“South of the Border, West of the Sun” by Haruki Murakami

We were, the two of us, still fragmentary beings, just beginning to sense the presence of an unexpected, to-be-acquired reality that would fill us and make us whole. We stood before the door we'd never seen before. The two of us alone, beneath a faintly flickering light, our hands tightly clasped together for a fleeting ten seconds of time.

About a month ago, one of my friends gave me a book "South of the Border, West of the Sun" written by Haruki Murakami. Frankly, I didn`t expect too much of it, even though the name Haruki Murakami was not unfamiliar to me. I haven`t read anything he wrote until now though, so I was totaly unprepared to what I will find there. On the other hand, I am not fond of modern Japanese writers, I`ve read some books in the past twenty years and they didn`t appeal to me.
Written in 1992. while writer was visiting Princeton University in USA, this short novel describes the most intimate thoughts of a man, describing few different stages of his life. From growing in a small town through studying in Tokyo and establishing his own business there, he invites us to some of a key moments of his emotional life, spread over more than 30 years.
At first I thought I won`t be patient enough to read it all the way to the end, even though the book is not more than 100 pages long. But suddenly I have found myself so attached to the story, I finished it in two evenings. A simple way of describing thoughts and insecurities of his youth, till some of the most powerful choices he was facing, choices that could completely destroy whole structure of his life, made me identify myself with the main character more than I thought it would. Of course, events he described are not the same I had in my life but I could recognize thoughts almost as my own.
From the childhood, things we do determine what will happen to us later, over the years. What kind of people we will be. This is the path we follow unconsciously and when we turn back to see, everything looks logical. Like it was meant to be. At one moment, we will see two paths in front of us and there will be no one to decide instead of us. Where to go. No one but us. Then, recognizing the real values in life is essential.

Inside that darkness, I saw rain falling on the sea. Rain softly falling on a vast sea, with no one there to see it. The rain strikes the surface of the sea, yet even the fish don't know it is raining.
Until someone came and lightly rested a hand on my shoulder, my thoughts were of the sea.

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On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl – Haruki Murakami
Based on the short story by Haruki Murakami. Starring Dan Dredger, Sarah Guck, Molly Mercier and Kimyana Lee. Directed, shot and edited by Dan Dredger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgkRsis3yGY