Murakami began work on a new novel in the autumn of 1981 the, and completed the next spring, in time kind of rhythm came to him in the habit. The author knew that he wanted to write a novel just about the sheep, so the first time in his artistic career, he left home to conduct some research. He went to the sheep farm and talked with several experts on breeding sheep in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan.
Pinball, 1973 (1973年のピンボール, 1973-nen no pinbōru?) is a novel published in 1980 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The second book in the “Trilogy of the Rat” series, it is preceded by Hear the Wind Sing (1979) and followed by A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), and is the second novel written by Murakami.
All three books in the Trilogy of the Rat have been translated into English, but Pinball, 1973, and Hear The Wind Sing, the first two books in the trilogy, were only printed as English translations in Japan by Kodansha under their Kodansha English Library branding, and both only as A6-sized pocketbooks. Before being reprinted in 2009, these novels were difficult to locate and quite expensive, especially outside of Japan. Murakami is alleged to have said that he does not intend for these novels to be published outside of Japan. Whether or not this is true, both novels are much shorter than those that follow and make up the bulk of his work, and are less evolved stylistically. The title, 1973-nen no Pinbōru (1973年のピンボール) reflects the title of the well-known Oe Kenzaburo novel, Man’en Gannen no Futtoboru (万延元年のフットボール).
I sometimes think that I’m getting older every hour. And, most terrible, – so it is. Some information before my review.
