A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Not too long ago I picked up Wind / Pinball by Haruki Murakami, but left unfinished. I guess I wasn't quite in the mood (I'm going to have to pick it up again soon seeing how Wind / Pinball are the preceding stories of A Wild Sheep Chase). And then about two days ago I decided to give this one a go and I was hooked right away! I suppose, I was in the mood this time.

Mood is of extreme importance when reading Haruki Murakami novels. Well, I might say that mood is important no matter what you are reading, be that a Haruki Murakami book or an RF Microelectronics book by Behzad Rezavi... in any case... this time the mood hit me and I cruised through this book. What did I think of it, you ask? Well, It was a good book. I particularly liked the main character (who is also part of Wind / Pinball I assume, but since I haven't read those two stories yet, I have no way knowing if this is indeed the same character). Anyhow, this guy was totally my type, and for the majority of the book, I enjoyed reading it so much because I liked this character. The rest of it... the rest of the characters and the story were fairly simple, and uninteresting. It was entertaining, don't get me wrong, but not at a level I have come to expect from Haruki Murakami. Most likely because A Wild Sheep Chase is the very first novel that Murakami wrote. Wind and Pinball are more like short stories, or novellas, rather than novels, so that makes sense.

That said, it did have a very typical Murakami vibe going on, albeit a much watered down version of Murakami. There was a cat, there was something... or someone, that wasn't exactly a living, breathing human being, there was a mysterious girl, and the main dude was quite charming! And then there was a sheep too! A talking sheep this time... although it appeared he did most of the talking in dreams.

Long story short, this is a story of a man's quest to find his long lost friend, and a sheep that his friend may have some connection to. He is in this quest not necessarily because he wants to be in it, but more like some really powerful (almost yakuza like, if not even more powerful... chances are, this guy owns the entire yakuza... or something) dude wants him to find this sheep... for some made up, weird reason that makes no sense to anybody. Not to the one trying to find the sheep, not to the one actually looking for the sheep, and not to the ones reading about this sheep chase (a.k.a. us readers).

But, was it an entertaining read? Definitely! Murakami has a way of writing and making the most mundane appear like an extravagant feat... or something like that. You either hate his writing or love his writing. I belong to the latter category, so whatever he writes, I can't help but like it. Am I biased? May be a little bit... but I can assure you, not biased enough to read through a boring book cover to cover in just over a day. Which is exactly what I did with A Wild Sheep Chase. So no, biased as I may be a tiny bit, it definitely was an entertaining enough read. May be not as deep as Kafka on the Shore, or as sweet as Norwegian Wood, but A Wild Sheep Chase offered its own little quirks.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely, if you are already a Murakami fan, that is. There is no reason to not read it! But if this is your first Murakami book, then just let me tell you... there are other books which you may find more... substantial. Like, Kafka on the Shore, or The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, or Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Or even Norwegian Wood... although, Norwegian Wood is not very typical of Murakami, but it is still a great book! Anyhow, if you are familiar with Murakami already, go ahead and read this one. If this is to be your very first Murakami book, may be you should start with something else.

---

Title: A Wild Sheep Chase (Buy on Amazon)
Author: Haruki Murakami (Translated from Japanese by Alfred Birnbaum)
Publisher: Vintage International, April 9, 2002
Format: Paperback, 353 pages.
Genre: Magical Realism, Japanese Literature
Source: University of Denver Library