Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Przygoda z owcą

This is an odd book. I've seen it descried as magical realism, but that only partially seems to fit for me. It reads to me more like a contemporary fiction novel (at least, fairly contemporary for when it was written) that has elements of either fantasy or hallucination written into it, and with absolutely no clear indicator which one is the truth. I'm not sure that I like it... but I'm also not sure that I don't.

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avocadotoastbee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

A Wild Sheep Chase is the third novel of Haruki Murakami’s The Rat quadrilogy.

While it can be read as a stand-alone novel, I was glad I read Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 first.

The preceding novels gave me just enough background information.

Although I love the way Murakami can write stories with no plot, the storyline in A Wild Sheep Chase was just what was missing in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball. The obscure plot drew me in immediately and I could not lay the book down.

In The Rat #1 and #2 I could not stand the character The Rat. In a way, he was boring and unlikable, but I fell in love with him at the end of A Wild Sheep Chase.

Despite Murakami’s reoccurring mysogyny, A Wild Sheep Chase is a Masterpiece.

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juliana05's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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yooniereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“In other words, sandwiched as we are between the ‘everything’ that is behind us and the ‘zero’ beyond us, ours is an ephemeral existence in which there is neither coincidence nor possibility.”

This novel is Murakami at his prime in storytelling. It follows a nameless narrator (a hallmark of vintage Murakami) undergoing, in my opinion, a metaphysical journey of sorts. It’s a lyrical character study and a visceral look into the human psyche with such bizarre characters you just can’t help but to love.

In usual Murakami fashion, you embark on a journey to find a mystical sheep, meeting nameless and yet unique characters that make it such a masterclass in characterization. There are figures like the Sheep Man, possibly one of my favorite characters next to Norwegian Wood’s Midori, as well as a reality slowly melting in itself in such a way that makes it questionable.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. It brings up existential questions I haven’t thought of before with a new light that only fiction could bring forward. However, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for anyone who is not too interested in magical realism or for someone starting out with Murakami because it can be a bit dense to work through. But if you’ve enjoyed works like Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World or After Dark, then this would be a great place to venture to!

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