murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
most. Then I'd have her play the piece again, and her performance would be ten times better than the first. She would see for herself what worked best and bring those features into her own playing." Reiko paused for a moment, observing the glowing end of her cigarette. I went on eating my grapes without a word. "I know I have a pretty good sense for music, but she was better than me. I used to think it was such a waste! I thought, ,if only she had started out with a good teacher and received the proper training, she'd be so much farther along!' But I was wrong. She wasn't the kind of child who could stand proper training. There just happen to be people like that. They're blessed with this marvellous talent, but they can't make the effort to systematize it. They end up squandering it in little bits and pieces. I've seen my share of people like that. At first you think they're amazing. They can sight-read some terrifically difficult piece and do a damn good job playing it all the way through. You see them do it, and you're overwhelmed. You think, "I could never do that in a million years.' But that's as far as it goes. They can't take it any further. And why not? Because they won't put in the effort. They haven't had the discipline pounded into them. They've been spoiled. They have just enough talent so they've been able to play things well without any effort and they've had people telling them how great they are from an early age, so hard work looks stupid to them. They'll take some piece another kid has to work on for three weeks and polish it off in half the time, so the teacher assumes they've put enough into it and lets them go on to the next thing. And they do that in half the time and go on to the next piece. They never find out what it means to be hammered by the teacher; they lose out on a crucial element required for character building. It's a tragedy. I myself had tendencies like that, but fortunately I had a very tough teacher, so I kept them in check. "Anyway, it was a joy to teach her. Like driving down the highway in 182
a high-powered sports car that responds to the slightest touch - responds too quickly, sometimes. The trick to teaching children like that is not to praise them too much. They're so used to praise it doesn't mean anything to them. You've got to dole it out wisely. And you can't force anything on them. You have to let them choose for themselves. And you don't let them rush ahead from one thing to the next: you make them stop and think. But that's about it. If you do those things, you'll get good results." Reiko dropped her cigarette butt on the floor and stamped it out. Then she took a deep breath as if to calm herself. "When her lessons ended, we'd have tea and chat. Sometimes I'd show her certain jazz piano styles - like, this is Bud Powell, or this is Thelonious Monk. But mostly she talked. And what a talker she was! She could draw you right in. As I told you yesterday, I think most of what she said was made up, but it was interesting. She was a keen observer, a precise user of language, sharp-tongued and funny. She could stir your emotions. Yes, really, that's what she was so good at - stirring people's emotions, moving you. And she knew she had this power. She tried to use it as skilfully and effectively as possible. She could make you feel whatever she wanted - angry or sad or sympathetic or disappointed or happy. She would manipulate people's emotions for no other reason than to test her own powers. Of course, I only realized this later. At the time, I had no idea what she was doing to me." Reiko shook her head and ate a few grapes. "It was a sickness," she said. "The girl was sick. She was like the rotten apple that ruins all the other apples. And no one could cure her. She'll have that sickness until the day she dies. In that sense, she was a sad little creature. I would have pitied her, too, if I hadn't been one of her victims. I would have seen her as a victim." Reiko ate a few more grapes. She seemed to be thinking of how best 183
- Page 132 and 133: never plays it unless I request it.
- Page 134 and 135: laughing. "How many girls has he sl
- Page 136 and 137: "I couldn't get wet," she said in a
- Page 138 and 139: Reiko sat alone on the carpet, play
- Page 140 and 141: She picked up the basketball again,
- Page 142 and 143: it in hot water, taking a few days
- Page 144 and 145: I said I liked him and thought he w
- Page 146 and 147: all this talk about me. You came he
- Page 148 and 149: have negative thoughts about her be
- Page 150 and 151: draw people - or draw me, at least
- Page 152 and 153: her, outside work, or sports. She h
- Page 154 and 155: est side, I'd say he succeeded. His
- Page 156 and 157: anana; if we got lonely, we'd go to
- Page 158 and 159: the window. She had drawn her knees
- Page 160 and 161: changes to be reborn in utter perfe
- Page 162 and 163: feed and a garden hose. Naoko screw
- Page 164 and 165: "We'll be back before lunch." The t
- Page 166 and 167: used it to make a whistle. The trai
- Page 168 and 169: adios in our rooms, so if I don't c
- Page 170 and 171: "It feels like ancient history," sa
- Page 172 and 173: "Well, it depends how you look at i
- Page 174 and 175: "She was the kind of person who too
- Page 176 and 177: something inside me had died. I jus
- Page 178 and 179: dining hall. "Is he a doctor or a p
- Page 180 and 181: "Fine," said Reiko. "But if we keep
- Page 184 and 185: to go on with her story. "Well, any
- Page 186 and 187: and saying "There there,' and she's
- Page 188 and 189: There was nothing I could say, and
- Page 190 and 191: ever experienced before, never once
- Page 192 and 193: Of course. I told him everything th
- Page 194 and 195: everything he could to heal me, and
- Page 196 and 197: night before, Naoko was the usual N
- Page 198 and 199: the way, when you went to Tokyo?" "
- Page 200 and 201: her body in my hands. In the darkne
- Page 202 and 203: "You see what?" "Nothing. Just "I s
- Page 204 and 205: I'd make lots of babies for you as
- Page 206 and 207: "Hmm ..." "And I'm just spacing out
- Page 208 and 209: Midori came for me at 9.30 on Sunda
- Page 210 and 211: "I don't know, I've never done it w
- Page 212 and 213: like the subjunctive case and diffe
- Page 214 and 215: somehow to the East India Company?'
- Page 216 and 217: comes we have to treat them to sush
- Page 218 and 219: Watanabe." "Glad to meet you," I sa
- Page 220 and 221: "No, I guess not. It's complicated,
- Page 222 and 223: "I really can't say until the time
- Page 224 and 225: know if I can keep going to univers
- Page 226 and 227: At 1.30 she left the hospital to do
- Page 228 and 229: "After I do my laundry tomorrow mor
- Page 230 and 231: ed and held it by the tip of his pe
a high-powered sports car that responds to the slightest touch -<br />
responds too quickly, sometimes. The trick to teaching children like<br />
that is not to praise them too much. They're so used to praise it doesn't<br />
mean anything to them. You've got to dole it out wisely. And you can't<br />
force anything on them. You have to let them choose for themselves.<br />
And you don't let them rush ahead from one thing to the next: you<br />
make them stop and think. But that's about it. If you do those things,<br />
you'll get good results."<br />
Reiko dropped her cigarette butt on the floor and stamped it out. Then<br />
she took a deep breath as if to calm herself.<br />
"When her lessons ended, we'd have tea and chat. Sometimes I'd show<br />
her certain jazz piano styles - like, this is Bud Powell, or this is<br />
Thelonious Monk. But mostly she talked. And what a talker she was!<br />
She could draw you right in. As I told you yesterday, I think most of<br />
what she said was made up, but it was interesting. She was a keen<br />
observer, a precise user of language, sharp-tongued and funny. She<br />
could stir your emotions. Yes, really, that's what she was so good at -<br />
stirring people's emotions, moving you. And she knew she had this<br />
power. She tried to use it as skilfully and effectively as possible. She<br />
could make you feel whatever she wanted - angry or sad or<br />
sympathetic or disappointed or happy. She would manipulate people's<br />
emotions for no other reason than to test her own powers. Of course, I<br />
only realized this later. At the time, I had no idea what she was doing<br />
to me."<br />
Reiko shook her head and ate a few grapes.<br />
"It was a sickness," she said. "The girl was sick. She was like the<br />
rotten apple that ruins all the other apples. And no one could cure her.<br />
She'll have that sickness until the day she dies. In that sense, she was a<br />
sad little creature. I would have<br />
pitied her, too, if I hadn't been one of her victims. I would have seen<br />
her as a victim."<br />
Reiko ate a few more grapes. She seemed to be thinking of how best<br />
183
Change language