I just read another magical Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase, which I liked about as much as his Sputnik Sweetheart —that is, a bit more than his Kafka on the shore, but not as much as his The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It was indirectly recommended to me by Fabio Dominguez, through his brother Camilo.
To me, Murakami's stories —tales about ordinary, albeit a bit lonely, human beings, with their own peculiar fears and hopes, who get involved in extraordinary plots involving magical animals that communicate with people on their dreams and gods— while clearly having a very modern, even a bit pop, style, retain some of the charm of more traditional Japanese literature. Think Neil Gaiman's American Gods (which, to me, was worth reading mostly for its description of The House on the Rock) meets Kawabata's Snow Country. I would recommend this read.
DiscussionLast update: 2008-03-03 (Rev 13762)