Blog Post 1

Having never actually read through a Murakami novel, besides a few excerpts from IQ84,  The Wild Sheep Chase, was an interesting introduction to Murakami's writing style and structure. The use of magical realism and the way he includes symbolism was at first quite confusing. However, comparing it to works such as The Long Goodbye, and other books that Murakami has been influenced by, one can understand where he may have been influenced by.
     Haruki Murakami's style and departure from typical Japanese subjects, makes his writing more universally applicable. As we see through Boku's journey, this could possibly be anyone's internal journey, however surreal it may seem. There were times when I was reading it that I wondered if it was necessary to have certain parts and why Murakami went to such lengths to incorporate it. For example, what was Boku's obsession with the model's ears supposed to represent? Or is it supposed to represent whatever interpretation the reader puts into it?
Because of A Wild Sheep Chase, I wonder if many of Murakami's novels also have an overall puzzling tone of surrealism. Maybe it's this mystery about him and his works that makes him so attractive.