Amy Post 2

Perhaps the reason Murakami is called the 80's Japanese J.D Salinger is because his characters are rebels in their way, and like Holden Caulfield, they are lost. Their books take place in different time periods and different parts of the world. But thematically they are linked. For example, in A Wild Sheep Chase Boku does not aspire to have children, which is unusual because he appears to have the common life of being a salary man. However, his wife divorced him, and he acts completely unaffected even though divorce is a major life changing event like it was something that happened, which signals that even though Boku had a wife he was alone. Not to mention, that he didn't aspire to have children which is the one thing he needed to complete his life. It's like he went through the motions of life but not  living.  Another example is in Murakami's short story"Year of Spaghetti", Boku cooks spaghetti, a decidedly western meal, even though he is in Japan where rice reigns supreme. Boku goes against the grain, and he is also alone in his apartment. No wife or mentioned of a job like as if he solely existed to make spaghetti.