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larsdradrach 's review for:
Hear the Wind Sing
by Haruki Murakami
Normally I'm strict about reading series in order, but when i started on [b:A Wild Sheep Chase|11298|A Wild Sheep Chase (The Rat, #3)|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327908774l/11298._SY75_.jpg|2057170] i was not able to get my hands on a version of Rat #1 so i ended up reading "Sheep" and [b:Dance Dance Dance|17800|Dance Dance Dance|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1514582521l/17800._SY75_.jpg|2753173] before reverting to this one.
Rat #1 is Murakami's first novel which is evident, the execution is shaky and at times incoherent, but a lot of the known Murakami trademarks are here and even glimpses of beauty and genius.
I have often seen Murakmi's style likened to jazz compositions, some kind of free association and improvisation around a theme, but i have never seen that before reading RAT #1, which feels like pure improvisation.
Rat #1 is interesting and provides some additional background but definitely not essential to the RAT series, i might read [b:Pinball, 1973|591978|Pinball, 1973 (The Rat, #2)|Haruki Murakami|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1279373805l/591978._SX50_.jpg|290859] as well at some time, but not urgent.