"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking...

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." - Haruki Murakami

What are Veeky Forums's opinion on this?

I don't want to read this dude's books now because in all honesty that quote is pretty silly

Just a generic "be yourself, don't be afraid to be different, you're special" quote, literature edition. It makes no sense if you think about it.

That sounds like something a pleb would like.

It's impossible not to be conditioned by other throughs. We all think the same - it's what we choose to focus into to make a difference. So, in a sense, that quote is right, although involuntary right; reading good books usually force you to think better things

I am Japanese and we hate Murakami. He brings shame to my nation.

Dumb quote but non-meme answer: people react and interpret things in different ways. Oftentimes in literature this can lead to several wildly different impressions of the same work.

So if you read no books, you cannot think
Not well thought-out, I guess he only reads his own books

It's true, except nobody reads books.

>If you only read the [longform clickbait thinkpieces] that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

this is only true if you're a low iq pseud who can't think for himself and just regurgitates smart things that other people have said/written

That man, in my country he is nothing.

THE BOOKS ARE PROGRAMMING US, MAN

can you explain why? i'm curious.

Nah, everyone reads the scrivener, it's sort of a seminal work. and it's fine that everyone does

This is rich coming from the man whose only character won't read books by living authors.

Sounds like a contrived attempt to get people to read more than what they're assigned in school.

Don't start threads for single quotes like this, especially not such mediocre quotes.

>implying everyone comes away with the same thoughts on each book
>implying thought only comes from reading

In Japan we call him little boy Murakami

Leh mow

That's dumb. Once you reach popular book's conclusion your thoughts and opinions are in no way the same as everybody else's. Is he trolling people who willfully live by his quotes?

>He brings shame to my nation.

Degenerate culture and country. You've got bigger issues.

fix your economy first. it's been about 40 years already. then talk about your shitty authors.

Like many things Murakami says it is both true and embarassingly obvious.

>true

No it isn't. People interpret the same novel in countless different ways.

He means you have to read MORE than those books, ya dink. Find some old neglected books and books by up-and-comers while you work your way through the canon.

any recommendations on good japanese authors?

I'm reading through The Brothers Karamazov right now, and no one at my workplace even knows who the fuck Dostoevsky is, except for my Polish friend (who dislikes him). So I don't think I have to worry about any sort of opinion stagnation, since they mostly seem to stick to YA novels.

90% women, by the way. Not that that's indicative of anything, of course.

I'm pretty sure the 90's wasn't 40 years ago senpai.

I see this quote everywhere on tumblr

>Degenerate culture and country.
You gotta be kidding, right? Japan is conservative as fuck compared to the west.

That anime kinky shit you see is an extreme minority. For the most part most Japanese don't even have have much sex outside of marriage.

>implying that creativity stems from exposure and not the individual
Murakami is a pseud confirmed; tag em and bag em boys.

Pseud. Trying to justify his lack of knowledge and understanding of the canon. B urself.