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【听力文段】mp3

Born in Kyoto in 1949, Murakami grew up during the post-World War II American occupation of Japan. The shadow of war hung over his life as it does his fiction; "Kafka on the Shore" features biological attacks, military ghosts and shady conspiracies.

Murakami's work blurs historical periods and draws from multiple cultural traditions. References to Western society and Japanese customs tumble over each other, from literature and fashion to food and ghost stories.

He has a penchant for musical references, too, especially in "Kafka on the Shore." As the runaway Kafka wanders the streets of a strange city, Led Zeppelin and Prince keep him company. Soon, he takes refuge in an exquisite private library. While he spends his days poring over old books and contemplating a strange painting and the library's mysterious owner, he also befriends the librarian- who introduces him to classical music like Schubert.

This musical sensibility makes Murakami's work all the more hypnotic. He frequently bends the line between reality and a world of dreams, and is considered a master of magic lurking in the mundane. This is a key feature of magical realism.

In contrast to fantasy, magic in this sort of writing rarely offers a way out of a problem. Instead, it becomes just one more thing that complicates life. In "Kafka on the Shore," characters are faced with endless otherworldly distractions, from a love sick ghost to a flute made from cat souls. These challenges offer no easy answers. Instead, they leave us marveling at the resourcefulness of the human spirit to deal with the unexpected.

While Kafka often seems suspended in strangeness, there's a tenderness and integrity at the heart of his mission that keeps him moving forward. Gradually he comes to accept his inner confusion. In the end, his experience echoes the reader's: the deeper you go, the more you find.

【单词短语】

1. shady

2. penchant

3. keep one company

4. pore over

5. mundane

6. suspended

7. tenderness

8. integrity

【地道美语，长句精练】

1. He has a penchant for musical references.

2. He takes refuge in an exquisite private library.

3. These challenges offer no easy answers.

【课堂纠音，上节连读】

1. Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions.

2. Over and over you play this out

3. Desperate to escape his tyrannical father, he runs away from home.