Exploring the intersection of Anton Chekhov and Haruki Murakami: a slow reading analysis of “Drive My Car”

Abstract

The study aims to employ the method of slow reading to analyze the short story authored by Haruki Murakami. Intertextuality is the predominant feature of the narrative, the references to the Beatles’ song and Ernest Hemingway’s collection of stories add to the subtext of the story. However, it is the allusion to Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” in the Meiji-era adaptation (translated by Senuma Kayō) that stands out among others as the basis for deeper understanding of the story’s nuances. The characters in the 2014 story encounter similar challenges as those in Chekhov’s 1890s play, where the inability to comprehend others raises a crucial question of how to continue living and for what purpose. Misaki’s articulation of the answer echoes Sonya’s words from “Uncle Vanya”, emphasizing the necessity of enduring difficulties and persevering in one’s trained and most proficient area. The literary work “Drive My Car” epitomizes the characteristic style of Haruki Murakami, as evidenced by his fondness for music and incorporation of songs and musical elements, his propensity for employing allusions, quotations, and other forms of intertextuality. The story is similar to Chekhov’s play in the melancholic tone of the narration, lack of action, loose plot structure, a metaphorical employment of mundane life events, the choice of words the text is made of. Chekhov and Murakami stand together in their refusal to judge or blame their characters, in their acceptance of life in all of its most complicated manifestations.