I read Naoko's letter again and again, and each time I read it I would be filled with the same unbearable sadness I used to feel whenever Naoko stared into my eyes. I had no way to deal with it, no place I could take it to or hide it away. Like the wind passing over my body, it had neither shape nor weight, nor could I wrap myself in it.
Haruki MurakamiMemories and thoughts age, just as people do. But certain thoughts can never age, and certain memories can never fade.
Haruki MurakamiAll things in my novels are real for me. Some western critics said that Garcia Marquez's novels are magic realism. However, I believe that Marquez must have experienced everything in his novels.
Haruki MurakamiWe all die and disappear, but that's because the mechanism of the world itself is built on destruction and loss.
Haruki MurakamiI laughed. โYouโre too young to be so โฆ pessimistic,โ I said, using the English word. โPessi-what?โ โPessimistic. It means looking only at the dark side of things.โ โPessimistic โฆ pessimistic โฆโ She repeated the English to herself over and over, and then she looked up at me with a fierce glare. โIโm only sixteen,โ she said, โand I donโt know much about the world, but I do know one thing for sure. If Iโm pessimistic, then the adults in this world who are not pessimistic are a bunch of idiots.
Haruki Murakami