Thursday, January 23, 2020

Flint, Meet Murakami


Sound familiar?

"The town was home to many kinds of people. In the eighteen years I lived there I learned a great deal. My emotional roots are there, and almost all my memories are connected to the place. Nevertheless, the spring I entered university, I heaved a deep sigh of relief when I left.

I still come back for spring and summer vacation, but basically all I do is drink beer."

— Haruki Murakami, "Hear the Wind Sing," 1979


3 comments:

  1. Take 1: Get lost, real 'toids don't need you nostalgia goofs with your fond memories of Sciapacassee's and Mann Hall Park Bingo Tournaments. Real G's from Haruki's hometown agree fo' sho.

    Take 2: If all of you college goofs would have stuck around instead of "finding yourself" in Ann Arbore, Flint coulda been like a cooler version of Paris in the 1920s. Right, Haruki?

    Take 3: Put down that 40 of Colders 29 and get learnt. The avant garde is here and now: while you're getting drunk on brewski like it is 1952 the future of post-creative thought is happening in Flint RIGHT NOW. Yo Haruki, toodle on over to Epsilon Trail if you need some inspirational resuscitation.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.