This is my first foray into Murakami. It is intriguing and a little off-kilter so far. I like the dry noir matter-of-factness, and the way the beginning sort of just drops you into the narrative at a mundane-seeming point. I also like how he sort of juxtaposes a soulless consumerist lifestyle intermixed with truly authentic cultural touchstones. You can never quite tell which is which, which is a condition I think we’re alll used to confronting on some level. It’s also a thought-provoking meditation on the nature consciousness and the possible consequences of our coming abilities to meddle with it.