering the metaphorical passage, the long-faced man said to "me": I hope you can find the path. In fact, "I" have been looking for my sister.

Faceless Man: The Faceless Man plays the role of ferryman. "My job is to get you to the other side. It's my job to get you through the gap between nothing and everything."

White Subaru man: double metaphor. That person is the other self in the protagonist's "I" mind. It is the source of evil and the dark side of a person's heart.

Ideas and metaphors are also the blank parts of this work. Everyone may have their own understanding of ideas and metaphors, just as there are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand readers.

(3) Those familiar Murakami elements

We can see almost all the elements in Murakami’s works in this novel, such as: hole, 36 years old, eternal beautiful girl , successful men.

Some netizens commented that the Murakami elements in this book seem familiar, and there is nothing new in reading. I would like to express a different view. We might as well think of it as "old elements & new combinations". For example, the smallest elements of Lego bricks are part particles. These smallest elements are recombined and then turned into new works. Another example is that the most basic element of human beings is genes, and the recombination of human genes is the continuation of modern civilization.

In fact, writing is the same, it is just a rearrangement and combination of words. Why did Murakami so fully mobilize all the Murakami elements from Deja Vu to create this novel? When readers questioned whether it was a repetition, translator Lin Shaohua called it "spinning." According to Lin Shaohua: "Murakami once said that writing novels is to use false bricks to build real walls, and my task at the moment is to see how Murakami uses old bricks to build new walls."

Understanding of this work

(1) Thoughts on good and evil

It can be said that every character in this novel has his or her own dark side. Because "I" was angry with my wife, I almost accidentally strangled the woman I met in a beach hotel, but "I" finally forgave my wife, and I also loved and cared for the "room's" child who didn't know who his father was. Menshiki is a contradiction. Menshiki held the bell and stayed at the bottom of the cave for an hour. He once said that if "I" were at the bottom of the cave, he would have the idea of ??leaving "me" in the cave. This is the evil of Menshiki. But when this happened, when he heard "I" ringing the bell in the cave, Manshiki rescued "I" from the cave without hesitation. It can be said that this is the final victory of good in Mensetsu over evil.

In addition, the novel writes frankly about the Anschluss and the Nanjing Massacre. Such a clear political stance really surprised me. Although the Nanjing Massacre is not the first time that it appears in Murakami's works, it is really admirable from an objective and fair standpoint. This novel was blocked by right-wing forces when it was published in Japan.

Some people say that this is Murakami’s flattery to Chinese readers. I personally don't quite agree with this statement. The Japanese people after the war had a mentality that they were also victims of war. The awareness that they were victims of war was so strong that the recognition of themselves as perpetrators was lagging behind no matter what.

Shortly before the release of "Knight Leader", Haruki Murakami won the "Andersen Literary Award". In his acceptance speech, Murakami said: Individuals, societies and countries all have bright and dark sides. We should all face our own shadows and learn to coexist with them, rather than trying to forcibly avoid or rewrite history.

(2) "Pull time to your side"

"Pull time to your side" is a sentence that appears repeatedly in the novel "The Assassination of the Knight Commander" talk. Every time I read this sentence, I stop and think about what the author wants to express.

Everything has both a good and a bad side. There are things that time takes away, and there are things that time gives. What has time taken away? What was given? What is the meaning of time?

Pulling time back to oneself, I think it contains at least two meanings: on the one hand, the protagonist hopes to have more control over his life and can decide the direction of his life; on the other hand, as a painter, , most of them hope to have works handed down from generation to generation, hope to paint for themselves and be immortalized in the palace of art.

This is also the writer’s voice. When Murakami was young, he was forced to write for business reasons, just as a portrait painter was forced to paint commercial portraits for a living. Murakami said that now he wants to write something for himself and wait for the work to slowly ferment over time. Murakami attaches great importance to credibility in the hearts of readers. Murakami said: "To form this kind of credit relationship, I must also spend as much time as possible, not be afraid of trouble, and write each work seriously. We must draw time towards ourselves. For this reason, we must respect time and cherish time.”

I think that the novel "Knight Leader" is Murakami's practice of "pushing time to his side". arrive.

The story behind the creation of the novel

(1) Why is the protagonist a portrait painter?

This is the first time in Murakami’s novel that a painter is the protagonist.

In an interview, Murakami revealed that a few years ago, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature by Stanford University in the United States. When he went to Stanford University, he met a Japanese teacher named Susan Napier, and the teacher’s husband During the conversation at the banquet, we learned that he was a portrait painter. At that time, Murakami talked a lot with the painter and learned that portrait painter is a very interesting profession, so this time the protagonist is a portrait painter, which has a lot to do with Murakami's trip to Stanford.

Because the beginning paragraph has been written long ago. Because I live on the top of a mountain in the deep mountains of Odawara, I am not an ordinary office worker, but a freelancer. However, it would be too boring to be a novelist by profession, so he became a painter, and he was a slightly different professional portrait painter.

(2) "Second Fate"

According to Murakami himself, he has always liked the story "Second Destiny" included in Ueda Akinari's "Spring Rain Monogatari" and has always wanted to use it as a novel. Write something about this topic. In fact, Chapter 14 of the first part of "Knight Commander Assassination" does reference the story "Second Fate". "Second Fate" tells the story of a landowner's son who likes to study knowledge. When he is reading alone in the middle of the night, he can always hear sounds coming from under the stones in the corner of the yard. The next day, someone was asked to dig it up, and an instant Buddha was dug out from under the stone. In layman's terms, a monk who looked like a mummy was dug out. This story is also one of the elements that Murakami created this novel.

(3) Owl

The owl appears in the novel. If the owl had not made noise in the attic, the painting might not have been discovered, so the owl has also become a very important character. exist.

Murakami said that he did have an owl in his home. When he lived in his previous house, it had an attic and the owl lived there, which was very cute. From that moment on, Murakami thought that owls would have to appear in novels sooner or later. When writing this novel, the element of owl was used, and owl is a very crucial existence.

The philosopher Hegel once said: Minerva's owl takes flight at dusk. Minerva is the goddess of wisdom in Roman mythology, and the owl perched next to her is a symbol of thought and reason. The setting of this owl guarding painting actually has a profound meaning.

I also recommend everyone to read a book called "The Owl Takes Off at Dusk". This book is an interview with Haruki Murakami, which reveals a lot about Murakami's creation of "Knight Commander". The story behind the novel.

Summary

1. We introduced the main plot of this novel. To better understand this novel, there are two external lines and two internal lines worth paying attention to. The two outer lines are the paintings of Menshiki and "Assassination of the Knight Commander" respectively, and the two inner lines are what "I" want to draw for myself as a painter and the impact that my sister's death at the age of 12 had on me.

2. Murakami’s works rarely have happy endings, but this novel does form a closed circle, and the ending is full of warmth. Murakami is best at using realistic style to write unrealistic stories. Almost all the elements of Murakami's works can be found in this work. We might as well think of it as "old elements, new combinations".

3. Everyone has both a bright side and a dark side. Just like our own shadow, we must learn to coexist with our own shadow.

4. The protagonist "I" wants to make a breakthrough in creation and paint a masterpiece that will be handed down from generation to generation. This is actually the author’s own voice. This novel is Haruki Murakami’s practice of “pull time to his side”.