The Ordinary

From what we’ve read in class, it seems that Murakami enjoys creating characters that are normal, ordinary, and relatable. Additionally, some of his short stories seem like glimpses into everyday life, and there isn’t always an extreme event that takes place. In the short story “A Perfect Day for Kangaroos,” the simplicity of the trip and the innocence of the baby kangaroo made me believe that perhaps Murakami is emphasizing the simple joys of life and the pleasures of the mundane. Unlike “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” there is no dramatic ending where a character commits suicide, or hints of PTSD. The couple in “A Perfect Day for Kangaroos” have a busy schedule like most adults in the real world, and have to push back and reschedule plans accordingly. The dialogue between the pair flows smoothly and is a quick back and forth— accurate to what real conversations are like. The line, “Yep that’s life alright” (Murakami 95), is so nonchalantly mentioned, and it’s careless in a way that is meant to relate to how we feel, behave, and think in the real world, where we have to take what happens to us in stride and find ways to adapt as time as goes. I enjoyed reading “A Perfect Day for Kangaroos” because it was so uneventful; it showcases how even the smallest and most ordinary events in life are worth cherishing and reading about, and perhaps not everything we read needs to have some greater meaning behind it. The range of themes not everything we read needs to have some greater meaning behind it. The range of themes that Murakami covers in his writing (from magical realism in A Wild Sheep Chase, to feelings of loneliness in "The Year of Spaghetti", to the mundane in "A Perfect Day for Kangaroos") provides a diverse outlook at life and reality. The "worlds" that Murakami creates are unique but also connected, and leave the reader wondering why someone else's life can be so interesting from an outsider's perspective, while our own lives are seemingly "boring."

-Michelle