Dear Mr Murakami, my mum has recently read “The Wind-up Bird Chronicle” on my recommendation. It took her five days to finish it, during which she didn’t do any housework at all. She is now depressed, and writes emails to me about lack of meaning and fear of loneliness. I realise this has much more to do with her than with your novel, but something has been triggered, and I am almost pleased!　 My mum turned seventy last year, and it is good that she is finally starting to wake up and look around and reflect on her life… I wonder whether you might perhaps have a little something to say to her? 　 Thank you very much!　
（Cat caught in a strange dream、女性、49歳、Nurse）

Dear Cat caught in a strange dream,

Thank you for your mail. I am worrying about your mother in her "depression." It is not my intention to make any reader of my books depressed. But you think that it is rather good for her. Well, if you think it's OK, I think it's OK for me. I hope she is feeling better now.

To your mother:

How are you? I wrote this book “WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE” when I was living in Princeton, NJ. It took a couple of years to finish this book, and to me it was like surviving the storm. Tough job. If you were hearing the sound of the storm when you read this book, I would be greatly honored, for it means that we were sharing the same storm.

hm