After the quake

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After the quake ( Japanese 神 の 子 ど も た ち は み な 踊 る Kami no Kodomo-tachi wa Mina Odoru , German 'All children of God dance' ) is a book by Haruki Murakami . It was published in Japanese in 2000 and in German translation by Ursula Gräfe in 2003 by DuMont Buchverlag . It is a collection of six short stories , all except honey cake, first published in 1999 in the literary magazine Shinchō .

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Ufo in Kushiro ( UFO が 釧 路 に 降 り る UFO ga Kushiro ni Oriru )

The employee Komura is left by his wife because he feels like a lump of air to her . Komura then takes a vacation and travels to Kushiro in Hokkaido, where he meets twin sisters Keiko and Shimao Sasaki. He learns that being referred to as a lump of air can also have a positive meaning.

Still Life with an Iron ( ア イ ロ ン の あ る 風景 Airon no Aru Fūkei )

Junko sits with friends by the sea by a campfire at night. They discuss Jack London's stories and discover that a friend has painted a picture entitled Still Life with an Iron . However, it does not refer to a real iron, but rather it stands for something else.

All children of God dance ( 神 の 子 ど も た ち は み な 踊 る Kami no Kodomo-tachi wa Mina Odoru )

Yoshiya's mother is a member of an evangelical sect, his father is unknown to him. As a teenager, he tried to rebel against his mother's strict ideology. He suffers from a penis that is too large which he does not succeed with with girls. His mother called this penis a gift from God.

Thailand ( タ イ ラ ン ド Tairando )

Satsuki, a Japanese menopausal doctor who has lived in Detroit for a long time, is going to Thailand for a convention. There she got into conversation with a chauffeur who had a Norwegian boss and who loves jazz. He tells her that he wanted to return to Lapland, but did not do so. The driver eventually takes Satsuki to a village where she meets an old woman who is said to be able to predict dreams.

Frog saves Tokyo ( か え る く ん 、 東京 を 救 う Kaeru-kun, Tōkyō o Sukuu )

One day, the honest bank clerk Katagiri receives a visit from a large, talking frog. He says that he needs him as an ally in the fight against an underground worm that will otherwise cause an earthquake in the Tokyo area. On the day of the predicted earthquake, Katagiri wakes up in a hospital. The story with the frog was just a dream, but still the earthquake never happened.

Honey cake ( 蜂蜜 パ イ Mitsubachi Pai )

The literature student Junpei, the journalist Takatsuki and the English scholar Sayoko have a three-way relationship, with Takatsuki marrying Sayoko and having a child with her. When Takatsuki got divorced, he suggested that Junpei marry Sayoko. He has sex with her, but is interrupted by her daughter. Later he reads her his short stories.

criticism

“For Haruki Murakami, this catastrophe [note: the Kobe earthquake in 1995 ] was an occasion to return to Japan from his adopted American home. And she prompted him to write six short stories, all of which describe the ongoing disturbance. The focus is not on the visible destruction, but on the psychological wounds and scars on the witnesses and victims. "

- Martin Oehlen : Rock masses are spongy on Deutschlandfunk

literature

  • Haruki Murakami: After the quake . Translated from the Japanese by Ursula Gräfe. btb, Munich, 2005, ISBN 3-442-73276-X

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/gesteinsmassen-haben-schwammig.700.de.html