#589 The Seventh Man- Haruki Murakami
Delicate, imaginative and dreamlike as usual, Murakami hits a nice note with this one. It seems like a man is at a support group or something giving a testimonial about the worst thing that has happened to him.
When he was a teenager he had a best friend, K, who was smaller, slower, and sweeter than he was. He was his protector, and the two were like brothers. During a massive typhoon each was huddled inside their own homes, but during the eye of the storm they walked outside to inspect the damage while it was still calm.
The seashore was the place of interest, the waves had receded and the shoreline was riddled with debris and others things for them to inspect. Suddenly he felt a rush of fear and felt as if danger as coming. He called for K and ran. K didn’t hear until it was too late.
“I knew instinctively that they were alive. The waves were alive. They knew I was here and they were planning to grab me. I felt as if some huge man-eating beast were lying somewhere on a grassy plain, dreaming of the moment it would pounce and tear me to pieces with its sharp teeth.”
K was swallowed up by the tidal wave and dragged out to sea. For forty years, he has lived with this guilt, this pain, this fear. He left town and didn’t return until now. He may have found peace, but he will never get back the years he lost to grief.
No comments:
Post a Comment