The Lexington Ghost

Name: The Lexington Ghost
ISBN: 9787532788040

Haruki Murakami / Lin ShaohuaShanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaNov 2021

4.0

Word count: 63K words
Chapters: 11
ISBN: 9787532788040

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Summary

A short story collection by Haruki Murakami, comprising seven stories: “The Lexington Ghost,” “The Green Beast,” “Silence,” “The Ice Man,” “Tony Takitani,” “The Seventh Man,” and “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.” Centered on loneliness and fear, the collection tells the stories of men who “love solitude.”

Among them, “Tony Takitani,” poignant and beautiful, has been called one of Murakami’s “truly great short stories” and has been adapted into a film of the same name. “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman,” which explores the possibility of freedom for lonely souls in the city, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.

Editor's review

The Lexington Ghost is a 1996 short story collection by Haruki Murakami, featuring seven varied stories that explore loneliness and alienation. The title story was inspired by a local legend the author heard while living in Princeton; through the strange experiences of a pianist living alone in an old house, it showcases Murakami’s signature blend of reality and illusion. The story “Silence” is often regarded as a turning point in his career, dissecting school violence and the dark side of human nature with a cold, unflinching touch, no less powerful than his novels. A crystallization of Murakami’s short fiction from his mature period, the book continues his distinctive urban alienation and surreal atmosphere while displaying more concise narrative control. Unlike the youthful melancholy of Norwegian Wood, it is more an existential inquiry from a middle-aged perspective—each story is like a half-open door, behind which lie the fathomless dark corridors of the characters’ inner lives. The Shanghai Translation Publishing House edition precisely captures the original’s calm, restrained tone, and Lin Shaohua’s translation brings the “Murakami voice” to full maturity. Of particular note are the icy allegory of marriage in “The Ice Man” and the poetic treatment of traumatic memory in “The Seventh Man,” both indispensable keys to understanding Murakami’s literary world.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love Murakami’s short fiction and want to experience the appeal of his concise storytelling
Modern readers who resonate with themes of urban loneliness and existential predicament
Readers who enjoy literary works that blend reality and illusion with surreal touches
Readers who wish to understand the core themes of Murakami’s literature through the short story form

Not a good fit for

Readers who expect traditional linear narrative and reject metaphor and symbolism
Readers seeking light, entertaining reading experiences

Reading tips

Reading in order is recommended to experience the narrative depth from the ‘ghost legend’ to the ‘abyss of human nature’
After each story, pause for a moment to savor the lingering, distinctive reading experience
It can be read alongside Murakami’s contemporaneous essay collection, A Foreign Language I Can Only Speak Sadly, to understand his creative context

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
孤独并不总是可以把玩
列克星敦的幽灵
列克星敦的幽灵
绿兽
沉默
冰男
托尼瀑谷
第七位男士
盲柳，及睡女
后记

FAQ

Is this book very different in style from Norwegian Wood?

The difference is significant. This collection focuses more on surreal metaphor and psychological depth, with more concise and austere narration and fewer youthful romance elements.

Which story in the book is the most representative?

“Silence” is widely recognized as the most powerful piece; its profound dissection of human nature is often compared to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

Is it suitable as an introductory Murakami read?

Though not a typical introduction, the short story form makes for easy segmented reading and offers a quick taste of the core qualities and artistic style of Murakami’s literature.

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About the author

Haruki Murakami Author · Japan · 1949

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist and translator of American literature, born in 1949 in Fushimi, Kyoto, and a graduate of Waseda University. He entered the literary world in 1979 with Hear the Wind Sing and has since continued to produce novels, essays, and interview-based nonfiction, with 57 titles by him carried on this site. His fiction often traces urban individuals' sense of loneliness, loss, and self-discovery, moving between the real and the surreal in a light yet introspective tone that has become a highly recognizable personal style. Representative works include Norwegian Wood, A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, many of which are classed as classics and foreign literature. He has also translated American writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, and his own work has been translated into many languages and recognized with international awards including the Franz Kafka Prize and the Jerusalem Prize, giving him wide influence among contemporary world literature readers.

Lin Shaohua Author · Chinese · 1952

Lin Shaohua, born in 1952 in Jiutai, Jilin, with ancestral roots in Penglai, Shandong, is a renowned Chinese literary translator and essayist who previously served as a professor at the College of Foreign Languages, Ocean University of China. Since translating Norwegian Wood in 1989, he has devoted himself to introducing Japanese literature to Chinese readers, translating more than forty works by Haruki Murakami as well as notable works by Natsume Soseki, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and Yasunari Kawabata. His fluent and nuanced translations have won him a wide readership in the Chinese-speaking world and have profoundly influenced the reception of Murakami and modern Japanese literature in China. In 2018, he received the Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation. His translations span novels, essays, and interview collections, with representative works including Snow Country, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kokoro, The Setting Sun, and The Izu Dancer.