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3 May 202023 August 2023

commentaire | Abandonner une chatte: Quand je parle de mon père de Haruki Murakami, Bungeishunju

Abandonner une chatte, quand je parle de mon père est un essai de Haruki Murakami, à propos de l’histoire de sa famille et surtout son père. Et il n’est pas un essai ordinaire seul, mais a une histoire et est comme une nouvelle traite l’histoire de sa famille et ses expériences de base. Le père de Murakami, Chiaki Murakami (1917 – 2008) était le seconde fils de une famille d’un temple bouddhiste, et était un professeur de japonais (littérature japonaise) d’une lycée. Teneur principal de cet essai est sa vivre et expérience dans la seconde guerre sino-japonaise.

Pourquoi est-ce que Murakami pensait qu’il doit écrire à propos de son père ? Il pense peut-être que son être et et sa partie d’origine de personnalité de Murakami sont fait et formé par son père directement ou indirectement. Père de Murakami était bon professor de (littérature de) japonais sérieux et dévoué, amoureux des livres qui avait beaucoup des livres et son hobby était haiku. Et il a renoncé à devenir un savant, ainsi il avait exception à réaliser son espoir à le fils unique, mais Murakami sentait répulsion à son espoir et le système éducative en uniforme du Japon. Ces éléments de son père faisait et formait caractère de Murakami inclut antipathies et réactions.

De plus, Murakami peut être existé par la guerre. Malheureusement sa père a été enrôlé par une erreur à l’armée quand la seconde guerre sino-japonaise se a passait., mais heureusement sans savoir pourquoi il n’a pas été enrôlé quand la guerre de Pacifique. Le fiancé de sa mère (un professeur du musique) meurt par la guerre, la maison des ses parents a brûlée par un bombardement. Afin que son père et sa mère ont rencontré et épousé, elle a donné naissance à Murakami. Voilà pourquoi la vie inclut accidents et est formée par accidents. Les gens sont vécu par accidents, et accidents font inévitabilités, nécessités et faits. Murakami énonce un précepte concernant l’épisode de un chaton a monté sur la partie plus haute d’un pin.

Un résultat engloutit une cause facilement, et fait l’impotence. (p. 94)

Et chattes dans ce essai sont dieux ou êtres divins de l’accident et le destin, apportent la nécessité et la vie. Le premiere épisode de une grande female tabby est une métaphore de la libération mystérieuse et incompréhensible de l’armée. La seconde épisode de un petit chaton blanc mignon est une métaphore de la résurrection du Christ. Le chaton a disparu sur sur la partie plus haute d’un pin, est allé au paradis. C’est un accident ou un miracle a apporté une nécessité ou une histoire à Murakami, et a devenu un fragment de lui.

Alors, je pense, une thème de ce essai est raisonner de l’accident et la nécessité de la vie.

D’un autre côté, un autre thème de cet essai est histoires et l’histoire. La personnalité et les œuvres de Murakami peuvent être affectées par ses expériences, son environment, sa famille et sa âge. Les deux episodes de chattes se composent des parties de Murakami. Un conversation par son père de qui a regardé un meurtre du prisonnier chinois ou a lui meurtrit, affectait à Murakami, et il reprend comme un trauma pourtant il est une expérience indirecte. Leur père a adoptait temporairement à un temple de Nara, pourrait affecter à Murakami comme une expérience inconsciente. Episodes personnels d’un homme forme sa personnalité et sa histoire. Et Murakami pense que chacune des histoires entre nous fait le grande histoire du monde ou « l’histoire ». Il écrit dans la postface.

L’histoire n’est pas une chose appartient au passe. C’est une chose passe comme sang vivant chaud à intérieur de la conscience et la inconscience, fait traverser à la prochaine génération par force. Dans un sense, ce essai est une histoire personnel, dans le même temps, il est une partie de la grande histoire forme le monde entier qui nous vivons. C’est une très petite taille de partie, malgré tout, on peut lui faire confiance, c’est un fragment comme un fait. (pp. 99 -100)

Les gens ont existé par accidents, ont vécu par faits, ont affecté par l’histoire. Mais nous vivons en société comme une personne, et devons penser, interpréter, decider et agir. Les choses associent entre accidents et nécessités, histoires et l’histoire sont la pensée, la conscience et la volonté. Je pense, ce essai raconte l’importance de chacune des façons de vivre, consciences et volontés des gens dans une époque, transforme histoires en l’histoire.

Details sur le livre

Abandonner un chat: Quand je parle de mon père
Haruki Murakami
Bungeishunju, Tokyo, Japon, 23 avril 2020
104 pages, JPY 1320
ISBN 978-4163911939
Contenu

Abandonner une chatte
Épilogue: Un fragment de l’histoire

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Book Review | Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father

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Literature / littérature / Literatur Page

25 April 202024 August 2023

Book Review | Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father by Haruki Murakami, Bungeishunju, 2020

Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father is an essay by Haruki Murakami, about his family history especially his father. And it’s not only and usual essay, but also has a story and is like a novelette take up his family history and his fundamental experiments. His father, Chiaki Murakami (1917 – 2008) was the second son of a buddhist temple family, was a junior high and high school teacher of Japanese (literature). Main account of this essay is his life and the experience in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Why does Murakami think he should write about his father ? He may think his being and a part of origine of Murakami’s personality are made and shaped by his father directly or indirectly. Murakami’s father was a good, earnest and dedicated Japanese teacher, a book lover owns many books and his hobby was Haiku. And he gave up become a scholar, so he had and exception to fulfil his hope for the only son, but Murakami feel repulsion to his hope and the Japanese educational system of uniformity. Such elements of his father made and shaped the personality of Murakami includes antipathies and reactions.

Also, Murakami can be existed by the War. Unfortunately his father was conscripted by mistake into the army when the Second Sino-Japanese War, but fortunately somehow he wasn’t conscripted by the Pacific War. His mother’s fiancé (a music teacher) was died by the war, her parents’ home in Osaka was burnt by bombing raid. So his father and mother met and married, had birth to Murakami. That’s why life includes and is shaped by accidents. People are being lived by accidents, also accidents make inevitabilities, necessities and facts. Murakami states a precept below by the episode of a cat climbed up the upper part of a pine tree.

A result gulps a cause easily, and makes impotent. (p. 94)

So I think, a theme of this essay is concerning about accident and necessity on life.

And cats on this essay are gods or god-like beings of accident and fate, bring necessity and life. The first episode of a big female tubby cat is a metaphor of his father’s mysterious and incomprehensible discharge from the army. The second episode of a cute small white kitten is a metaphor of the Resurrection of the Christ. The cat vanished on the upper part of the pine tree, went to heaven. It’s an accident or a miracle brought a necessity or a story to Murakami, and became a fragment of him.

On the other side, another theme of this essay is story and history. Murakami’s personality and works may be affected by his experiences, environment, family and age. Two episodes about cats are consists of parts of Murakami. A talk by his father about he watched a killing of a Chinese prisoner or killed a prisoner, affected Murakami and he take over as a trauma even so it’s an indirect experience. His father was adopted into a buddhist temple in Nara temporary, might affect to Murakami as an unconscious experience. Personal episodes of a man shapes his personality and story. And Murakami thinks each of stories of men made the grand story of the world and the history. He wrote in the afterword.

History is not a thing belongs to the past. It’s a thing runs as living warm blood inside a consciousness and an unconsciousness, carries over to the next generation by force. In a sense, this essay is a personal story, in the same time, it’s a part of the grand story shapes the whole world we live. It’s a very small size of part, even so it can be trusted it’s a one fragment as a fact. (pp. 99 – 100)

People are to be existed by accidents, to be lived by facts, to be affected by the history. But we live in a society as a person, and need to think, to interpret, to decide and to act. The things connect between accidents and necessities, stories and the history are thinking, consciousness and will. I think this essay told the importance of each one of ways of living, wills and consciousnesses of the people on an age, made stories the history.

Details of the Book

Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father
Haruki Murakami
Bungeishunju, Tokyo, Japan, 23 April 2020
104 pages, JPY 1320
ISBN 978-4163911939
Contents

Abandoning a Cat
Afterword: A Fragment of History

Note | Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father by Haruki Murakami, Bungeishunju

Summary

A day of the early age of showa 30’s (1955 – 1965), Murakami and his father went to abandon a big female cat at the beach of Koroen. But she went home ahead somehow, and continued to live together. For Murakami, why he agreed with abandoning, why the cat went home ahead are remain as a mystery. (pp. 9-15)

Murakami’s father, Chiaki Murakami every morning prayed to a statue of bodhisattva in a small grass case for dead people by the war. (pp. 15-17)

Chiaki Murakami was born in Kyoto, on 1917, as the second son of a buddhist temple family. And he was in the misfortune age involved in the WW II. When grand father died, he was expected to take over the temple, but he denied, his older brother Shimei took over the temple. (pp.17-30)

His father served in the war from 1938, by a working-level mistake of a document. He fought fiercely against the China army, as a logistics officer. And he told that he watched, at the battlefield, the unit he belonged was forced to kill Chinese prisoners. (pp. 37-52)

Chiaki Murakami was an intelligent person, so, after the conscription, he entered the Kyoto Imperial University from a buddhist professional school. (pp. 56-58)

In September 1941, he be recruited again. But in 30 November, 8 days before the opening of the Pacific War, some show he was exempt from military service. The 16th division, he was supposed to belong, fought in fought a severe battle in the Southeast and pacific especially Bataan, and destroyed at the Battle of Layte. (pp. 64-76)

Murakami’s father became a teacher of Japanese for a means of living. He was a excellence teacher and adored by many students. (pp. 76-81)

Sometimes, Murakami felt strange if his father wasn’t exempt from military service,,, fiance of mother wasn’t died at the war,,, he doesn’t exist in the world. He thinks an activity to live as a novelist is an unreal transient fantasy. (pp. 90-91)

(…)

Characters

Haruki Murakami

Chiaki Murakami – Murakami’s father was born in Kyoto, on 1917, as the second son of a buddhist temple family. A teacher of Japanese at a junior high school and a high school. He died in August 2008 at the age 90.

A big female tabby cat – Murakami and his father went to abandon at the beach of Koroen, Nishinomiya. But she went home ahead, and continued to live together.

Benshiki Murakami – Murakami’s grand father. The abbot of a big Jodo-shu temple Anyouji.

Shimei Murakami – Murakami’s uncle, the oldest son, resigned from a tax office and took over the buddhist temple.

Murakami’s mother – Was a teacher of Japanese too. A daughter of a wealthy merchant family of Osaka.

A cute small white kitten – At an evening, a cat Murakami’s family keeps, climbed up to the upper part of at a pine tree in the yard, and can’t come down.

Keywords & Key Elements

a statue of bodhisattva in a small grass case

haiku

trauma

history

taking over

Hanshin-kan (between Osaka-Kobe)

cinema

mysterious common experience

story

Details of the Book

Abandoning a Cat, When I Talk About My Father
Haruki Murakami
Bungeishunju, Tokyo, Japan, 23 April 2020
104 pages, JPY 1320
ISBN 978-4163911939
Contents

Abandoning a Cat
Afterword: A Fragment of History