村上春樹和我談數學，寫作和金融

有天，兒子忽地扔給我一本書，說，你總是讓我讀這讀那，那些老掉牙的東西。你能不能看看我喜歡的。

我就這樣看起了村上春樹。

最近的《1Q84》上有段話，村上春樹似乎在和我對話，哈哈。

What do you like about math?

Math is like water.  It has a lot of difficult theories, of course, but its basic logic is very simple. Just as water flows from high to low overthe shortest possible distance.  Figures can only flow in one direction.  You just have to keep your eye on them  for the route to reveal itself.  That's all it takes.  You don't have to do a thing. Just concentrate your attention and keep your eyes open, and the figures make everything clear to you. In this whole, wide world, the only thing that treats me so kindly is math.

Why do you write? In other words, if you like math so much,why do you go to all the trouble of writing? Why not just keep doing math?

Hmm.  Real life is different from math.  Things in life don't necessarily flow over the shortest possible route.  For me, math is - how should I put it? - math is all too natural. It's a beautiful scenery. It's just there. There is no need to exchange it with anything else.  That's why, when I'm doing math, I sometimes feel I'm turning transparent. And that can be scary.

When I'm writing, I use words to transform the surrounding scene into something more natural for me. In other words, I resonstruct it. That way, I can confirm without a doubt that this "author" - me, exists in the world. This is a totally different process from steeping myself in the world of math.

You confirm that you exist?

Reading what I wrote, I know I existed at least on that day when I wrote them.

Why do you do finance?

It is almost like math.  Money is also like water, it can flow naturally and always seeks the shortest path.  What we do is to find different ways to ustilize the water - how to keep it running smoothly, how to help people in need get water...but sometimes it is out of control....

Murakami smiled when I mentioned the last part, did not look convinced, but said nothing more.