A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel

Written by Haruki Murakami

Narrated by Rupert Degas

A New York Times bestselling author—and “a mythmaker for the millennium, a wiseacre wiseman” (New York Times Book Review)—delivers a surreal and elaborate quest that takes readers from Tokyo to the remote mountains of northern Japan, where the unnamed protagonist has a surprising confrontation with his demons.
 
An advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend and casually appropriates the image for an advertisement. What he doesn’t realize is that included in the 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 who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9780804166539

Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami (Kioto, 1949) es uno de los pocos autores japoneses que han dado el salto de escritor de prestigio a autor con grandes ventas en todo el mundo. Tusquets Editores ha publicado todas sus novelas —Tokio blues. Norwegian Wood, Crónica del pájaro que da cuerda al mundo, 1Q84 y La muerte del comendador, entre otras—, cinco libros de relatos, y ensayos como Underground, De qué hablo cuando hablo de correr, De qué hablo cuando hablo de escribir o Música, sólo música, además de dos relatos bellamente ilustrados: La chica del cumpleaños y Tony Takitani. Murakami ha recibido numerosos premios, entre ellos el Noma, el Tanizaki, el Yomiuri, el Franz Kafka, el Jerusalem Prize o el Hans Christian Andersen, y su nombre suena reiteradamente como candidato al Nobel de Literatura. En España ha merecido el Premio Arcebispo Juan de San Clemente, la Orden de las Artes y las Letras (concedida por el Gobierno español), el Premi Internacional Catalunya 2011 y, recientemente, el Premio Princesa de Asturias de las Letras 2023. La ciudad y sus muros inciertos, su obra más reciente, es una novela melancólica y filosófica sobre el amor perdido y el autodescubrimiento.

Reviews for A Wild Sheep Chase

[seriousgrace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hidden in the midst of The Wild Sheep Chase are mysteries. Early on, the nameless narrator receives a letter from someone he didn't want to think about. He throws the letter away without opening it. As the reader, are we supposed to remember this letter? Is it important later on? I'm thinking it must be or it wouldn't have been presented in such a way. Right? Wrong assumption. This nameless protagonist has been issued a threat - find a unique sheep with a star on its back or else. The blackmail is terrifying in an unspecific way. Get use to the vagueness of A Wild Sheep Chase. No one has a proper name. Not the narrator, ex-wife, girlfriend, business partner, or even the strange man dressed in a sheep suit.
The entire time I was reading A Wild Sheep Chase I thought it could be a video game...either that or a fever dream. You find yourself questioning chaos versus mediocrity. The negating of cognition. Part I begins in November of 1970. This date is important but you won't realize it until long after you've closed the book. Like I said, fever dream.

[thisisstephenbetts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good straight-forward Murakami. A little less labyrinthine, perhaps not quite so assured, but as it's such an early one that's understandable. If new to Murakami, I think you'd do better starting with one of his later novels. This one is good, but it feels a little less distinctive than his later books.

[mykl8s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murakami leaves me liking his novels, whether I understand them, and even when I can hardly remember what happened.

[JaviKidA · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Did Murakami do it again?
Let me tell you, not quite.
I don’t know if this has to do with the fact that I had already read "Hear the Wind Sing / Pinball, 1973" a long time ago, and then I moved on to "Dance Dance Dance."
I think, although I know that Murakami always leaves very hidden morals among very picturesque and strange plots, this is the first time I feel that I didn’t understand even 50%.
The plot is fun, it flies by. You enjoy it, you take it for what it is: a very entertaining magical realism novel. However, for what I usually expect from Murakami, I feel like he fell a little short here.
The final message is very powerful; if you manage to find it, don’t hesitate to be amazed by the story. I think, as is always my taste, it stirred up my thoughts too much here. (Translated from Spanish)

[CastNoShadow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm reading a new book by Murakami, and it's happened to me again, just like with the previous ones. The story initially seems intriguing; you keep reading solely because you want to see how Murakami extricates himself from the mess he's gotten into, and generally, he manages to do so well.

As for the negatives, the protagonist is very bland... something that's common in all the author's books, at least in all the ones I've read. The female protagonist adds a bit of flavor, but it's not enough. The story is too convoluted and sometimes incomprehensible; I'm sure there's symbolism and depth that I can't grasp. (Translated from Spanish)

[ruskoley · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Murakami manages to write a ersatz novel; in fact in places I wondered if he was writing a novel-parody. Not, really, for political or ideological reasons, but just because of an uncommon want to go against novel standards. Many critics/readers have compared his writing to other literary roadmarks, yet I have not seen a comparison to the one author that I think this book most feels like: Philip K. Dick. I can imagine most readers not being as accepting as I was of this dream-like novel, some might be angry at the lack of rigid novel features. Still, the experience is probably worth the fast-turning pages.

[krazy4katz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun book to read — especially the second time. I read it twice, which was good because it seemed really disjointed the first time. It is very well written, which also means that Murakami selected an excellent translator since I read this in English. There is lots of humor, mystery and physical impossibilities, but that does not take away from enjoying the story. My only problem with the book is the ending is sort of empty. The explanation for why the people in the book manipulated the main character to do what he did and what happened (and why) to his girlfriend is not completely clear to me. I don't know whether reading the first 2 books of this trilogy would help, but couldn't find them and somehow think maybe not. Nevertheless, I do recommend reading it.

[RubnLP1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The elements left to free interpretation are often a hallmark of Murakami. This book has moved me in several parts; I believe it has a certain something special within the author's body of work. (Translated from Spanish)

[donhazelwood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book ... this book ... this book came at me like Kurt Vonnegut on Risperidone telling his version of Moby Dick.

A great read - I don't quite know what Murakami was trying to say - but I throughly enjoyed being introduced to this author with this book. This won't be the last of his that I read.

[dualmon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wish I had read this before Hard Boild Wonderland. I enjoyed it much more. Still not totally my cuppa.

[Luisreque · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The hunt for the wild sheep is absolutely captivating, Murakami manages to immerse you in his universe from the very first pages; intrigue, uncertainty, and the unusual blend together in a novel that can be devoured eagerly. Highly recommended! (Translated from Spanish)

[diegogt0 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tremendous story that Murakami tells in this book. One of the best I've read. Every detail he recounts page by page is pure delight. (Translated from Spanish)

[siok-76276 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As usual, Murakami weaves the bizarre into an everyday tale. The narrator had to hunt for a specific sheep with a star, which led him to his friend's family's house in the middle of nowhere. There, he discovered that his friend aka The Rat had died. During this journey, he learned the power of this sheep. I don't know what is going on, but it is still an enjoyable read, with me scratching my head half the time.

[macha_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

possibly Murakami's most playful book - he is so clearly having a good time writing it. a very quixotic and vivid narrator undertakes a sort of comic Quest; the seeming simplicity of the psychic mystery story as he tells it masks a very rich background, in which nothing is as it seems, time is all wonky, and the territory covered is both surreal and existential. highly recommended. Dance Dance Dance is a sequel - i can hardly wait - and a very early novel, Pinball, also apparently introduces a character called The Rat who recurs here.

[charlotteburt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As you would expect from Murakami this is a strange tale, but a good read nonetheless. All about the search for a specific sheep with a star on its back. This has everything you would expect with a good Murakami, trippy plot, bizarre characters but all written in such a matter of fact style that it works.

[superpeer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Murakami's first widely published novel. It took me a while to get into this one, the first 30 pages or so went very slowly. This is the fourth book by him I've read and it seems to me that Murakami wasn't yet running at full speed with this one. All the Murakami-typical elements are here: a cat, solitude, girls, cooking, smoking, drinking and also crazy shit. There are great parts in here: the Dolphin hotel, the chauffeur and the mystery surrounding the man in the black suit and the sheep, the Sheep Man,... but to me it feels like it doesn't really come together. This could be because I have not read the two books leading up to this one, but supposedly it should not be an issue. It does feel quite fragmented, and at times I was was completely at a loss. Now it is not a novelty that Murakami confuses me, but I don't really get what he's trying to convey here as a whole. That might well be faulted completely at my end, though. Mayhap this needs a re-read. And mayhap I need to wildly chase those hard to find first two books of his.

That said, I did enjoy this. Murakami is a fantastic writer, whether I know what he's on about or not. And hey! Sheep. What do you know? Bloody sheep. Not like any of the sheep I've ever known. I can't really think of any cartoon that prominently feature sheep, or even just one. I can't even think of a company logo that uses a sheep. Poor sheep, so underused. Baa. So, in that respect, I am glad I have finally endulged in sheep-themed media. Hooray for sheep!

Anyway, yeah, this was pretty good, and I'll keep working my way through Murakami's oeuvre, because he rocks. Have a 3.5/5.

[Elfanfatal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the introduction to Haruki Murakami's future novelist, a book that presents itself as a crazy and incomprehensible adventure, as the task is to find a ram with a star on its back, but it goes beyond that, the analogies to the far-right in his country, to the internal loneliness and sadness of his characters, to the critique of a schizophrenic and insane world. An adventure that leads to the same place, but liberating the catharsis of a accompanied loneliness that ends up being named as life. (Translated from Spanish)

[SarahidB · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Surreal and enigmatic (Translated from Spanish)

[nelsoonjimenez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Start the Murakami world with this book. It will make you not want to leave that planet. (Translated from Spanish)

[Dragox92 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Slow book at the beginning, quite good at the end. With the same general line as Murakami's books. (Translated from Spanish)

[EsDaX · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A hilarious story with a critical gaze at certain ideological sectors. An introspective, melancholic style with touches of humor that make it very hard to put the book down once you start reading it. (Translated from Spanish)

[AleGy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't understand it at all. Still, I think the important thing about Murakami's books is the story, but not the ending, which is never definitive or leaves many loose ends.

However, this book, while it captivated me at times with its character of the sheep, the girl with the ears, or the mouse, I think I didn't even understand the final message; perhaps there wasn't one. (Translated from Spanish)

[modioperandi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading Murakami is like falling into a dream, while being wide awake, holding a book in your hand! Murakami is not for those who want the usual in their story telling. Much of the story line is very conventional. A somewhat disaffected, somewhat successful Ad man is dealing with divorce and the dislocations from his youth that happens in the modern world. Suddenly he enters a world of super powerful, threatening men who coerce him into quest for, not the Golden Fleece, but the living sheep with a star on its back. This is very early Murakami. It lacks some of the higher polish of his later works but is free of almost all of his more recent conventions. This makes for an easier read and a more direct story line. Because I have come to admire this writer, I recommend it as a good place to start a reading relationship with a master teller of oddball stories.

I first came into contact with Haruki Murakami via his book 1Q84 (Vintage International). This is a great novel, but I later found that it was based on conventions he had developed several books earlier. My admiration was reduced by the thought that the latter book was not as inventive as I had originally believed.

What I should have done, and recommend to others is that you attempt to read his books in order This was difficult to do because he had been reluctant to authorize English editions of his early works. A Wild Sheep Chase is the third book of his Trilogy of the Rat. It was the first that I was easily able to acquire. The good news is that books one and two are now available in one buy: Wind/Pinball: Two novels. Hear the Wind Song is also his first book. So win/win.

Reading Murakami is like falling into a dream, while being wide awake, holding a book in your hand! Cnsists of below books in this order:
#1 Wind/Pinball
#2 A Wild Sheep Chase
#3 Dance Dance Dance

It is tricky to define what kind of books Murakami writes. The simple answer is fiction. His fiction tends to include traditional Japanese elements. There is a Spirit world, not always friendly to humans but not evil. As in other Murakami books there are references to a jazz club. (Murakami began his working life managing a jazz club. There are what will become common references to Western styles, food and music. There are parts that might be magic or science fiction and people can have extra real sensitivities.

Our Central character, usually described as a Phillip Marlow matter of fact kind of person has as his girlfriend, a woman who is an ear model and is only beautiful when she exposes her ears. She is also capable of hearing signs and portents.

This being the end of the trilogy, there are references to a number of characters that we have to accept absent a deep understanding of why they matter to our sheep chaser. However, the book works well as a standalone.

A Wild Sheep Chase was for me a change to begin to see a fine story teller in hs early years. I will be going back again to get the rest of this trilogy. My recommendation to you is that Haruki Murakami weaves not just stories but a world. Murakami world is slightly removed from ours. It is a rich and complex world and worth your reading time.

[Ange Gómez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I must point out in advance that this is the second book I have read by this author, who is highly praised by critics and readers, and yet I do not fully understand. Perhaps my failure to understand this author stems from "my lack of understanding" of the way Japanese people view life today. In this book, we are presented with a surreal story in which the first part feels dull to me, with a bland and boring protagonist. The second part, the protagonist's journey in search of "the wild sheep," seems to me like an inner journey of a person who does not know what they want to do with their life, whether to live or die, literally or from boredom. A story that has not resonated with me beyond a singular landscape appealing for enjoying moments of chosen solitude. (Translated from Spanish)

[PabloTundo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

To be very honest, I must say that although I liked the book and consider it good, it didn't captivate me like some of the author's other works. (Translated from Spanish)

[FIOX · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great story, the ending left me bewildered and I agree with how dreamlike the narrative can be. (Translated from Spanish)

[muhrrynn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some laugh-out-loud lines, and a twisting, twining plot. Someone in another review said it was like experiencing someone else's dream, and that was apt. Still altogether enjoyable.

[big_bang_gorilla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In which a young man becomes involved in finding a sheep in a remote part of Hokkaido at the behest of a sinister corporation founded by a dying tycoon who is obsessed with being possessed with sheep in general and with this particular sheep. For the most part, the book flies along engagingly, propelled by Murakami's wit, intellect, and gift for the surreal, culminating in a spectacular climax. I did feel that the book had two dead spots. Unfortunately, the first is art the start of the book, which describes in minute detail the enthusiasms of a couple of sex fetishists (don't get your hopes up--it's not sexy and it's not even particularly entertaining); the other is when the corporate functionary takes two chapters to explain the philosophy underlying the corportion's founding, which was far too Hegelian to arouse my interest. The rest of the book is well worth the ride, though.

[jakebornheimer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is probably one of the more interesting Murakami novels (and as this is my 10th one, that's significant. I'll get back with a full review before long.

[miaculpa-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was somewhat unprepared to read "A wild sheep chase". I was in South Korea in the pre-kindle age and would read absolutely anything in English, so when a friend passed me this example of Japanese fiction I was merely glad that it was in English and not about Marxist didacticism or similar.

As it turns out, "A wild sheep chase" is a very good, if somewhat odd, read. Detailing a Japanese marketing executive, his girlfriend with the alluring ears, an eclectic range of supporting characters and possibly the oddest ending I've read for many years.

As with any book originally written in a language other than English, I wonder what has been lost or gained in translation. If anything, it may have gained something. Highly recommended.