Murakami on the Subway An Analysis of Underground by Haruki Murakam

Haruki Murakami is one of the mos t important contemporary writers in the world. Mos t of his novels are about the contradictory situation of the modern man. Murakami is originally Japanese, but has a vas t range of readers from around the world. This made some of his critics accuse him of being alienated and removed from the culture and people of Japan. The Underground – despite the fact that it is not a novel- is Murakami’s mos t Japanese work so far. This book, which consis ts of Murakami’s interviews with the victims of Sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway (1995), has a his toriographical air to it. Murakami finishes this work with interviews with the members of the Aum Shinrikyo Cult (the attackers), implicitly attempting to portray the social divide and spiritual desolation in today’s Japanese society.