A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel
by Haruki Murakami
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Book Summary Information
Author: Haruki MurakamiTranslator: Alfred Birnbaum
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-09
ISBN: 037571894X
Number of pages: 353
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel
Book Review: Murakami Does Vonnegut, with Ears Unblocked
Summary: 5 Stars
It's hard not to reach the end of Haruki Murakami's wonderfully entertaining A WILD SHEEP CHASE and not find yourself asking, "What was THAT all about?" Sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad with loss, almost always quirky after the style of Kurt Vonnegut, Murakami's story line pulls you in and keeps you hooked with unexpected twists and turns that leave you as desperate as his nameless main character to learn the ovine truth.
On its face, the book is a combination mystery story, grail quest, and science fiction novel, laced with biting sarcasm. A perfectly regular young advertising executive is approached one day by a mysterious stranger concerning a photograph of sheep grazing in a mountain pasture that the agency used in an insurance company ad. Buried within the herd is one sheep of an unknown breed with a star-shaped birthmark on its back. Unbeknown to the young executive, he has transgressed some unmarked boundary and caught the attention of The Boss, an immensely rich Tokyo businessman and power broker. The mysterious stranger delivers an ultimatum from The Boss: find the sheep in one month and be exceedingly well-rewarded, or be forced into permanent career ruin if he fails. The balance of the book traces the quest of the young executive and his unusual girlfriend to find the sheep and discover its bizarre significance.
With A WILD SHEEP CHASE, Murakami has constructed a bizarre novel populated by an alcoholic business partner, a godlike mysterious stranger dressed in black, a girlfriend with uncanny sixth sense and ears that turn her into an irresistible beauty when exposed, a philosophizing chauffeur, a borderline psychotic Sheep Professor, and a man who lives in the woods and dresses like a sheep. All of the characters are nameless, at most given nicknames like The Boss, The Rat, J, and Sheep Man. Only the hero's aged and unnamed cat is bestowed with a name, Kipper, in the course of the story.
Fabulous imagery and clever prose riffs abound in Murakami's world. Consider the following small sampling:
-- "Far off, someone was practicing piano. It sounded like tripping down an up escalator."
-- "The elevator shook like a large dog with lung disease."
-- "Occasionally, someone coughed with a dry rasp that sounded like a mummy tapped on the head with a pair of tongs."
-- "The yellow glow of the light bulbs drifted about the room like pollen."
-- "The house kept its own time, like the old-fashioned grandfather clock in the living room. People who happened by raised the weights, and as long as the weights were wound, the clock continued ticking away. But with people gone and the weights unattended, whole chunks of time were left to collect in deposits of faded life on the floor."
So what is the book really all about? Perhaps it's a commentary about economic and emotional gain and loss in our lives, or maybe it's a parable about the existence of free will and how much more difficult it is to exercise than we think (and how less often we really do it than we believe). Or possibly, it's a novel about individuality and mediocrity in Japanese society. Then again, it could be a protest against a powerful and homogenizing globalization that threatens to turn us all into nameless, unindividuated sheep. Of course, it could just be a silly, pseudo science fiction story without any meaning. Whatever - res ipsa loquitur, the thing speaks for itself.
A WILD SHEEP CHASE is a great read, fun and funny, full of memorable characters and pungent commentary about modern life. This is Murakami with a twist. Step up to the bar and take an unforgettable drink. And don't forget to write down God's phone number and give him a call.
Summary of A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel
A marvelous hybrid of mythology and mystery, A Wild Sheep Chase is the extraordinary literary thriller that launched Haruki Murakami?s international reputation.It begins simply enough: A twenty-something advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend, and casually appropriates the image for an insurance company?s advertisement. What he doesn?t realize is that included in the pastoral scene is a mutant sheep with a star on its back, and in using this photo he has unwittingly captured the attention of a man in black who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences. Thus begins a surreal and elaborate quest that takes our hero from the urban haunts of Tokyo to the remote and snowy mountains of northern Japan, where he confronts not only the mythological sheep, but the confines of tradition and the demons deep within himself. Quirky and utterly captivating, A Wild Sheep Chase is Murakami at his astounding best.
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