This is the 3rd book of Murakami Haruki and the 3rd part of the ‘Trilogy of the Rat’.
The prequels are ‘Hear the Wind Sing’ and ‘Pinball 1973’, the sequel is ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’. I have not read the first books, honestly due to lack of interest so far. They came into my focus shortly when they were published in German language in 2014, but I have forgotten them. A new English version is also available since 2015.
It is my second reading of the ‘Wild Sheep Chase’. I bought the first English paperback edition in Tokyo some time ago and was delighted: the writing was so different and fresh then. This time it was different to me: the melody sounded more seriously, but the story still interested me. Murakami was a young man, when he wrote the book, and is regarding ‘The Wild Sheep Chase’ as his first real book. With it he was laying the groundwork as a popular Japanese writer.
There are many similarities in his later works. The typical lonely protagonist here is a nameless translator and publicist. A friend of ‘the Rat’ from the first two books.
He is working in a small ad agency, which he owns together with a male business partner. The story plays during four weeks in 1978. It starts when the protagonist uses a photo of an idyllic landscape of Northern Japan: only mountains in the background and many sheep on grass. A lovely scenery useful for a print advertising.
Soon afterwards a gangster appears in his office. He threatens him, because he had used the sheep photograph. He forces the protagonist to look closely at the herding sheep, and then he recognizes an unusual sheep with a star on his back! This is meant to be a very special sheep. And his life will depend on it.
The sheep has some transcendent meaning. It is said to possess magical power. The boss of the gangster is a powerfull right-wing figure who had built an underground network since 1937. He himself was possessed by the mentioned sheep, which helped him, but he lost it not long ago. The boss is dying. But before his death the sheep must be found, or his underground mob group will fall into pieces.
So, the gangster sends the protagonist on a dead or alive mission to find the sheep with the star on his back. And, the wild sheep chase begins.
The protagonist is recently divorced, but got to know a new girlfriend, a special lady who works as an ear model. She will accompany him on his journey. They will go to Hokkaidô and check-in at the Dolphin Hotel, which is known from Dance, Dance, Dance. On their tour they will encounter strange people and get stranded in a lonely place. The story comes with some surprising turns, but the full meaning of all will unfold in the end.
The book is written from the first person’s perspective. The narrative style is interesting, funny, and witty. The author is also critical about the Japanese history. Although it is an early work of Murakami Haruki you will find the typical mixture of a lonely protagonist alongside quirky characters, read his philosophical thoughts and will witness supernatural encounters. In the end it made me curious about the first books.
Book title
Murakami Haruki: A Wild Sheep Chase, translated by Alfred Birnbaum. First edition by Kodansha International, 1989.
村上春樹: 羊をめぐる冒険 , 講談社, 1982.
Japan Kaleidoskop 