La Jornada: Lines overflow in bookstores in Japan to get Haruki Murakami’s new novel

Tokyo. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami stated that his books are “completely different” from what artificial intelligence (AI) can produce, in an interview published yesterday on the occasion of the launch of his new novel.

Kaho’s storythe author’s first book that has a woman as the protagonist, went on sale at midnight in some bookstores in Japan, where lines of dozens of people formed.

“AI takes into account everything that has happened so far and establishes analogies,” said the author in a talk with the Kyodo news agency. “But the processes by which I write novels are completely different.”

Rapid advances in generative AI have made it possible for these models to write entire books and stories in seconds. However, the role of a novelist is to “bring forth something new that suddenly crosses your mind,” Murakami defended.

The author of Tokio Blues y Kafka on the shore, Translated into some 50 languages, he is known for his complex narratives about the absurdity and loneliness of modern life. When he immerses himself in writing a story, the characters appear to him suddenly, and “it’s not something that arises from analogies,” he explained. “AI probably can’t do that,” he said.

In his new work, a woman takes the lead role for the first time, said his publisher, Shinchosha.

“I had the feeling of seeing the world through different eyes than the ones I usually use,” said the writer in another interview with the newspaper. Asahi published this Friday.

“Of course, I can only imagine how women see the world,” she added. “But when I wrote Kafka on the shoresaw the world through the eyes of a 15-year-old boy, and in that sense, a novelist can become anything.

“Shortly before writing this book, I spent time at Wellesley College, a women’s college in the United States,” the author explained to the Japanese newspaper.

“Nowadays, women’s points of view are highly valued, and I think being immersed in that environment also influenced Kaho this time,” he concluded.