Book Blog #3

"The next day's the same. Birds wake me up a little after six. I boil some water, make a cup of tea, and have breakfast. Read on the porch, listen to music, go fill up the water pail at the stream. And I walk down the path into the woods, this time carrying my compass, glancing at it every once in a while to get a general idea of where the cabin is. I found a hatchet in the shed and use it to chop simple hatch marks on trees. I clear out some of the underbrush to make the path easier to follow.
Just like yesterday the forest dark and deep, the towering trees forming a thick wall on both sides. Something of the forest is hiding there, in the darkness between the trees, like some 3-D painting of an animal, watching my every move. But the fear that made me shudder isn't there anymore. I've make my own rules, and by following them I won't get lost. At least I hope not (136)."

There is a metaphor hidden in this passage; make your rules and live by them. Once you start following yourself there is nothing to fear. It feels like when Haruki Murakami started writing this book he didn't plan it out, he just went with it. Meaning, everything he writes he makes it seem vital to the story but so far hardly anything fits together. I'm beginning to figure out that the parts of this book that seem arbitrary are either metaphors or characterization, or both. This passage stuck out to me because teaches a lesson. Although it does get rather confusing, I find myself taking note and trying to remember everything that happens in this book because Murakami's style of writing insinuates that every part is vital to the story. It's a lot to keep track of. Murakami also has this ability to make everything he writes feel important to the story, it's up to the reader to remember it all. The imagery Murakami uses when he describes them as a wall because they are so dense, and how he allows the reader to imagine how trapped the character is in nature. So far nothing in this book makes sense. Everything seems to be random and out of place. It will be surprise to see everything come together in the end.