For fans seeking a more interactive and adorably competitive experience with the author’s novels, an artist has created “Haruki Murakami Bingo,” a tongue-in-cheek ”game” that collects the various idiosyncrasies and recurring elements that have popped up in most of Murakami’s 13 novels and many short stories. The image was designed by illustrator Grant Snider, who rounded up repeating themes from Kafka On the Shore, 1Q84, and host of other Murakami works into an aesthetically pleasing board reminiscent of children’s activity books.
Of course Murakami isn’t the only artist that tends to echo similar themes and plot points throughout his work. John Irving has a tendency to include bears and wrestling into his books. Wes Anderson repeatedly uses Futura font and a specific framing of his actors in his films. And Dan Brown enjoys filling his novels with convoluted plots explained through clunky exposition. Moreover, this familiarity of tropes hasn’t affected Murakami’s success with critics with his latest book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage, once again garnering widespread praise along with massive sales (selling a million copies in its first week in Japan). The bingo board can be purchased as a poster at Snyder’s website.
[via Electric Lit]