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A Wild Sheep Chase
 
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A Wild Sheep Chase (Paperback)

by Haruki Murakami (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Books USA; Reprint edition (30 April 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 037571894X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375718946
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.2 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,144,225 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #78 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Murakami, Haruki

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
As with many of Haruki Murakami's novels, the plot curdles with complex diversity only to be resolved by a collision between wild fantasy and outright slapstick. A Wild Sheep Chase refers aptly to the tradition of cool but kitsch detective sagas. Except here, the metaphoric goose is now a literal sheep with a distinctive marking; an urban myth with the promise of immortality.

The anonymous narrator is a mild-mannered thirtysomething with a more than understanding attitude--things happen because they are supposed to and there's no sense standing in the way of progress or nature. It takes the disappearance of a friend and some gentle intimidation from a right wing conglomerate to break the pattern of apathy and send him off on his adventure.

Murakami's detail of the most mundane situations makes his lead character endearing. Those who've read Murakami before will recognise that certain empathy for the strange thoughts and rituals that are now hallmarks of his wry humour. Although an unlikely hero, the quest for a missing friend and the support of a lover with mysterious ears takes him off in search of the elusive sheep in a bizarre adventure--danger and absurdity hindering every movement. --David Trueman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
His life was like his recurring nightmare: a train to nowhere. But an ordinary life has a way of taking an extraordinary turn. Add a girl whose ears are so exquisite that, when uncovered, they improve sex a thousand-fold, a runaway friend, a right-wing politico, an ovine-obsessed professor and a manic-depressive in a sheep outfit, implicate them in a hunt for a sheep, that may or may not be running the world, and eth upshot is another singular masterpiece from Japan's finest novelist. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

43 Reviews
5 star:
 (28)
4 star:
 (14)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, but maybe his most fun to read, 18 Mar 2002
This review is from: A Wild Sheep Chase (Panther) (Paperback)
I can describe this simply - it's Raymond Carver's sense of human smallness and dignity coupled with Raymond Chandler's sense of pulp, but with a sort of Marx-Brothers/Manga thrown in. The girl with beautiful ears is perhaps Murakami's best kooky-girl and the plot rattles along. It's weird as hell, but firmly anchored to the real world too. Rather like "The Wind-up Bird Chronicles" there's a sense of opaqueness to it, a sense that you are not glimpsing everything that is to be found on first read. But it reads just as well second time.

There's nobody to touch Murakami, and this is a particularly good Murakami book. Maybe my favourite, though Wind-Up Bird is his most accomplished work.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Carefree detective story full of death, 4 Feb 2007
By Greshon (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: A Wild Sheep Chase (Paperback)
Written in 1982, this is the earliest Murakami novel widely available to the English-speaking world, though it isn't Murakami's first novel (he wrote two before this one).

Attempting to find the meaning in this bizaare and surreal detective story will probably always be fruitless, but trying to work it out while reading is so much fun. Reading it again is just as good, as you think that perhaps this time you are ready, this time you will understand what it all means - but you never are ready and you never do understand.

It is worth noting that despite its jaunty and carefree tone, the book is full of death and images of death, which lend it something of a brooding darkeness. It is also worth noting that here is a very early example of Murakami's frequently repeated 'mysterious woman who goes unexplainably missing' trick.

In 1988 Murakami produced a sequel, Dance Dance Dance but, despite being quite frightening and easy to read, it is inferior to Wild Sheep Chase and doesn't stand up to repeated readings.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Indescribable, 25 Mar 2004
This review is from: A Wild Sheep Chase (Paperback)
What can I say about this writer! I discovered Murakami in January this year through Norwegian Wood, which I found very engrossing and different mainly because of his style of writing and characters. Since then I have hunted down and bought every book written by the author. The stories and the characters captivate you, you are made to feel as if YOU are the character and you are actually going through the journey which follows. As a previous reader said, it is hard to describe Murakami's work to someone who has not read one of his works. You can only experience how good this guy is when you read it yourself. To sum up Murakami is one of those authors whose books should be read by anyone who has an interest in reading quality!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars I did want slightly more
I was introduced to murokami via Dance Dance Dance. This is a later book and they really should be read in order as the content has a link. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. Salmon

4.0 out of 5 stars Just go with the flow...
This is the last book by the author that I had to read and actually I think it was my second favourite, after Norwegian Wood. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. S. Payne

4.0 out of 5 stars weird and wonderful!
The way Murakami writes is somewhat soothing if slightly bizarre. I loved this book but did feel a tad disappointed by the ending, however still worth the read. Read more
Published 9 months ago by C. C. Stevenson

5.0 out of 5 stars Murakami's best book
This is my favourite book by Japanese writer Murakami. I have read many of his books, and I don't like a lot of his later work that much, but this one is wonderful funny. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. Peter Raposo

4.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre, fantastic, always original
The narrator of the novel, recovering from his divorce, becomes entangled in an affair with a girl with beautiful ears. Read more
Published 11 months ago by DDH255

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wild Sheep Chase - Murakami
This is the first Murakami book i haven't given the full five stars to...not because it isn't good, it just doesnt hit the heights some of his other books do... Read more
Published 13 months ago by reedydeluxe

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, humourous, and poignant.
If there is one criticism that can be made of Murakami's wild, fascinating and intensely thoughtful novels, it is that the humanity of his characters can occasionally be lost in... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Dorothy Shaw

5.0 out of 5 stars another masterpiece from Murakami.
From the moment I finished Kafka on the Shore, the first Murakami novel I read, I was desperate to read everything else he has written. Read more
Published 14 months ago by le chic le freak

5.0 out of 5 stars A near-perfect novel
I was given this for a birthday pressie and left it, unread, on my shelf for a year until a mate saw it and went `Wow! Read more
Published 23 months ago by Richard Hammond

5.0 out of 5 stars Baa-rilliant! Join the chase
A girl with the most mesmerising ears; a strange man with beautiful hands; a sheep man; a chaffeur who has God's telephone number; and a mysterious sheep with a star on it's back... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2006 by N. Thorne

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