National Anthem
The most emailed article
on the Times website right now is about Japanese youth who completely
withdraw from society by retreating into their rooms, in some cases,
for years at a time. The anecdote about Takeshi, a man who
isolated himself into his room at age 15, harks back to Murakami’s novel, Kafka on the Shore:
After Takeshi spent four years in his childhood bedroom, he was finally
motivated to leave, he said, by his frustration with himself and by the
Radiohead lyrics: “This is my final fit, my final bellyache.”
motivated to leave, he said, by his frustration with himself and by the
Radiohead lyrics: “This is my final fit, my final bellyache.”
In Murakami’s novel, a 15-year-old runaway, Kafka, subsists on a media
diet of history books on Napoleon’s futile march to Moscow and German
war criminals, and Radiohead and Prince CDs. The juxtaposition of
these two stories and the role that Radiohead has in each reminds me
that perhaps their music has greatest resonance among Japan’s
disaffected, post-modern, hyper-consumeristic youth.
ToastyKen
January 17, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Very clever entry title!
Y.
January 18, 2006 @ 1:38 pm
Fascinating and sad.
S
January 26, 2006 @ 1:24 am
What luxury and privilege to retreat to one’s room. Sad but luxurious – come on we all fantasize about it. 🙂