Ha Linh –

Most recently, Rubin spent a year and a half translating the first volume of 1Q84 – a novel published in 3 volumes in Japan from 2009 to 2010. But on October 25, this work was published in its entirety.

Cover of 1Q84 published in the US.

This series of novels about history, religion, violence and human relationships is considered `indispensable for those who want to access contemporary Japanese literature`.

The New Yorker’s online page was once blocked when posting excerpts from 1Q84 because millions of readers read it.

Few writers attract readers like H. Murakami.

In 1998, when Vintage Books published Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, they asked the author to cut it down to about 25,000 words.

Writer Haruki Murakami.

But this success after another forced Vintage as well as many other foreign publishers to reconsider this Japanese writer.

“Now the publisher doesn’t direct anything anymore.

Rubin became a fan of Murakami when an American publisher asked him to read `Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World` more than 20 years ago.

“I told them, by all means, you have to publish it.

1Q84 Japanese version.

Rubin is also very fascinated by Murakami’s short stories.

“I think he writes better short stories than novels.

But before being forced to read Hardboiled Wonderland, Rubin showed little interest in Murakami.

“I looked at his work and thought, this is probably the kind of story about teenage girls, dreaming of going to bed with one guy after another.

But the fact is that Rubin was wrong.

However, Rubin did not like Murakami’s naming of 1Q84.

Besides this, the American translator is very pleased with the content of the work.

So what makes Murakami so popular with American and Western readers?

“I don’t know,” Rubin replied with a smile.

Perhaps, Murakami had a different direction when composing.

“He was clearly very fond of American literature.