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A Wild Sheep Chase

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A Wild Sheep Chase

By: Haruki Murakami, Alfred Birnbaum - translator
Narrated by: Dexter Galang
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A marvelous hybrid of mythology and mystery, A Wild Sheep Chase is the extraordinary literary thriller that launched Haruki Murakami's international reputation.

It begins simply enough: A twenty-something advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend, and casually appropriates the image for an insurance company's advertisement. What he doesn't realise is that included in the pastoral scene is a mutant sheep with a star on its back, and in using this photo he has unwittingly captured the attention of a man in black who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences. Thus begins a surreal and elaborate quest that takes our hero from the urban haunts of Tokyo to the remote and snowy mountains of northern Japan, where he confronts not only the mythological sheep, but the confines of tradition and the demons deep within himself. Quirky and utterly captivating, A Wild Sheep Chase is Murakami at his astounding best.

'A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas' Independent

© Haruki Murakami 1982 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Action & Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense World Literature Magic Fantasy
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Critic reviews

Wonderfully easy to read and just as wonderfully difficult to make sense of...like the narrator, who slowly accepts the presence in his life of mystery, we slowly recognize the possibility of a new kind of world. Like him, we lean forward and topple headlong into magic
It begins as a detective novel, dips into a screwball comedy, and at its close becomes a tale of possession...A highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship
Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving
A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas
If you consider yourself an intelligent, sensitive common reader but wish to accommodate something a little removed from your experience, and probably your imagination, I dare you to turn your eyes towards Murakami and head off on a wild sheep chase.
All stars
Most relevant
I chose this story to find out what ‘magical realism’ is. I’m glad I did

Mesmeric weirdness

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If you’re just getting to know Murukami’s work, avoid this narrator. It’s a brilliant book, but this particular narrator makes you not want to listen, this will probably put you off listening and as a result you are likely to miss out on a giant in magical realism. Dexter Galang has the dullest voice; it’s annoying, monotone, and sounds like a pretentious pubescent nerd. Whoever bought his recordings or encouraged him to read must have been tripping balls.

Worst narrator I’ve come across

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Mildly entertaining. Narration is great, but the story itself is a little bland and nonsensical.

Not as good as his other works

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Trying to get into this since I loved his other work but the narration is making it difficut to enjoy.
Would like to hear this but with another narrator.

interesting but bad narration

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Beautifully written and strange combination of Raymond Chandler and Neil Gaiman. Nicely read in a style that suits.

My favourite Murakami novel

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