Maybe it’s just that I really like the style of Murakami’s writing (or at least in the way it’s translated), but I enjoyed A Wild Sheep Chase despite hearing how much other people dislike it. The style is pure Murakami, and a lot of the themes he writes about seem similar to ones in his other works, including The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

I definitely think it wasn’t nearly as good as some of his other works (where does Vintage get off saying it launched his international fame?), but it’s still worth reading if you’re a fan. The story is interesting and odd enough to keep the pages turning, but it’ll just make you want to read Dance Dance Dance (again) so you’ll get all of the connections to it.

dance dance dance follows wild sheep chase but is infinitely better ^_ i wish i had just skipped wild sheep chase.

I was unenthralled with most of the book except for the occasional moment (the last few chapters) and part of the storyline (the narrator’s relationship with his girlfriend). It’s hard for me to believe the publisher which states it was the book that launched Murakami to international fame: I suppose when the world got “Hard-boiled Wonderland” it pissed its pants? The writing in Wild Sheep isn’t nearly as accomplished, elegant or sophisticated as his later works and the development of the “mystery” is so so.

I get the impression from readers here and elsewhere consider South of the Border, West of the Sun (and Sputnik Sweetheart) to be among his lesser works but South, which explores similar themes and ideas, was ten times better written and certainly more affecting (which only makes sense to me, considering that Wild Sheep is an earlier novel).

This is my first encounter with Murakami’s strange world, and I’m enjoying it immensely. Right now, I’m thinking that I’ll never be able to look at a woman’s ear the same way again.

Actually, I read the Portuguese-translated version of this book: Cacando Carneiros.

Crazy Story. I liked Norwegian Wood better.