Product Description

His life was like his recurring nightmare: a train to nowhere. But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit, implicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not be running the world, and eth upshot is another singular masterpiece from Japan's finest novelist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9351 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-20
• Original language: Japanese
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

About the Author
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 and now lives near Tokyo.

Customer Reviews

Not his best, but maybe his most fun to read
I can describe this simply - it's Raymond Carver's sense of human smallness and dignity coupled with Raymond Chandler's sense of pulp, but with a sort of Marx-Brothers/Manga thrown in. The girl with beautiful ears is perhaps Murakami's best kooky-girl and the plot rattles along. It's weird as hell, but firmly anchored to the real world too. Rather like "The Wind-up Bird Chronicles" there's a sense of opaqueness to it, a sense that you are not glimpsing everything that is to be found on first read. But it reads just as well second time.

There's nobody to touch Murakami, and this is a particularly good Murakami book. Maybe my favourite, though Wind-Up Bird is his most accomplished work.

Carefree detective story full of death
Written in 1982, this is the earliest Murakami novel widely available to the English-speaking world, though it isn't Murakami's first novel (he wrote two before this one).

Attempting to find the meaning in this bizaare and surreal detective story will probably always be fruitless, but trying to work it out while reading is so much fun. Reading it again is just as good, as you think that perhaps this time you are ready, this time you will understand what it all means - but you never are ready and you never do understand.

It is worth noting that despite its jaunty and carefree tone, the book is full of death and images of death, which lend it something of a brooding darkeness. It is also worth noting that here is a very early example of Murakami's frequently repeated 'mysterious woman who goes unexplainably missing' trick.

In 1988 Murakami produced a sequel, Dance Dance Dance but, despite being quite frightening and easy to read, it is inferior to Wild Sheep Chase and doesn't stand up to repeated readings.

Indescribable
What can I say about this writer! I discovered Murakami in January this year through Norwegian Wood, which I found very engrossing and different mainly because of his style of writing and characters. Since then I have hunted down and bought every book written by the author. The stories and the characters captivate you, you are made to feel as if YOU are the character and you are actually going through the journey which follows. As a previous reader said, it is hard to describe Murakami's work to someone who has not read one of his works. You can only experience how good this guy is when you read it yourself. To sum up Murakami is one of those authors whose books should be read by anyone who has an interest in reading quality!!!