Ryu Murakami was a provocateur to the very end

From page one, Ryu Murakami wasn’t afraid to unsettle his readers. The author, who died Oct. 17 at 74, was an enfant terrible of contemporary Japanese literature. His subversive, graphically raw fiction often drew on his youth and countercultural experiences, confronting readers with the darker sides of Japanese society and social alienation.

Though he wrote more than 40 novels and short story collections, including “Coin Locker Babies” (1980), “Popular Hits of the Showa Era” (1994) and “In the Miso Soup” (1997), his career was somewhat overshadowed by another writer with whom he shared a surname — Haruki Murakami. Still, news of his death prompted an outpouring from his fans and notable figures.