Have you ever picked a book from your library and started reading it?

I did that a few days ago with Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is one of my favorite authors, and this is my eighth book of his I’ve read and reviewed on this blog. I was actually reading another novel and put it down to read this one.

Authors detailing their creative journey has always captivated me, so when I discovered Murakami had penned a book on this very subject, I was immediately drawn to reading it. In the Foreword, Murakami explains that his essay writing for the book began in 2010, with its original Japanese publication occurring five years after that. In 2022, the English language release offered Western readers Murakami’s personal insights into the creative journey, the publishing industry, and the reasons he left Japan to pursue his authentic writer’s voice.

Even though I read this book, a decade plus later, there were several quotes that will stick with me from now on, and I believe that will always remain relevant for writers. Here’s the first one: The most important thing is good readers. Nothing means as much as the people who dip into their pockets to buy my books—not prizes, or medals, or critical praise. Readers have no ulterior motives when they shell out twenty or thirty dollars for one of my books. “Let’s check this out” is (probably) what they’re thinking, pure and simple.

That quote came from his essay “On Literary Prizes.” Murakami emphasizes his deep connection with readers over the accolades of literary awards. I felt that as a writer. Most writers want to have a genuine connection with their readers. The intention isn’t for readers to pry into authors’ personal lives, but to establish a bond via their writing, a connection that must inherently be mutual.

Here is the next quote that will stick with me from now on: One of the things I most enjoy about writing novels is the sense that I can become anybody I want to be. I started off by writing novels in the first person, using the first-person male pronoun boku, and continued in the same vein for some twenty years. Occasionally I’d write short stories in third person, but my novels were consistently in first person, Naturally this “I” didn’t equal me, Haruki Murakami (just like Philip Marlowe isn’t Raymond Chandler), and in each novel the image of the first-person male protagonist changes, but as I continued writing in first-person, the line between the real-life me and the protagonist of the novels to a certain extent inevitably blurred, both for the writer and for the reader.

Murakami delves into this quote from his essay, “What Kind of Characters Should I Include,” explaining his transition from writing in the first person to the third person as his career progressed. But the first sentence of what he enjoyed about writing novels and that he has written in mostly first-person viewpoint are exactly how I feel about my writing. I have written all of my books from a first-person viewpoint perspective, and it is the way I can inhabit that character during the writing process. I believe it will always be a first-person viewpoint for my stories, and I know in some readers’ eyes that might seem one dimensional. Murakami’s essay has boosted my confidence, suggesting that writing from a particular perspective is fine as long as the writer stays true to the character and the story being conveyed.

Those two quotes along with several others that made Murakami writing about his creative process a joy to read. Sometimes a book seems to beckon you to read it when the time is right. This is the case with Novelist as a Vocation. This book will become a favorite of mine this year and is highly recommended for fans of Murakami. Furthermore, I recommend this to writers eager for insights from a leading figure in modern literary fiction.