Pure love for another person, and what people call romantic love, are two different things. Pure love doesn’t manipulate the relationship to one’s advantage, but romantic love is different. Romantic love contains other elements—the desire to be loved by the other person, for instance. If purely loving another was enough, you wouldn’t suffer because of unrequited love. As long as the other person was happy, there wouldn’t be any need to suffer because you weren’t being loved in return. What makes people suffer is the desire to be loved by another person. So I decided that romantic love and pure love for a person are not the same. And that by following this you could lessen the pain of unrequited love.
~Haruki Murakami
Tag: murakami quotes
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
I started to read this book in February and was really enjoying it but had to put it on hold after reading more than half of the 681 pages when I realized I actually still don’t have any idea what’s it about or what’s it all for (or am I missing something?). A week ago (thanks to the long holiday!), I realized this is Murakami. It may (or it may not) be the entire point of the story. Where is it heading? It doesn’t matter.
Killing Commendatore follows the life and experiences of the unnamed narrator, a portrait painter from Tokyo. He and his wife separated and he ended up living in a house on top of a mountain which belongs to Tomohiko Amada, a famous artist. It was after discovering the painting, Killing Commendatore, in the attic that a series of mysterious circumstances started happening.
This again proved what a great narrator Murakami is but I’m slightly unsatisfied with the ending, though. I wished he could have given us a little bit more in order to connect the mysteries somehow. And a little bit more of Menshiki perhaps? But then again, it’s Haruki Murakami. He always leaves the reader wondering about unanswered questions or an idea or this time a metaphor. All in all, it’s a good read but not one I’d recommend as an introduction to Murakami.
Quotable Quotes:
“That sometimes in life we can’t grasp the boundary between reality and unreality. That boundary always seems to be shifting. As if the border between countries shifts from one day to the next depending on their mood. We need to pay close attention to that movement otherwise we won’t know which side we’re on.”
“Our lives really do seem strange and mysterious when you look back on them. Filled with unbelievably bizarre coincidences and unpredictable, zigzagging developments. While they are unfolding, it’s hard to see anything weird about them, no matter how closely you pay attention to your surroundings. In the midst of the everyday, these things may strike you as simply ordinary things, a matter of course. They might not be logical, but time has to pass before you can see if something is logical.”
“I had taken a nap, but my head was muddled. It felt like a ball of yarn had been crammed into the back of a narrow desk drawer, and now the drawer wouldn’t close properly.”
“A face is like reading a palm. More than the features you’re born with, a face is gradually formed over the passage of time, through all the experiences a person goes through, and no two faces are alike.”
“From far off, that slice of ocean was nothing more than a dull lump of lead. Why people insisted on having an ocean view was beyond me. I much preferred gazing at the surrounding mountains. The mountains on the opposite side of the valley were in constant flux, transforming with the seasons and the weather, and I never grew tired of these changes.”
Rating: 4/5 stars
Quote of the Week
Love can rebuild the world, they say, so everything’s possible when it comes to love.
~Haruki Murakami
Three Days, Three Quotes Challenge #3 – Day 1
Big thanks to Elma for this challenge. It’s pretty late but here it is. 🙂
The Rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post a quote for three consecutive days, or whenever the mood strikes you.
- Tell why that quote appeal to you.
- Nominate three bloggers for each post.
The nominees:
If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there’s salvation in life. Even if you can’t get together with that person.
-Haruki Murakami
This quote is from Haruki Murakami’s book, 1Q84. This appeals quite much to me because of experience. I get to love someone with my whole heart even though I can’t be together with that person…
Three Days, Three Quotes Challenge #1 – Quote #1
I’m so glad to accept this Three Days, Three Quotes Challenge from Shreya. Thank you! I just can’t say no to quotes challenges! 😉
The Rules:
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Post a quote for three consecutive days.
- Nominate three other bloggers each day.
Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive.
-Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
The nominees:
Happy Monday, homo sapiens!
Quote of the Week
Music has that power to revive memories, sometimes so intensely that they hurt.
-Haruki Murakami, Men Without Women (Yesterday)
Quote of the Week
People don’t always send messages in order to communicate the truth… just as people don’t always meet others in order to reveal their true selves.
-Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Quote of the Week
Each person feels pain in his own way, each has his own scars.
-Haruki Murakami
Quote of the Week
Memories warm you up in the inside. But they also tear you apart.
-Haruki Murakami
Quote of the Week
Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.
–Haruki Murakami
HappymessHappiness 