The Music of Words.

Haruki Murakami writes on the importance of the influence of music on his writing in The New York Times (might require free registration):

Whether in music or in fiction, the most basic thing is rhythm. Your style needs to have good, natural, steady rhythm, or people won’t keep reading your work. I learned the importance of rhythm from music — and mainly from jazz. Next comes melody — which, in literature, means the appropriate arrangement of the words to match the rhythm. If the way the words fit the rhythm is smooth and beautiful, you can’t ask for anything more. Next is harmony — the internal mental sounds that support the words. Then comes the part I like best: free improvisation. Through some special channel, the story comes welling out freely from inside. All I have to do is get into the flow. Finally comes what may be the most important thing: that high you experience upon completing a work — upon ending your “performance” and feeling you have succeeded in reaching a place that is new and meaningful. And if all goes well, you get to share that sense of elevation with your readers (your audience). That is a marvelous culmination that can be achieved in no other way.

If I remember correctly, Jay Rubin writes more about this in his book, Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words.

Also, I checked out Kinokuniya KLCC yesterday and they're stocked up on After Dark. It even has a 20% discount if you buy it with another book. Good thing too, the slim volume costs Rm69.90.

Now, if only Starmag would publish my review already.

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Ted Mahsun

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