#dancedancedance

When reading Murakami, I find it crucial to keep an open mind and abandon everything you have ever thought you knew about how a plot is going to develop and come to a head. DDD is, I believe, the third Murakami novel to work its way into my collection and definitely not my last as by reading this I was once again whisked away to the world of magical realism so expertly created and so wonderfully enticing. From the frozen corners of Japan to the beautiful scenery of Hawaii, Murakami takes the reader on a journey of discovery and quiet adventure, every action, every move and every interaction seeming to be perfectly ordinary but always with the question, will he (the narrator) find Kiki?

On the topic of Kiki, I am in awe how someone can write a book with so much going on (psychic 13 year old, magical sheep man who lives in a hotel) and yet probably the biggest question being asked is “is he going to find Kiki” just for (spoiler alert) his friend to kinda confess to killing her, which he totally did in my opinion, but “can’t remember” because the trauma of what he has done has repressed the memory of his actions. Kiki remains as elusive as your house keys when you’re trying to find them right before you’re supposed to leave the house and yet that is what propels the novel because no matter what he does, the nameless narrator is always on the search for her. Of course more questions come to mind other than just Kiki. For example, the artist mother of the psychic 13 year old - how has she not lost custody? She effectively abandons her underage child at every turn and the narrator comes in as some babysitter turned friend. Then there is the sheepman. Is he real? Is he the narrator’s subconscious? He seems to be part of some sequel of Murakami’s but I haven’t the energy to read into it. Then the dark room with the skeletons? So. Many. Questions.

All these questions but the most memorable moment of the novel to me was when Kiki and the narrator ‘reunite’ and it’s like the feeling of all the pieces sliding into place to come to the final conclusion - the narrator fears losing someone close to him and has never cried for the people he lost so he has just been living with this incredible amount of repressed grief and the whole time this is where the story was headed.

🌅🌊🌪️💡🏞️☕🕊️😎

bad quality but good dance and story

DANCE DANCE DANCE

Saturday 14th July

Margate Arts Club

And this time we have the brilliant James Holroyd, the only DJ to have supported The Chemical Brothers since they started.