I finished this book a week ago; my initial impression upon reading the first two chapters was that I liked the writing style. It was a pretty straightforward read. I hadn’t read any books by Murakami prior, and this seemed like it might be an exciting read, albeit a bit dreamy.
However, at the end of this book, I realized I had a wrong first impression.
As a Murakami novice, my opinion of this book may change as I get more familiar with his storytelling style. However, for the moment, here are three reasons/story points that caused me to give this book three stars -
- The Sheep
- The Ear Fetish
- Unnecessary Narratives
The Sheep
At first, I believed that there might be some deeper hidden meaning or significance behind the sheep. Was the sheep a metaphor for something the author searched for in his meaningless life?
No, as it turns out. It’s just a regular sheep - of the sinister variety - with the intent of world domination. The sheep is ancient and can be traced to the legends of Genghis Khan.
It needs to possess humans, exorcists style, to fulfill its objective.
The book reveals that this particular sheep has possessed three people since being discovered in a remote cave in China -
- The Sheep Scientist,
- The Right-wing Boss and,
- The Rat.
The protagonist is directed to locate this mysterious sheep or face serious consequences. At this point, I wasn’t sure if this plot was a deliberate attempt at humor.
As the story ends, we discover that our protagonist was intentionally led on this “sheep chase.” His actions would have caused his close friend, The Rat, to be entirely subsumed by the sheep. The lead-up to this ending (and the twist) was anticlimactic. There were no critical decision points or tension in the protagonist’s journey. He is merely reduced to an observer.
Ear Fetish
I wasn’t sure how the entire narrative between the protagonist and his new girlfriend played into the story. She does leave at the end despite making a long and tiring journey in the quest for the sheep. Did she have some mysterious powers that influenced the direction of the quest? Were her ears involved? Was this another attempt at humor? An attempt at self-introspection? A hidden meaning?
Unnecessary Narratives
The book also had what felt like filler material that seemed inconsequential to the plot. -
The woman who sleeps with anyone a relationship that the protagonist has in College
The ex-wife - who shows up to pack up her things (and cut herself out of all the photos in their multi-year relationship)
The (ex) girlfriend of The Rat - the author makes a special trip to convey a letter. She was in a relationship with the Rat for a few months only and hadn’t moved on. The whole section where he makes a trip to meet up with a woman who had known the RAT for two months seems irrelevant to the story. So did his sojourn on the beach, where a guard reprimands him for throwing trash into the ocean.
What’s in a name? The protagonist does not believe in names. This book does not use any names for any of its characters (that I remember) except for naming a cat. This naming comes from an entire discourse between the protagonist and the limo driver on the need for names.
Other Quotes
“We returned to the hotel and had intercourse. I like that word intercourse. It poses only a limited range of possibilities.”
“The Boss is an honorable man. After the Lord, the most godly person I've ever met." "You've met God?" "Certainly. I telephone Him every night.”
“I could hear hundreds of elves sweeping out my head with their tiny brooms. They kept sweeping and sweeping. It never occurred to any of them to use a dustpan.”