Murakami, Intertextuality, and the Novel Form

I guess I come back to my first thoughts on Murakami's textuality and the historically cyclical nature of what form writing has taken. While a relatively recent form, novel and fictional short story writing has arguably sold itself on each example being novel in the sense of uniqueness. The questionable nature of this truth comes out in much of Murakami's intertextual writing. Intentional or otherwise, there is an extent to which the structurally or thematic elements both parody and celebrate the uniqueness of the novel.

I say parody, but I use the word loosely to describe how easily and even humorously  narratives and story elements can be mimicked and rearranged to creates something structurally similar and yet completely different. But in this same process of creating a different story, the uniqueness of the novel seems to be celebrated, even if the repetition of structure should make it seem otherwise.