A Wild Sheep Chase - Books (Haruki Murakami, Paperback)

As with many of Haruki Murakami's novels, the plot curdles with complex diversity only to be resolved by a collision between wild fantasy and outright slapstick. A Wild Sheep Chase refers aptly to the tradition of cool but kitsch detective sagas. Except here, the metaphoric goose is now a literal sheep with a distinctive marking; an urban myth with the promise of immortality.

The anonymous narrator is a mild-mannered thirtysomething with a more than understanding attitude--things happen because they are supposed to and there's no sense standing in the way of progress or nature. It takes the disappearance of a friend and some gentle intimidation from a right wing conglomerate to break the pattern of apathy and send him off on his adventure.

Murakami's detail of the most mundane situations makes his lead character endearing. Those who've read Murakami before will recognise that certain empathy for the strange thoughts and rituals that are now hallmarks of his wry humour. Although an unlikely hero, the quest for a missing friend and the support of a lover with mysterious ears takes him off in search of the elusive sheep in a bizarre adventure--danger and absurdity hindering every movement. --David Trueman

Customer Reviews of A Wild Sheep Chase

.ziggystardust.
Edinburgh
12th October 2008

weird and wonderful!
The way Murakami writes is somewhat soothing if slightly bizarre. I loved this book but did feel a tad disappointed by the ending, however still worth the read. I would definitely recommend the follow up 'dance dance dance' which i prefered a little bit more than this one.

Mr. Peter Raposo

3rd September 2008

Murakami's best book
This is my favourite book by Japanese writer Murakami. I have read many of his books, and I don't like a lot of his later work that much, but this one is wonderful funny. Nothing happens and a lot happens in this book. I wish Murakami went back to his earliest works for more inspiration because stuff like "Kafka on the shore" and "After Dark" are books without meaning and ending. "After Dark" is one of the most incomplete books that I have read. Good but incomplete.

davidhenderson8

5th August 2008

Bizarre, fantastic, always original
The narrator of the novel, recovering from his divorce, becomes entangled in an affair with a girl with beautiful ears. He is then recruited by a suspicious Boss to trace what has happened to a mysterious sheep. The quest takes him to the most cold and remote corner of Japan.
What starts as a fairly straightforward thriller becomes increasingly fantastical and surreal. Murakami creates vivid and colourful settings and unique characters. The writing is tense and economical and the book skilfully negotiates the tightrope between the exciting and the ridiuclous.
I came to this novel after the 'sequel', Dance, Dance, Dance and do feel that his later work is more accomplished and more successful.

Reedy Deluxe
Kent, England
15th June 2008

A Wild Sheep Chase - Murakami
This is the first Murakami book i haven't given the full five stars to...not because it isn't good, it just doesnt hit the heights some of his other books do.

Although distinctly different from a lot of Murakami's other books, it remains a story that bends the mind every which way as is his trademark. The book is punchy at times, yet still retains the trademark dream like style that fans will love.

This is perhaps the most surreal of his stories ive read and i think some of the magic that was present in the everyday things, in books like the wind up bird chronicle, is lost due to the bizarre going on here. Still however, a thoroughly satisfying read, and leaves the characters with you long after the book is closed and up on the shelf.

Dorothy Shaw
London
3rd June 2008

Beautiful, humourous, and poignant.
If there is one criticism that can be made of Murakami's wild, fascinating and intensely thoughtful novels, it is that the humanity of his characters can occasionally be lost in the wistful poetry of his writing. This is not the case of The Wild Sheep Chase: the book's poignant, terrifically tender ending moves the reader not, as is usual with Murakami, with sympathy for a universal failing, but instead with a unique, very human, sense of loss.
This is a witty and wonderful book, with the power to transform the reader's view of the world. While this is often the case with Murakami's novels, this book has a peculiarly prosaic setting, which slowly gives way to the bizarre universe just outside one's doorstep. I would recommend it especially for those new to Murakami's twisted galaxy of writing, but also to those fans who already find they prefer Murakami's fantastical Japan to their personal reality.