This was my first forray into the world of Murakami. A Wild Sheep Chase did live up to Murakami's reputation of very unusual stories. This one was no different.
I wouldn't say this was one of the most enjoyable reads for me, this story did cause me to contemplate the significance of life and how I live it. All of the characters in this story are rather dull, wooden, however they each play an important role in their interaction with the books main character.
The gist of the story being the main character, a man receives a postcard from a friend and he chooses to use an image of an unusual sheep with a star on his back from the postcard in an insurance ad. The narrator is then lead on a quest to find the sheep or face dire consequences.
The story leads the reader on the quest to find the true meaning of the mysterious sheep.
One reason I found this book more of a chore to read is that the characters were mostly one dimensional and I couldn't find myself caring about any of them. I love reading, but reading it became a chore to finish the story because I kept losing interest. When I finished the book I felt relief rather than feeling I'd left a good story with characters I really liked or related to.
One redeeming quality of this story for me was that the main character's realization of his life not adding up to much, having no real significance in his world and his acceptance of that. All life has meaning and purpose and it made me think of how I choose to qualify my own life. I was able to reference God because he gives me significance and purpose. I may not live up the the world's culture but it's Gods culture that matters most to me. The fact that this book enabled me to contemplate or re evaluate my purpose, even without a mysterious quest LOL, is what leads me to give this book 3 stars ***
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