やがて哀しき外国語

Ｆ・スコット・フィッツジェラルドの母校プリンストン大学に招かれ、アメリカでの暮らしが始まった。独自の大学村スノビズム、スティーブン・キング的アメリカ郊外事情、本場でジャズについて思うこと、フェミニズムをめぐる考察、海外で深く悩まされる床屋問題――。『国境の南、太陽の西』と『ねじまき鳥クロニクル』を執筆した二年あまりをつづった、十六通のプリンストン便り。

The book "やがて哀しき外国語" (Yagate Kanashiki Gaikokugo, translated roughly as "Eventually, a Sad Foreign Language") is a collection of 16 essays by Haruki Murakami, based on his experiences living in the United States as a visiting professor at Princeton University in the early 1990s. Published in 1994, the book explores cultural differences, the challenges of using a foreign language, daily life encounters, and Murakami’s evolving relationship with the Japanese language.

He writes with his usual blend of humor and introspection, discussing things like attending jazz concerts, shopping at secondhand record stores, and even getting a haircut abroad. But beneath these light moments, the book offers deeper reflections on identity, communication, and the loneliness of being a foreigner.