A lecture on Murakami's masterpiece Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
In The Book Club we focus on important books and authors and that are fun to read too. This second edition will focus on the Haruki Murakami and his masterpiece Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
For many years, Haruki Murakami has been the most popular Japanese author in the world and favourite for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Magical animals - such as a lost sheep or talking cats - parallel worlds as well as everyday lives and characters are central to his books. If you fall for one of his many books - of which Norwegian Wood and the 1Q84 trilogy are his most famous works - you'll probably want to read everything he's written. He sells millions of books and is so popular that entire festivals are organised around his latest books.
According to philosopher Ype de Boer, this isn't just because his books are exciting and well written. At a deeper level, his fiction tells of a fundamental division in human existence. When you read his books, Murakami seems to be looking directly into your own soul.
In his lecture, Murakami expert Ype de Boer will talk about the existential values in Murakami's books, particularly in his book Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. What can Murikami's stories teach us about life, love and death? What do his books say about us and our modern (western) society?
Ype de Boer is the author of 'Murakami en het gespleten leven' (AUP, translation: Murakami and the divided life). He is currently writing a PhD thesis at VU Amsterdam on the work of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben.
Some books change the world, voice stories that were unheard of until that point or reflect a certain tendency in society in such a way that it almost feels prophetic. In the series The Book Club we talk about important books and authors, and look at the societal changes and challenges that they represent.
“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” (Murakami)
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Date: Wed 3 April 2019
Time: 16:00 hrs (doors open 15:30 hrs)
Location: Lecturehall A, Erasmus University College, Nieuwemarkt 1A
Ticket information
Entrance: Free
This event is open for all EUR, EMC and EUC students and employees. It is not necessary to have read to book in order to attend the event, though we would of course encourage you to do so.
Organized by Studium Generale in collaboration with EUCSA (Erasmus University College Student Association)