 UK 1st edition cover | |
| Editor | Haruki Murakami |
|---|---|
| Author | Haruki Murakami |
| Original title | めくらやなぎと眠る女 Mekurayanagi to nemuru onna |
| Translator | Philip Gabriel, Jay Rubin |
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre | Short story collection |
| Published | 2006 (Harvill Secker) (UK) 2006 (Knopf) (U.S.) |
| Publication place | Japan |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 334 (UK) 352 (U.S.) |
| ISBN | 1-84343-269-2 (UK) 1-4000-4461-8 (U.S.) |
| OCLC | 65203792 |
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (めくらやなぎと眠る女, Mekurayanagi to nemuru onna) is a collection of 24 short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.
The stories contained in the book were written between 1980 and 2005, and published in Japan in various magazines and collections. The contents of this compilation was selected by Murakami and first published in English translation in 2006 (its Japanese counterpart was released later in 2009). Around half the stories were translated by Philip Gabriel with the other half being translated by Jay Rubin. In this collection, the stories alternate between the two translators for the most part.
Murakami considers this to be his first real English-language collection of short stories since The Elephant Vanishes (1993) and considers after the quake (2000) to be more akin to a concept album, as its stories were designed to produce a cumulative effect.[1]
In the introductory notes to the English-language edition of Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Murakami declares, "I find writing novels a challenge, writing stories a joy. If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden."[2]
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (Saules aveugles, femme endormie), an animated film adaptation of the book by French animator Pierre Földes, premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2022.[3]
- ^ Murakami, Haruki (2006). "Introduction to the English edition". Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.
- ^ Article about Blind willow, Sleeping Woman [1], retrieved June 1, 2007.
- ^ Angelica Babiera, "Canadian copro Saules aveugles, femme endormie wins at Annecy". Playback, June 1, 2021.