Rating: 
Summary: Murakami excellence doesn't hold this weird story together
Review: 'A Wild Sheep Chase', written with Murakami's deft touch, is a strange story about ... a wild sheep chase. The actual plot is a bit hard to summarize but it involves our leading man, a disillusioned Japanese 'salaryman', being hired by a mysterious power broker to find a mystical sheep in the wilds of Hokkaido. Of course the story is wacky, but it moves along nicely and it is very entertaining overall. But in the end the story goes from strange to exceptionally surreal, even by Murakami's standards, and doesn't quite come together in the end. I finished the book thinking "what the heck was that all about ?!?!?".But this book still has its plusses. The translation by Alfred Birnbaum is excellent, and Murakami captures the essence of disillusioned Japanese youth *so well*. Japanophiles will find much to enjoy (and learn) from this book. But 'A Wild Sheep Chase' doesn't come close to Murakami's better efforts. Bottom line: mondo weird. Yokunai kedo aru teido omoshiroi. (Not very good but fairly interesting)
Rating: 
Summary: Confused and delighted
Review: An extraordinarily fun read that still somehow seems to be profound, Murakami's masterpiece had me laughing and scratching my head. It's quite a page-turner, too.
Rating: 
Summary: I Can't Believe I Read the Whole Thing
Review: Why is this author winning prizes in Japan? His writing is crude, with strange word choices that keep one confused as to the tone he's trying to achieve. Or is he trying to sound cacaphonus on purpose? (Or mediocre on purpose, which seems to be the protagonist's most important characteristic). Or does he have a terrible translator? Because of the prizes, I stuck with it, and am still trying to figure out if there is some authentic message he's trying to communicate. Do sheep have some special symbolic meaning in Japanese culture? I wondered if the sheep was a distortion of "The Lamb," which represents the good in Western culture, but I haven't been able to get very far with this idea. Still, of all animals to pick to serve his purpose, why a sheep?? Is the title a play on "A Wild Goose Chase"? The author seems fully conversant with Americanisms, so the echo couldn't be accidental. I thought the book was fine for people who haven't an interest in literature. For all I could tell, the author hasn't an interest in literature, either.
Rating:
Summary: The Sheep Man says "Readthisbooknow!"
Review: I can name all of the books that made me feel the way A Wild Sheep Chase did. They are: The Stranger, The Crying of Lot 49, and The Catcher In The Rye. That's it. And this one definitely entertained me more than those books. I guess I'm a sucker for stories about alienation, loneliness, or confusion about one's identity, but this book is so much more than that. It's a detective story with no detective, science fiction without any spacecrafts or timetravel, and also extremely funny and erotic in parts. Murakami is a master of stringing the reader along and having him or her at his mercy. He grabs your attention early, keeps you intrigued and entertained for a long time, then even attempts to lull you to sleep before pulling the rug right out from under you. Like I said, I'm generally attracted to individualistic characters who are not sentimental or melodramatic. But Murakami adds just enough emotion to his characters (sooner or later) that your body vibrates as he tugs on the heartstrings when you least expect it. The main character does not give us his name. There aren't many names in the book at all. "I" is recently divorced and runs an advertising/translating business with a friend. One day he recieves a postcard from a different friend who has run off to Northern Japan. The postcard is a photo of a field of sheep, presumably in Northern Japan. "I" decides to run it in an ad for an insurance company. Before you know it, a man in black arrives in a limo and tells "I" he will have two months and endless funds to find a particular sheep in the photo. This sheep supposedly has magical powers that allow it to enter people's bodies, where it then hatches plans to control the world. The man in black is a representative for a very shadowy, influential war criminal who is in a coma---the last man the sheep entered. If "I" fails to find the sheep, the man in black threatens, his business will go under and his life will be ruined. "I" agrees and starts researching sheep in Japan. Along the way, he meets a seemingly clairvoyant woman who has astonishingly perfect ears. They travel together to Northern Japan to look for the sheep and for "I's" friend who may know more than he's let on. That's really all I can tell you. Whatever you do, don't be scared off by the talk of science fiction or magical, world dominating sheep. Obviously absurd, these things should be taken as they are---there is a magical sheep, even a talking "Sheep Man." However, there are very personal, more down to earth themes here. You shouldn't let Murakami's imagination get the better of you. Or maybe you shoud. It's a lot of fun. There is a follow-up to this book also. It's called Dance Dance Dance and it picks up right where Sheep Chase leaves off. If you like Sheep Chase, read it. It's a good sequel, meaning not as good as the first, but definitely worthy, if only for one character named Gotanda. Enjoy. I certainly did.
Rating: 
Summary: supple language and a neverending story
Review: First off, I am a big Murakami fan. This was the first book of his I read, but I read quite a few others since. This is one is still one of my favourties. I really liked how westernized the heroes were in their daily actions and habits, yet how that made them only more non-western, more japanese, more human. Contrasts of all types abound. Writing is strong, Mr. Murakami is a great writer and Alfred birnbaum did an amazing job translating. The language is fluid, forming itself on my mind and adding an atmosphere and context all by itself without the use of words for descriptions, thoughts, and feelings.
As with many other books, the story itself is somewhat secondary, the quest is more important than its result. In this book, however, I did not even thirst for a climax. I just savoured each page and hoped to find more of the same in other books by the author. I did.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid Introduction to Japan's Greatest Living Novelist
Review: "A Wild Sheep Chase" introduced the English-speaking world to Haruki Murakami's superb literary talent. It is simultaneously a sly homage to great American crime fiction from the likes of Raymond Chandler and a thoughtful meditation on alienation and loneliness in modern Japan. Indeed, the novel could be seen more as a critique of Western culture since the plot makes few references to Japan. Instead, Murakami constantly refers to popular Western culture. His lean, lyrical prose is quite akin to the early work of William Gibson, the noted Canadian-American cyberpunk writer. Like Gibson, Murakami introduces us to a dazzling universe of bizarre, complex characters, ranging from the protagonist to the World War Two war criminal who sends the protagonist on "a wild sheep chase", and finally, the Rat, a long-lost acquaintance of the protagonist. Through a series of carefully crafted twists and turns, the protagonist winds up in the northern edge of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, amidst a field of sheep. This fine novel remains a splendid introduction to Murakami's fiction. Indeed, Murakami is now regarded as Japan's greatest living novelist.
Rating:
Summary: Exceeds all expectations.
Review: This is the 4th book by Murakami I've read (which include: Wind-up Bird Chronicle, South of the Border, West of the Sun, and The Elephant Vanishes.) and it has to be my favourite. The characters appealed to me more so than in his other books and the story felt more real to me, even though it is the most unrealistic tale yet. I also found that the story itself flowed better than his other books, but the reason behind this I'm not sure. It might be due to the text being translated by Alfred Birnbaum and not Jay Rubin, or it might just be the case that this book appealed to me the most. Either way, I must urge you to go out and buy any book by Murakami as his stories are very enjoyable and is certainly my favourite author.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy, crazy stuff....
Review: Uhm. Yea. I can honestly say this is the most original novel I have ever read. The hunt for the evil sheep with a star on its back...No one but Murakami would think of something quite this insane. Which isn't to say to book is bad. It's manic and rarely makes sense, yes, but it *works*. This is my second Murakami book, the first being Wind-up Bird, which I loved. Compared to Wind-up Bird, though, A Wild Sheep Chase comes off more like a short story than an independant novel. It is not any where near as spawling or epic as Wind-up, nor is the plot as deep, or the characters as rich. But inpsite of this, I still really liked A Wild Sheep Chase. No, there were not any profound themes, and my view of the world has not really changed. But man, was that one enjoyable read... Great, but shallow, story. Great, but hardly dynamic, character. And, most importantly, GREAT writing. Man I love Murakami...
Rating:
Summary: One of those books...
Review: Yes, just one of those books that every thinking human being likes. I gave this book as a gift to 11 of my friends already and all 11 of them gave it 5 out of 5. Japan, America or Russia...doesn`t matter where you live. But once you read this book it becomes a part of your hitlist for a simple reason: it really is very good and it really brings pleasure and stays with you long after you finish the last page.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting book; perhaps a little superficial
Review: Like Pallahniuk or Nick Hornby (his counterparts in America and England respectively), Murakami's first-person narrative has a fast-paced, personal feel. The plot unfolds in the same way such an unbelievable tale might be recounted on the stool of an intimate bar. Our hero, a recently divorced 29 year-old advertiser from Tokyo, is forced into A Wild Sheep Hunt based on his connecton to a mysterious photograph; a photograph that on the closest examination reveals a nonexistent breed of sheep. In the course of the novel, Murakami's readership is introduced to a panorama of remarkable characters and bizzare coincidences. We eventually understand that the events we're witnessing are controled by something of an invisble hand. For the greater part of the novel we are a part of a mystery of the highest form.
On the otherhand when the loose ends were quickly tied in the last three or four chapters, I was left with the feeling that the answers were less than satisfactory. There were definately moments riddled with a depth of insight (his thoughts on his ex-wife's slip or the discussion about the reproduction of body cells, come to mind), but on the whole i felt the novel was a bit superfiscial; that it was, to some extent, just an outrageous story. Murakami's inclination towards the abstract metaphor and his quiky descriptions of the visual were ofte inspired but after 350 pages the device was stale. Though the journey was extremely interesting, the destination reached was, for me, hardly worth the exciement. This was the first piece i'd read by Murakami and I look forward to reading other works (especially The Elephant Vanishes), but it won't be tomorrow that i rush out to by one.
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