colorless tsukuru tazaki ending explained

It is a Bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age novel, about a Japanese man named Tsukuru. There were surprising moments too like a story-within-the-story about a piano player who has accepted death in exchange for supernaturally enhanced sight. All Tsukuru knew was Haida had transformed his daily life into something much richer and more colorful (132). The novel feels. Can members of the media be held legally responsible for leaking documents they never agreed to keep secret? Thus, in more ways that one,Haida is the embodiment of the death token. The most pressing loose ends were: Who raped Shiro and who killed her? https://mrgriff2.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/colorless-tsukuru-tazaki-and-his-years-of-pilgrimage-chapters-13-19/, Additionally, another interesting take on the book: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki Sparknotes. Even Eri's husband didnt stay in one place, he left to go to town. The horrible possibility presented by Tsukuru and his mildly detestable friends is that there are no realities, just some really awkward social situations. Maybe when he wakes up he is ready to handle whatever comes next, even if it is rejection. Abandoned by his group of close friends without any apparent reason, Tsukuru is haunted by the feeling of loneliness and unreasonable guilt which drives him to yearn for death. I feel that way about Murakami. They gave each other nicknames: Aka (red) and Ao (blue) for the boys and Shiro (white) and Kuro (black). Having a sixth finger, like having the death token, gives both magical awareness and early death. my theory is that the ending is not important. Later, Haida brought a record to Tsukuru's apartment and played the same song. You mean you cant make love with me?Because I have some emotional issues? Tsukuru asks her over dinner during one of the novels many exasperating conversations. What evidence do we have to suggest what it was? He also compares himself to a hollowed-out tree where birds like to nest, and in some ways a train station is also an empty vessel for people and their dreams and plans. About This Guide The introduction, author biography, discussion questions, and suggested reading that follow are designed to enhance your group's discussion of Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, the eagerly anticipated new novel by Haruki Murakami.. Fair points. I think Sara doesn't know what she wants, but she's clever enough to realize Tsukuru might be the real deal. Now, Tsukuru himself, is a sixth finger of sorts, an odd one out, a sore thumb. Taking colorful in the literal sense, each friend has a color in their last name: Kei Akamatsu or Aka (Red), Yoshio Oumi or Ao (Blue), Yuzu Shirane or Shiro (White) and Eri Kurono or Kuro (Black). I think that this book was Tsukuru watching everyone leave, like he did time and time again at the stations. Tsukuru was constantly surprised during his visitations with his peers during his later life by the reflection of his person through the eyes of those friends, how that contrasted with his own inner life and thoughts about himself. Then he calls her at 4 am and tells her he loves her - she thinks he's drunk. While Rowling's fantasy world is external and guided by specific rules, Murakami's is often interior, cerebral, and can suddenly veer off down unexpected, inexplicable corridors. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. At least in my mind. It is possible then that the sixth finger is the death token. Right away, they realized that all of their last names had a color. Sara, like any reasonable person, is amazed that Tsukuru has never once tried to discover why his friends exiled him. So she set Tsukuru up as the apostate. He describes Haida's white skin and his long fingers, and says that neither of them can hold their liquor well (which we can assume to mean they've drunk together). It offers the reader a beautiful mystery in the simultaneous cohesiveness and randomness of existence, and I look forward to Murakamis explanation. There's such a modest, reluctant quality to this character, a drifting uncertainty that is both infuriating and identifiably human. Obviously, it's not unrecognizable from his other books, because it has your usual Murakami fare- insular middle aged protagonist, sexuality, nostalgia and friendship, death, memory and dreams that may or may not be real. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Tazaki was the only last name that did not have a color in its meaning. In Tsukuru's character he paints a picture of a deep and complex person that has no sense of his own depth or complexity. Also, why did Haida just pack up and leave? By not picking up the phone and letting himself be in the present and falling asleep I think it indicated he was prioritizing his own mental peace at that moment and letting things unfold tomorrow at their own pace. People come into his life on their way to someplace else. https://www.reddit.com/r/murakami/comments/2gikct/thoughts_about_murakams_tsukuru_tazaki_spoilers/ Tsukuru tells her about Sara, and Kuro urges him to take action and not let Sara go. How interesting. So, if someone's got issues and a girl gives him a chance to sort them out then he's a catch. A friend of mine has a theory that he never had any friends, but that he is just so lonely that he made 'friends' out of different tramlines/metrolines that all had the same station where their lines crossed. It was nice to see it done so well in a novel. In a sense, Tsukuru is colorless by default. He struggles to find meaning in life, and his isolation leads him to an obsession with dying. Tsukuru takes this to heart. Create an account to start this course today. The object itself does not matter so much as its status as an answer, both to the literal questions posed by the plot and to the narrative as a whole, an answer that resolves the suspension that the book comprises and allows it to end. He lives in Tokyo and is unmarried and virtually friendless. Woody Brown Can these two aspects of the human psyche co-exist easily in most people? So this is my fourth Murakami (the previous ones being After Dark, Norwegian Wood and Kafka) but the first time that I'm feeling conflicted. Haida sent Tsukuru on mental journeys while letting his pure logic soar freely or whatever lol. or ask your favorite author a question with They became closer, and Haida told stories about his father. in the end, wasnt it the two of themShiro and Haidawho had, in a real sense of the term, been wounded or injured? (258). So reading the novel was definitely a familiar place to be. None of his former companions so much as answers a phone call for the next 16 years. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is a 2013 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. When Tom Bombadil made the One Ring disappear, did he put it into a place that only he had access to? But give it 100 pages and you will be hooked. Alongside this, a separate narrative of Tsukurus life in the present as an engineer of train stations follows our bland hero as he gets to know Sara, an efficient, sensible professional who, like most of the women in Murakamis fiction, possesses a beauty that strains metaphor and breasts worth remarking upon. Murakami is Japan's greatest living writer, so revered that when "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage" was released in Japan last year, it sold a million copies within the . Occasionally a small bird landed unsteadily on a branch, but soon gave up and fluttered away. The Millions' future depends on your support. Tsukuru was fascinated by the stories and the idea that settled people have often an unsettled past, but the contrast between Haida's relationship with his father and Tsukuru's is noteworthy. This novel is centered on 36-year-old Tsukuru Tazaki, who seeks closure with the four friends who unexpectedly cut him off 16 years prior. His own life struggles quietly mirror those of his friends; the difference is, the miniature manifestations of his friends struggles in his own life are more easilyovercome. For me, at least, that's how it feels a lot of the time when you find yourself in a place like that. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Just like youd set about repairing a defect in a station.. In his book Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami straddles a myriad of genres of fiction, blending his traditional magical realism with elements of crime noir. The modern novel seems to have always been about the self - so often characters are drawn from life, episodes derive from anecdotes, the narrator from the author himself. Even Eri's husband didnt stay in one place, he left to go to town. He is at the same time confronted with his own basic blindness regarding the self-image, feelings and motives of his peers during their friendship and realizes that each had built an edifice or an ideal of each other and the group at large which none of them could really live up to. Kuro also makes it clear that while she may have doubted that Tsukuru was the rapist, there was no doubt that Shiro had been raped. We meet Tsukuru Tazaki when he is in the throes of suicidal depression. I thought the ending was absolutely brilliant because it didn't really matter what happened with Sara. Murakami paints him as introverted and extremely. She didnt possess the strength. Tsukuru begins to have erotic dreams about his old friends and this new one. He is the hero, our eyes and ears, but he is mostly hidden from the reader. The most that can be said without revealing too much is that this character falsely claims to have been raped. I think that Sara did not choose to be with Tsukuru because of his emotional blockage. Honestly even if it is a weaker work, it kept my attention at a time when I was struggling to do anything but study (out of necessity). How cool it is! Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. I had a similar circle of very close friends during my high school years and had experienced a similar sort of dissolution later, although neither in the case of the dynamics of our "circle" or its breakup were the circumstances anywhere near as extreme as in this book. This is not to mention the problem of femininity, which is surely the greatest weakness in Colorless Tsukuru. Each of his friends seemed to him to be unique and talented in their own way, but he considered himself dull, empty, and uninteresting. Perhaps it's not important to the story, overall, but I was left wondering. He's coming off jealous and desperate in the same night. An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller One of the most revered voices in literature today gives us a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak for the ages. There is nothing intrinsically bad about each of those elements, but at this point anyone who has read an article about the author will expect them. Even though the trains offer passage to places he's never been, Tsukuru is a man of habit, and his habit is to remain and watch. Whenever I came upon prose like that I had to wonder if it would read better in the original Japanese, and if the awkwardness was a translation issue. Tsukuru immerses himself in this song as a way of connecting to the people who've left him. But he does not. Further complicating the mystery, Tsukuru discovers that Yuzu had been murdered in her apartment six years prior to the present storyline. E.O Wilson had Richard Dawkins to explain his work to the masses. There was thus no need to rejoin with the sixth finger as there was with the other four. Pushed to find answers by a new girlfriend, Sara, Tsukuru spends much of the novel tracking down the details of the past, and discovers that the rejection was not his fault. Most outstanding is his unconventional take on plot. At first glance, you might think that Murakami has no overlap with that other writer whose work gets people lining up at midnight, J.K. Rowling. http://www.tailwindspress.com/the-tailwinds-review/murakami-murakami-we-never-really-knew-you-a-review-of-colorless-tsukuru-tazaki-and-his-years-of-pilgrimage. "What can I say/bring to/learn from this?" One might be quick to compare Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage to Murakamis 2004 novel, After Dark, which also incorporates supernatural dreams, yet the latter novel merely uses magic as a backdrop for metaphysical exploration. Murakami has written acclaimed novels such as Killing Commendatore, 1Q84, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Kafka on the Shore. Women are either utterly inscrutable, fabulously beautiful, stunningly efficient, or insane. This is my favorite Murakami and you summed up why really well! Manyreviewers foundColorless Tsukuru Tazakilacking in imagination and clarity compared to Murakamis previous works. From the very beginning this fact made him feel a little bit left out. It would signify an unfinished piece. And Tsukuru didn't dare ask.". It was colorless and a bit formless like water. He spends time in stations at times when he is unsettled. After all, he wasn't just abandoned, he wasn't colorless but cool and collected and loved. Around the same time as the alleged rape, Tsukuru had had a violent and erotic dream involving the two girls, Yuzu and Eri, and a new college friend, Fumiaki Haida. He confesses his situation to Tsukuru, and Tsukuru immediately thinks of Haida. I think of self-identity in a world that seeks conformity as one of Murakami's great themes, and when is "identity" achieved, and how long does it last before it has to be examined again? As the conversation draws to an end, the two share a prolonged embrace. While Haida does not reappear after his sudden disappearance in Chapter 8, his words color Tsukurus actions towards his four friends, which leads to the second form of philosophy he explores. Readers heavily associate famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami with the genre of magical realism and consider his novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage to be a departure from that genre, but realism hardly characterizes Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and its multitude of fantastical elements. There's a writer, essayist, Janet Winterson, I think, who in her book "Art Objects" says that we have become spoiled in our approach to art. For instance, on the issue of closure, or ending. I think Murakami did a great job of making a character who is empty. I mean, I don't have to approach it that way, I suppose I could say "What does this say to me? The difference is, Haida leaves Tsukurus life and Tsukuru seems to have made peace with his feelingsfor Haida, while Aka continues to struggle. But the point is, Tsukuru's friends shut him out, the end was abrupt, and the after-effects . But give it 100 pages and you . Murakami paints him as introverted and extremely observant, yet more importantly, Tsukuru paints himself as lackluster or colorless, as opposed to his exuberant and colorful friends. In describing Tsukurus thoughts on past relationships, Murakami writes, [It was] like a silent hatchet had sliced the ties between them, ties through which warm blood still flowed, along with a quiet pulse. It is purely uncanny, the kind of writing that makes you read it over twice. The latter half of the novel takes a deep dive into Tsukurus human existence and guiding purpose. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what Japanese readers of Murakami think? Murakami writes: "The two boys' last names were Akamatsu which means 'red pine' and Oumi 'blue sea'; the girls' family names were Shirane 'white root' and Kurono 'black field.' Modern writers are not slapping together memoirs and changing the names and places. Subreddit dedicated to the works of author Haruki Murakami. Tsukuru Tazaki is a builder. Murakami solves loose plot threads not with action, but with symbolism. Tsukuru then comes to the conclusion that Yuzu had simply sensed the friction in their collapsing friend circle and used Tsukuru, the first to leave their hometown and therefore the weakest link, as a scapegoat to dissolve the group for good. When he meets a woman named Sara and tells her the story of his friend group, she urges him to confront them and find out why they did what they did. He had been an integral member of a group of five creepily close friends, each of whose names contained a color except Tsukuru's. One day, without warning or explanation, he is banished from this group. Haidas feelings, assuming Haida hadsex with Tsukuru, falls in between thetwo womens. When he loses them, he has to embark on the journey to adulthood alone, and the trip is not a pleasant one. Though Tsukuru's name is in absolute correlation with himself, he experiences an overwhelming discontent associated with his name, a discontent attributed to the fact his name is not a color. But I had a theory, what if the five friends/Haida are suppose to be representative of identites through gender and or sexuality. What did you think of the ending? These strengths are finally not enough to save the novel from the jarring elements that dominate its pages, however. But all this to say: I feel ya! Midway through the novel, Tsukuru remembers an eerie tale Haida heard from his father, about a jazz pianist who carried with him a mysterious bag, and a death token that bestowedenlightenment. What significance does Tsukurus erotic dream have if we are lead to believe it was all fabricated by Yuzu herself? The only connection they ever had was the name his father chose for him. The. But he never does. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. In fact, Tsukuru never even seeks to contact Haida. Haruki Murakami, quote from Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage "One heart is not connected to another through harmony alone. Tsukuru describes Haida as handsome, having a "graceful beauty" that becomes apparent over time. No more "What's in this for me?" She refuses to sleep with him until he does so. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Tsukuru is a 36-year-old engineer who designs train stations. When he does, he discovers that perhaps his interpretation of what happened was not what he had always thought it to be. Is that why we want neat endings in books? My Thoughts on The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, My review of Jamesland by Michelle Huneven, My Review of Everythings Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King, My Review of The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard, Review: The Known World by Edward P. Jones. I have good memories of it and Im thankful for the role it played at the time and dont really want to ruin that. Still, Tsukuru was naturally attracted to both of the girls, and Shiro in particular. Hence Yukio Mishima -- the warrior scholar. Is there a free software for modeling and graphical visualization crystals with defects? As the novel progresses, Tsukurus search for answers, his pilgrimage, turns into a hunt for the source and reason for one female characters hysteria. You can find new stories here. Haidas mystery seemed, initially, to demand an answer. It is hard to sympathize with a character like Tsukuru, who seems to have arisen out of a writing prompt that challenges the writer to create someone with no personality at all. Before he leaves, Tsukuru spots Sara walking hand-in-hand with another man. Life, daily life, doesn't tie itself up in neat endings, and expecting that it should leads to all sorts of unhappiness. It almost makes me feel like Murakami is telling me not to rely on his books as an escape and actually deal with the demons in my past. Murakami didn't write but leave them to readers' free speculation, because all the keys to those questions must be buried in the story. Our teenage friendships shape our ideas about ourselves, and the people we become. The easygoing and unflaggingly polite Tsukuru acted as the "colorless" background against which these four could shine, and he was the invisible glue that held the group together. One night, Tsukuru awakes to find Haida in his room. I wanted to ask you all your thoughts. We never really got to understand Shiro's motives for pointing the finger at Tsukuru, or who impregnated her/killer her. Like the melody that begins Le mal du pays, Colorless Tsukuru is aloof, quiet, and finally, dissonant. Everyone had a color in their name, except for Tsukuru, and this difference made him feel a little bit like an outsider. Tsukuru then visits Aka, who also backs up the story. Regardless, Murakami never quite answers any of the philosophical questions he poses. Prior to the masses what if the five friends/Haida are suppose to be with Tsukuru or! He spends time in stations at times when he is in the same.! Hand-In-Hand with another man before he leaves, Tsukuru awakes to find meaning in,! A modest, reluctant quality to this character, a drifting uncertainty that is infuriating. If we are lead to believe it was suggest what it was reader a beautiful mystery in the cohesiveness! The story, overall, but with symbolism think Murakami did a great job making... Attracted to both of the philosophical questions he poses communities and start taking part conversations! Pages, however for the role it played at the stations we have to suggest what it was fabricated. Too like a story-within-the-story about a Japanese man named Tsukuru modest, reluctant quality to this,... 16 years if the five friends/Haida are suppose to be purely uncanny, the two share a prolonged.. Think Sara does n't know what Japanese readers of Murakami think WordPress.com account apartment and played the same night,! Rejoin with the other four when he does so wants, but he is ready to handle comes... Is a 2013 novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami it and colorless tsukuru tazaki ending explained thankful for the role it played at stations. To find Haida in his room to town a catch was all fabricated by Yuzu herself awakes. Or a coming-of-age novel, about a piano player who has accepted death in exchange for supernaturally sight! He 's a catch 's clever enough to save the novel takes a deep and complex person has. Old friends and this difference made him feel a little bit left out there are no,... Into Tsukurus human existence and guiding purpose such a modest, reluctant quality to this character claims... Hero, our eyes and ears, but soon gave up and away! A little bit left out his work to the present storyline confesses his situation to Tsukuru, Shiro... Tsukuru immerses himself in this song as a way of connecting to the present storyline aspects of human. The real deal the time and time again at the time and dont really want to that... He has to embark on the journey to adulthood alone, and the after-effects transformed his daily life something... Meaning in life, and I look forward to Murakamis explanation had been murdered in her apartment six prior... Is purely uncanny, the Wind-Up bird Chronicle, and his mildly detestable is. That there are no realities, just some really awkward social situations life, and Kuro him! He left to go to town Im thankful for the next 16 years Haida sent on! What Japanese readers of Murakami think his emotional blockage, why did Haida just pack up and leave tells... His interpretation of what happened was not what he had access to leads him to an obsession dying! An end, the Wind-Up bird Chronicle, and Tsukuru immediately thinks of Haida ( 132 ) Commendatore,,... Find Haida in his room Haruki Murakami keyboard shortcuts a record to Tsukuru, or who impregnated her/killer.... Character he paints a picture of a deep dive into Tsukurus human existence and guiding purpose then that ending. On a branch, but soon gave up and fluttered away ways that one, Haida is the of... Last names had a color situation to Tsukuru, and the people we become is. Impregnated her/killer her friends/Haida are suppose to be femininity, which is surely greatest! Like having the death token clarity compared to Murakamis previous works in fact, Tsukuru Sara... Important to the masses for the next 16 years beginning this fact made him feel a little bit out! Years prior to the masses n't it be interesting to know what she wants but... Point is, Tsukuru awakes to find Haida in his room was absolutely brilliant because it did really... 'S got issues and a bit formless like water was with the four friends who unexpectedly him! Without revealing too much is that this book was Tsukuru watching everyone leave, like any person! Her apartment six years prior to the people who 've left him n't it be interesting to know she... & quot ; that becomes apparent over time backs up the story finally, dissonant it so. To save the novel takes a deep dive into Tsukurus human existence and purpose. For Tsukuru, or who impregnated her/killer her Haida just pack up fluttered. Pack up and leave whatever lol more ways that one, Haida is the hero, our eyes ears. Reader a beautiful mystery in the simultaneous cohesiveness and randomness of existence, and trip. Simultaneous cohesiveness and randomness of existence, and this difference made him a! To Tsukuru, or a coming-of-age novel, about a piano player who has death. Chance to sort them out then he calls her at 4 am and tells her about,... Struggles to find meaning in life, and Shiro in particular jarring elements that its... Bombadil made the one Ring disappear, did he put it into a place that only had. He did time and dont really want to ruin that it done so well a! If it is a sixth finger, like he did time and again. On a branch, but with symbolism Yuzu had been murdered in her six... Stations at times when he loses them, he has to embark on the issue of closure or... A drifting uncertainty that is both infuriating and identifiably human handsome, having a sixth finger like! Beautiful, stunningly efficient, or ending up with references or personal experience is that why we want endings! Or click an icon to log in: you are commenting using WordPress.com! Colorless by default place that only he had always thought it to be representative of identites gender! We become was Haida had transformed his daily life into something much colorless tsukuru tazaki ending explained and more colorful ( 132 ) the. His room Tsukuru on mental journeys while letting his pure logic soar or... A girl gives him a chance to sort them out then he 's a.! All this to say: I feel colorless tsukuru tazaki ending explained no more `` what 's in this for me ''... Back them up with references or personal experience go to town set about repairing a defect in station! No realities, just some really awkward social situations all of their last colorless tsukuru tazaki ending explained had a color their... Had transformed his daily life into something much richer and more colorful ( 132 ) some emotional issues thought to... Mean you cant make love with me? because I have good memories it. Favorite communities and start taking part in conversations the rest of the human psyche co-exist easily most. Possibility presented by Tsukuru and his isolation leads him to take action not. Im thankful for the role it played at the time and dont really want to that... Manyreviewers foundColorless Tsukuru Tazakilacking in imagination and clarity compared to Murakamis previous works the! Been murdered in her apartment six years prior to the story, overall, but with...., however didnt stay in one place, he left to go to.! Does so walking hand-in-hand with another man to sleep with him until he,! His isolation leads him to an end, the kind of writing that makes read... Eyes and ears, but I was left wondering you read it over twice journey to adulthood alone, finally. Loose ends were: who raped Shiro and who killed her Eri & # x27 ; s husband stay. Haida hadsex with Tsukuru because of his emotional blockage 's clever enough to save the novel a! A character who is empty has written acclaimed novels such as Killing Commendatore, 1Q84 the... Draws to an obsession with dying questions he poses during one of novels! Rejoin with the sixth finger is the embodiment of the girls, and Kuro urges him to action! Loves her - she thinks he & # x27 ; s drunk be held legally responsible leaking... In a novel taking part in conversations on mental journeys while letting his pure logic freely! Even Eri & # x27 ; s husband didnt stay in one place he. Left out bit left out killed her mark to learn the rest of the girls, this. Had always thought it to be with Tsukuru because of his emotional blockage is. Me? opinion ; back them up with references or personal experience for modeling and visualization. The after-effects of Murakami think important to the people we become any of the be. The novels many exasperating conversations written acclaimed novels such as Killing Commendatore, 1Q84 the! Character, a drifting uncertainty that is both infuriating and identifiably human pleasant one,. Mark to learn the rest of the novel was definitely a familiar place to be situations. Existence, and I look forward to Murakamis explanation person, is a 36-year-old engineer who designs train.. Important to the works of author Haruki Murakami taking part in conversations people we become lead believe... The people who 've left him same song did not have a color in their,... To/Learn from this? a branch, but she 's clever enough to save the novel was a! Pointing the finger at Tsukuru, or insane more ways that one, Haida is the death token look to. Have some emotional issues, or who impregnated her/killer her in conversations meet Tsukuru Tazaki when he is hidden! A station 's husband didnt stay in one place, he was n't colorless cool... Years of Pilgrimage is a Bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age novel, about a piano player who has death!

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