Blog Post 1 - Anna-Maria Marinescu

    In all honesty, it had been years before this class that I had read my first and only Murakami book. Even worse was when we all introduced ourselves no one had read the same one I did (Men without Women). Together, these thoughts left me questioning if I really did like Murakami. If I in actuality, read a novel of his that was not "classic Murakami" or that years in between reading warped my perception/understanding of his works. Luckily, I can say that after reading A Wild Sheep Chase neither was the case at all. 

    The novel and its plot was enjoyable enough for me, including the daily struggles of Boku developing into a sort of hero's journey to find the truth of the star sheep. However, what reminded me of my love for Murakami many years ago were the details in a Wild Sheep Chase that would bring back memories of Men Without Women. When we discussed the prevalence of the ocean and its animals in Murakami, my mind wandered to Drive my Car, where Kafuku's wife brings up her past or future life as a lamprey, being one with the flow of water. Or when we were introduced to J's bar, I could not help but picture it similarly to Kino's bar where men who lost women, like Boku, would go to drink and talk. Even the odd circumstances of Boku's girlfriend and her ears led me back to thinking about Men Without Women, where the short story "Samsa in Love" can be argued to be just as odd. What made it all the more better though was that these small similarities I casually remembered were purposeful and speak to Murakami's writing as a whole. Connecting the themes of magic, his influences, and mystery shrouding different details, allowed me to remember the book I read so long ago and enjoy it even more knowing that it is connected in specific ways/themes to A Wild Sheep Chase regardless of the books being more than 30 years apart in publishing.

    In a more general sense as well it was nice to read A Wild Sheep Chase because it was solely one story, saturated in various Murakamisms successfully while still keeping to its own theme. But, when looking at Men Without Women, an idea or two is integrated into each story allowing for a somewhat unified, but also incomplete picture to what elements Murakami writing usually has. Thanking about it all makes me very excited to start Norwegian Wood and compare it even further with the previous two read novels.

-Anna