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Summary: Absalom Absalom Meets Mothra
Review: Haruki Murakami is modern-day Japan's most popular novelist. Both a literary success and a commercial success, Murakami has been the recipient of the Noma Literary Award for New Writers (A Wild Sheep Chase) and the Tanazaki Prize (for The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World).Murakami's fiction shares almost nothing in common with more classical Japanese authors like Kawabata, Mishima and Tanazaki, and early reviews compared his work to that of Raymond Carver, Thomas Pynchon, Raymond Chandler and Thomas Berger. Comparisons, however, are always unfair. Murakami is most definitely an original. The worlds he creates are his and his alone, and although he invites us to visit for awhile, only he can truly inhabit them. Embracing Murakami's signature themes of isolation and alienation, A Wild Sheep Chase is part detective thriller, part allegory, part fantasy, and part post-modern send-up. It is thoroughly Western in both its outlook and writing style and thoroughly original by any standard. Murakami, who is more likely to speak of the Beatles (a book he titled Norwegian Wood remains his best seller in Japan) and Heineken than of kabuki and sushi, takes us on a wild-and-woolly roller coaster ride in A Wild Sheep Chase that often modulates from deadpan minimalism to a kind of fantastic fantasy world reminiscent of magical realism wherein sheep inhabit men's souls, a woman possess ears so beguilingly beautiful that they must be perpetually covered and old friends often return as ghosts for no other reason than to share a beer and a chat. A Wild Sheep Chase features a signature Murakami protagonist: a nameless, aimless, ordinary man, just about thirty and living an equally aimless, ordinary life in an essentially nonexistent Tokyo. In other words, "Everyman." It is this talent of Murakami's to capture the everyday individual innuendo so easily and fully that endears him to the hearts and minds of both Japanese and Westerners alike. In fact, a signature Murakami protagonist could well be Charlie Brown all grown up--a seemingly ordinary man caught up in extraordinary problems and one for whom nothing ever goes right; the personification of Murphy's Law in the extreme. This particular novel's protagonist has his "sort of" life interrupted with the unexpected arrival of something as seemingly innocent, innocuous and mundane as an advertising photo of a field of sheep, sent to him by his old friend, "the Rat." When the narrator makes the mistake of printing the photo in a newsletter, he then draws the unwanted attention of a singularly sinister stranger currently in the employ of "the Boss," a powerful political and financial magnate who is now lying near death and whose extraordinary avocational abilities are somehow derived from the very same sheep pictured in the mysterious photo. Blackmailed into procuring the definitely desired sheep, the nameless narrator, along with his girlfriend (she of the covered ears), embarks upon a parody of adventure of near mythic proportion that finds its climactic end in a stormy sea of surprises on the remote island of Hokkaido. Although not as densely-layered as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, (to date, Murakami's masterpiece), A Wild Sheep Chase is nonetheless filled with the verbal agility, antics and double entrendres for which Murakami is so well-known. It is, after all, Murakami's narrator, himself, who says, "sure we're tossing out fluff, but tell me, where does anyone deal in words with substance?" The answer, of course, is: right here. Murakami does. Although A Wild Sheep Chase may, at first, seem almost as inconsequential as the latest detective thriller in a long string of detective thrillers, the weight of this book, as with all of Murakami's works, eventually lands on the reader like a ton of...sheep.
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Summary: It's one of the best of Murakami !
Review: Haruki Murakami is my favorite author. I'd read all of his books published in my country. I loved Norwegian Wood but the most I love is A Wild Sheep Chase. If you had read 'Pinball 1973' where he described a confused youth, you can easily meet again these young people in A Wild Sheep Chase. His idea about metaphoric character is just fascinating and after finishing this book, the sorrow and loneliness will overwhelme you as if you lose your youth and existance.I've never experienced this feeling.
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Summary: Rich and delicious imagery drizzled over braised mutton
Review: I never would have thought that so much could be built from such a simple premise, but Haruki Murakami manages to wrap a small woolen mammal into something much larger: a conspiracy that draws together powerful forces and interesting personalities as our protagonist is sent (somewhat against his will) on a wild sheep chase. The title is perfect: this is a book about a quest to find a sheep: both literally, figuratively and spiritually. The plot can be confusing (and even somewhat boring in the first part of the book), but it pulls together nicely at the end. The real enjoyment, however, comes from the descriptive qualities of Haruki Murakami's writing. He is able to capture an immense quantity of personality and flavor in even the most off-hand observations. This technique was so successful in capturing my attention as a reader, that any other minor shortcomings are easily overlooked. In fact, I finished the book happily thinking "wow, what a great book!" and could only really criticize pieces upon reflection. Combined with the plot (yes, somewhat confusing) and the characters (which seem flat on the surface, but are very "real" and likable), this descriptive quality made A Wild Sheep Chase a real joy to read.
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Summary: Murakami: Creative Force
Review: "A Wild Sheep Chase" is a wonderful and colorful read. Ostensibly the story of a nameless and flat protagonist as he searches for the answer to a puzzling riddle, the story sees to wander greatly in the first two-thirds of the book. The lead character, coerced into searching for a missing and mysterious sheep, never seems to sense the urgency of what his failure could mean. He is a character who feels he has nothing to lose. Indeed, his only redeeming characteristics seem to be that he cares for a missing friend (called "The Rat") and that he has enough curiosity to even push him towards an attempt at solving the riddle. While the protagonist is very much an empty vessel, the reader of this book will find themselves attracted to the detached yet interesting interactions with some of the other main characters. The characters and scenes, for the most part, are David Lynch-like; quirky, with murky motives, and strange communications. Structurally, the book wanders around a bit while getting started. It feels as if the author just started writing one day and learned how to tie it all together as he went along (near the end of the book). Even so, while it may feel that not much plot progress is being made, however, Murakami is able to delight the reader enough with his inventiveness that the story seems worthwhile. The book climaxes with a brilliant metaphyical dialogue between the protagonist and his friend. The last several chapters are done so well, I had to read them a couple of times and scribble all over the pages (that's surely a good sign). I found Murakami to have a concise and enjoyable writing style that is deceptively simple for the deeply layered plot it conveyed. I certainly wil be recommending the book to my friends.
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Summary: dark, disturbing, delicious!
Review: The genius of Murakami's "Wild Sheep Chase" (like the genius of his other works) is the total believability of his characters and plot. Everyone who reads this work is immediately engrossed and sucked in, and only realizes how truly bizarre the whole thing is when they try to tell someone else about the book. The narrator of "Sheep Chase" begins as something of an Everyman. His mate leaves him, his job pays him well but isn't very satisfying, he is intelligent but little in his life seems to stimulate him to thought. You wouldn't say he is going through life with blinders on, but nor is his life totally examined, either. Life is, more or less, something that is just happening to him. You could probably think of a dozen people you know who would easily fit his character. Still, this is a Murakami novel, after all, and pretty soon he is, in the words of Tolkein, simply swept away, a stranger in a strange land with no idea of how he got there. A perfectly ordinary photo that he uses in a brochure catches the attention of a powerful political figure, "The Boss", who has been inexplicably lying on the verge of death for some years, hanging on as if by some supernatural power. The photo, it's discovered, has a special sheep in it. A type of sheep who's breed does not exist. A minion of The Boss makes him an offer he cannot refuse: find that sheep... He meets up with a young woman who, among other things, is a call girl for an exclusive members-only club, and does ear modeling on the side. Together, they set off to find this elusive sheep-that-doesn't-exist, all the while trailing the narrator's old friend, The Rat, who seems to always be one step ahead of them. Much has been written about Murakami and "Wild Sheep Chase", including that this work is a shining example of the postmodern novel. While this may be the case, potential readers shouldn't shy away from this book simply because they may not know a fig about postmodernism. Unlike other "postmodern novels", which are often thickets of high rhetoric and voluminous nonsense, "Wild Sheep Chase" can be read on a multitude of levels: both as lit crit and as pure, enjoyable fiction. To read it strictly as one or the other is to do a great injustice to this work.
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Summary: Poor Story
Review: I previously read 'The Wind Up Bird Chronicles' which I thought was great. So I knew what to expect with the 'Sheep Chase' but I was terriblly disappointed. The writing seemed amateurish throughout most of the novel. The 'Sheep Chase' has characters that seemed to just drop out of the book suddenly for no plausible reason (The Girl with the Ears). And the strange power of her ears is never fully explained or even demonstrated in the book. The first chapter of the novel doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the rest of the story. Several of the characters seem to do things that are 'out of character'. For example, the mysterious 'Boss' Assistant' who is so powerful and rich (with a host of servants) and demanding agrees to take care of the protagonist's cat. This just seemed somewhat peculiar. Also, the 'Sheep Man' is one of the most unconvincing characters I've ever run into in a book - even one of this type. Overall this is definitely not one of Murakami's best.
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Summary: Surreal and a bit strained this time
Review: By now I've actually gotten tired of writing reviews for Haruki Murakami books, because there are only so many ways to say amazing. I'm almost relieved that A Wild Sheep Chase had a few problems that I can talk about. But in the end, of course, I still love this stuff. So, what problems do I dare have about this book? Coherency, for one. It took longer than usual for things to come together, and I was yawning through half of the first hundred pages. Organization and clarity also suffered. I expect a certain amount of understanding at the end of a book, even with Murakami. But there were just too many points of confusion to feel satisfied at the end. The sequel, Dance Dance Dance (which I read first) is far superior, and does not need Wild Sheep Chase to stand on its own. But overall, it was still a nice work by an amazingly talented author. Maybe I've just grown spoiled reading these. The sheer Murakaminess of getting an ad writer to search over Japan for a single sheep that might be a sinister and influential creature while being threatened by a right wing politician if he fails certainly cannot fail to grab the reader's attention. While not his best work, it's certainly a good read.
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Summary: Food for thought
Review: Murakami is known for his unconventional storytelling, sometimes completley surrealist, in which images have more importance than ideas. When he seems to be trying to say something cohesive, it's still hidden behind layers of strange imagery. What I liked best about A Wild Sheep Chase was that the message was so direct - and, at least to me, interesting. It seems to be suggesting that humanity and 'greatness' are irreconcilable (of course, it's a lot more complicated than that), which is especially interesting in contrast with a reference to Yukio Mishima near the beginning. I found it very though-provoking. On other levels, though, it isn't so succesful. A lot of the characters are very thinly drawn. This may be intentional; it works in the case of the main character, who I guess is supposed to be one of those everymen, but his girlfriend, for example, has such a total absence of personality that when she disappears from the narrative, it seems like an attempt by the author to get rid of an awkward character. A few of the characters really are outstanding - the villians, and one eccentric chauffer, but they are mainly present in the first half of the book. Later, when the narrative rests entirely on the protagonist and his girlfriend, it gets somewhat boring. Its first novel status, though, is more than an excuse for that. I still recommend it.
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Summary: Woody Allen and Savador Dali meet Samuel Beckett, maybe.
Review: I like this book very much because I couldn't help identifying with the central character who reminds me in some ways of Woody Allen's screen persona - a nerdish type loser of no particular physical attraction who has a way with words and who usually gets a very attractive woman to sleep with, though he spends most of his time rueing what he HASN'T got and is continually in search of that SOMETHING. This novel is about a quest. About dreams. And finally, about the realisation that life is about bugger all, so you'd better enjoy that friendship, that meal, that lovemaking, that scene, that memory, and relax a bit and have a laugh. There are laughs aplenty in this sly book, many of the laughs are in the details such as the scene where a very damaged black moggy cat sitting on the front seat of a distinguished limousine causes the Chauffer to lower the windows from time to time on account of the deletirious odour the cat emits from time to time in the form of brief but audible farts.
And I suppose, in our life we don't wander around the shopping mall thinking "themes" or "great and noble thoughts" but more like " Why does that woman get into the 8 item express lane when she clearly has 11 items?" Incidentally, the novel is also a very likeable and satisfying read.
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Summary: Don't get the fuss
Review: I love "strange" books. I'm also a specialist in Chinese literature by education and lived in Asia for quite some time. I totally didn't get this book. It seems to me too "middle way" - it doesn't reach the depth of issues that it tries to discuss, it also does not fully entertain. There is no catch, descritrions are not enjoyable and do not create the atmosphere that Asian literature is so masterful in. I read it to the end but started to miss all the leangthy passages about coffees, cigarettes, sofas after the first 50 pages.
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