As I’ve said, every other chapter alternates between the two stories, that of Kafka and of Nakata. Nakata’s story is told by a series of difference techniques and timelines that defy linear sequencing in that while they start out as an investigative report on the incident of the children collapsing (including Nakata) on the hill during the war, it then appears to come up to Nakata’s present, then back to the report, and the latest chapter (12) midway between. This is also told in the form of the teacher’s letter to a psychologist who investigated the incident back in 1946.
Murakami is also one to answer the questions he raises by a form of telling using this technique. I’m not sure whether some of these answers are to the purpose of dispelling or relieving the tension of the mysteries presented, or whether it is indeed to bring us to the realization of the approaching tie-in with the two main characters. In this chapter, the teacher’s explanation of events includes her assessment of Nakata and his rather wealthy background and repressed sense of violence. What I don’t comprehend–though I need not, but rather accept what’s being given to me–is the teacher’s own violence towards Nakata on the day, just prior to the collapse of the children.
Interesting characters, presented in an interesting way.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology