2.53k reviews for:

A Wild Sheep Chase

Haruki Murakami

3.84 AVERAGE

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I think last paragraph ended me
adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I've read other books by Murakami and this is the first one that I found myself dragging my feet to finish. It took me a few years of on-off-on-off again reading to get through it. Overall, I enjoy what Murakami does with the mundane and how surreal/absurd he gets. I'm not sure what the take-away from the book is though? Wasitallafeverdream? Or was it all about loneliness, the nature of free-will, and taking things for granted? Whoknows? Maybeit'sallinmyhead. Areyoureallysureyou'reawakerightnow? I'mnot.

Esto no es una reseña al uso. Quiero contar algo.

La primera vez que leí a Murakami fue a raíz de la adaptación cinematográfica de “Norwegian Woods”, que vi y me gustó. Leí la novela un poco más adelante, y fue mi primer contacto con la literatura asiática. Me encantó ese ambiente de desazón envolvente, de nostalgia y soledad. La siguiente novela fue “Al Sur de la frontera, al oeste del sol”, y seguí enganchada a los recuerdos del ayer, a los vínculos del pasado, que vuelven y revuelven. Continué con “Escucha la canción del viento y Pintball 1973”, y se me hizo eterna, a punto de abandonar. Pasaron varios años, y averigué por casualidad que “La caza del carnero salvaje” era la continuación de ese último libro que lei. Decidí darle otra oportunidad a este autor, que me abrió las puertas a la literatura japonesa, la cual disfruto mucho, con la esperanza de hacer las paces con su obra.

Honestamente, no sé si me ha gustado o no. Esta novela es simplemente loca, surrealista. Una suerte de sucesos sin sentido pero mágicamente conectados, que te sumerge en una especie de sueño, de visiones, donde percibes más de lo que está escrito.

Nos encontramos con nuestro protagonista, no sabemos su nombre, que tiene que encontrar un carnero, cuyo paradero es desconocido. Siguiéndole la pista, viaja a Sapporo, acompañado de una chica de orejas bonitas, y se aloja en una cabaña en medio de la nada, donde recibirá visitas inexplicables.

Este tipo de personajes pasotas, egoístas y derrotistas, que fuman una cigarrillo cada dos páginas, y beben cerveza y coñac en otras dos, que se arriman a mujeres rarunas, que poco aportan, y que fluyen viendo los trenes pasar, me tira bastante para atrás. Pero, ¿Cómo no rendirse a esta narrativa de ensoñación? De eso que pasan los días de haber leído la novela y aún permanece en tu mente esa imagen, el olor a tierra mojada, el sentimiento de soledad por días, las miradas al espejo. Esa incertidumbre servida sobre la mesa..

Pues en esto resulta mi amor/odio por Murakami y su obra, que seguiré leyendo, probablemente una y otra vez, sin remedio alguno.

My second Murakami novel after reading Norwegian Wood. It was a much more surreal experience. There was an engaging mystery from start to finish that I will admit confused me around the middle. The writing was easy to read but built a dream-like atmosphere which set this book apart from a standard mystery thriller. Overall, an entertaining read.

I genuinely was surprised by this one. I've read two other Murakami books and both have left me a bit traumatized, but his writing is so good that I keep coming back to his works. This book felt vastly different in tone and content than the last two books. At first I was hesitant about where this would go, but it ended with me just feeling a lot of tender emotions for the journey the main character went on and where it ultimately led him to.

Murakami has a way of telling stories in unconventional ways. Almost nobody in this story has names. The most familiar name you hear is The Rat - a distant friend to our main character - and the quest that our main character goes on is so unexpectedly bizarre, I think as a reader we are charmed right into wanting to understand why the main character is so invested in chasing down a sheep. Why his girlfriend's ears give her such unique powers. How does it all fit together? But then as you read and you realize that the sheep means something different - and you read these sprawling passages about the mediocrity of life and the fear that our lives are passing without being lived, and it leaves me in such a state of thought. Murakami finds just the right arrangement of words to make it linger in your brain and make you think and wonder about what it could all mean.

I'm still trying to understand the sheep's part in all of this, but the way Murakami describes things is always so striking I couldn't care less I was very confused towards the end.
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

"I guess I felt attached to my weakness. My pain and suffering too. Summer light, the smell of a breeze, the sound of cicadas—if i like these things, why should I apologize. The same with having a beer with you..." The Rat swallowed his words. "I don't know why."

3.99 / 5... i was putting off reading this for a long time because i really disliked the first two works in this series, but i actually really enjoyed this one. i do think the introduction into the story taking up more or less a fifth of the book is sorta crazy but unfortch i get it cuz all my stories have long af introductions too... but when the plot started going in the direction of the sheep i really enjoyed it like that's my goat... (my sheep
adventurous funny mysterious