A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Murakami's books are very hard for me to review/write about. Before I sat down to write this, I went back to look at my reviews for the other works I've read by him. They weren't helpful in the least. Two of the reviews were extremely brief and for the other book, it appears that I just left a star rating and went on with my life.

So, I guess I'll start by saying that Murakami has moved into my list of favorite authors. His writing style is so smooth, so idiosyncratic, and his subject matter is such an odd mix of the mundane and the otherworldly, that I'm consistently impressed and mystified. I can never figure out how he's achieving any of his effects, and, more importantly, as I'm reading, I simply don't care. I don't know how he makes scenes about getting dressed or making dinner fascinating. I don't know how he makes me care about his oddball characters and their ridiculous, obtuse conversations. I don't know how he keeps me interested in a story about people being possessed by a sheep.

But he does. And I guess that's what's important.

Read this book!