A Wild Sheep Chase (Hitsuji o meguru bouken)
By Murakami Haruki
Vintage
1982 (first English Edition 1989)
I don't know if it's art or not, art seems so loosely defined in the modern world, but this book, by a still young Murakami, is certainly pretty good entertainment. Sure it has a number of sophomoric mistakes, such as gawky structures, wild herrings, flowery self-indulgence, and other growing pains, but regardless you just won't want to put the damn book down.
The story is of a malcontent, a man who has yet to feel comfortable in his own skin, and so looks outside of himself for comfort. While unable to attain comfort, his search leads him accidentally into his fate. Lured by a young woman with indescribably attractive ears he follows the path laid out for him by "the Boss", "the Rat" and "The Sheep". The Boss is dying with only a few months to live when his assistant finds a photo of a Hokkaido Sheep pasture in an insurance newsletter. The powerful syndicate puts an immediate stop to the publication of the brochure and chases down the book's unnamed narrator - the publisher. The photo was the work of "The Rat", a friend of the narrator who'd escaped society for the solitude of Hokkaido some years before. The Boss's Assistant sends the narrator and his irrisistable-eared girlfriend on a mission to locate the place and thar backed sheep in the picture.
The rest of the book (well most of the book) documents the surreal search on which the narrator embarks. The search winds though consciousness, unconsciousness, humor, profundity, mythology and parody. Like many modern Japanese storytellers, Murakami draws n lines between plausibility and fantasy; he allows his characters supernatural skills, and occasional bouts of brilliance. The living and the dead meet meet for coffee and souls travel freely between human and animal hosts. Those are the sort of things that happen in Murakami's Sheep Chase world. And yes, you always want to turn the page.
The bad news is I think he got a little carried away. Maybe I just didn't get it, but the fact is red herrings (those little plot twists that don't actually lead anywhere) are not nice, and not fair. This book is full of them. I just don't think you can use the supernatural willie-nillie. It's like getting out your army men and Lincoln logs, and tinker toys, but only playing with your legos. If you're not going to play with the Tinker Toys, why did you get them out of the toy box. Why did you make us think you were going to play with them. It's not fair. That's what I didn't like about this book. And that is why in my opinion it cannot be art. But I still have to recommend it. After all you don't always need a Porsche to drive on the Autobahn. Sometimes a Volkswagen is even more fun. (or at least so I've heard.)
Labels: Murakami, Murakami Haruki
