Title: A Wild Sheep Chase

Series: The Rat

Author: Haruki Murakami

Translator: Alfred Birnbaum

Genres: Literary, Magical Realism

Publishing Date: 13 October 1982

Original Language: Japanese

Pages: ~353

CW: Suicide, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, War

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Read if you’re looking for: 

• Weird, literary fiction translated from Japanese
• Possession by an evil entity, possibly representing ambition or toxic masculinity
• An conflicted, unnamed main character
• Magical realism & an offbeat sense of humor
• More sheep info than you’ve ever heard in your life

This is another of Murakami’s early novels, written in the 1980’s, and it’s the third book in The Rat series. The story follows the same unnamed narrator as in the other books in the series. He becomes wrapped up in a strange mystery, and travels to Hokkaido to look for a sheep with special marking, a sheep like no other. As the mystery unfolds, the narrator finds that this sheep is, perhaps, something even more insidious than he expected. 

As I work my way through all of Murakami’s catalogue, I am finding myself not quite as enchanted by his earlier work, even though this one is a lot of people’s favorite. Although there was some of his signature magical realism in this one, I found it to drag a little bit, and a I didn’t care very much about what happened to the characters. I did enjoy the setting and atmosphere of Hokkaido that Murakami included, and the descriptions of the wintery landscape. As with most of Murakami’s books, the representation of women is a little bit weird and objectifying. The main character has an unnamed girlfriend, and he can’t stop talking about her alluring ears, which is strange. Again, while I enjoy his writing style and quirky sense of humor, I don’t think this one is a win for me, personally.