This is a book by Haruki Murakami and translated into English by Philip Gabriel. Nice book. Good Book, recommended for one who actually thinks and emotes.
There is so much that an individual suppresses in the path of maturity and pragmatism. Impressions, thoughts, feelings, memories, that are not oft expressed, i guess, that never fall in a conventional box. Fleeting thoughts like, "i feel i can do wonders with my hands", referring to the ability to paint, or cut hair, that can never be expressed in as many words in an adult world and which, at times, rule unconsciously, either through trial or ruing a lost opportunity, a lifetime of choices, is one of the banes of this world of reality and pragmatism.
One wonders, what is it that encapsulates a relationship? What is it that chemistry that ties one to another? What is it that sustains the relationship without a partner spiritually not cheating the other? What is it about two people that brings them together? What is it about two souls where one can go on living a life independent of what the soul truly feels. But then, aren't all humans like that, prefects of dichotomy. Does one do what one truly wants? Again, can you actually articulate what you truly want? And even if you do, is that what you actually want? At the core of all this are the same, fleeting feelings, emotions that surface and topple over the facade of the real world.
What is it about First love that it evokes such strong nostalgic memories? Again.. First love, i stress, not infatuation, not the set of feelings that is over, once tasted.
The relational differences between the Hajime & Shimotomo-san , Izumi and Yukuki all capture different feelings, thoughts that i guess a lot of people undergo but lack the creativity to express in the years of dogged teaching to be in line with convention. The author Haruki Murakami has, i feel, done a wonderful job of capturing thoughts, feelings, emotions and that inner thought that, at times, even we are unaware of.
