Once in a while, someone will bring up Let’s Meet in a Dreamand the “collection of dialogues” between Itoi and myself. This, however, is clearly a mistake. Let’s Meet in a Dream is not a dialogue—but what, then, is it? I haven’t been able to find a good answer to this question.
Let’s Meet in a Dream is neither a short story collection nor a book of essays, nor is it a miscellaneous mix of assorted manuscripts. In short, I guess it’s a book of enigmas. From its very conception this book has always harbored mysteries. After all, every single chapter title sprawled across the book is written in katakana. The two of us, Itoi and I, just hammered out these stories, or essays, or whatever, and threw them all together. And now that I think about it it’s an incredibly unique—assertive, even—concept that I can’t quite make any sense of. It’s usually pretty confusing to figure out why we inadvertently write some words in katakana, anyway. But to that end, there exists an underground power plant by the name of Nariyuki (written in katakana), for which this book owes its successful completion and chance to see the light of day.
The result, to me, is as follows:
“Quite fascinating.”
What do you think?
I personally had a great time just working on it fifty-fifty with Shigesato Itoi.
The title, Let’s Meet in a Dream, was his brainchild. I’m not quite sure of the exact meaning behind it, either, but maybe it’s just saying, “Read this when you go to bed.” Or maybe it was some attempt between Itoi and I to meet up in some dream. Either way, the book is a complete mystery, from the tip of the title all the way down to the heart of the concept.
At the end of each chapter, there’s an “i” for Itoi or an “m” for Murakami. I think you’ll be able to figure us out without looking, though.
(Source: nickbottom)
^^^ Saturday, September 15, 2012