A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami

Reading a Murakami novel is always a bit of an adventure. You know it'll be a bit weird, but for some reason I'm never quite prepared for it. I started reading this book just after I was admitted to the hospital to monitor my pregnancy. I ended up being induced that night and the whole experience was surreal and out-of-body for me - reading this book while I waited only made everything all the more strange. As the title suggests, the plot involves a search for a special sheep. A young Japanese ad executive receives a postcard featuring a sheep with a star on his back. As a result, he is approached by a man demanding that he find the sheep or face negative consequences. The book then follows the young man on his trek through Tokyo and the Japanese countryside as he encounters strange characters and mystical sheep. Some parts mystery and most parts weird, I enjoyed the escapism of the book, but didn't ultimately feel that drawn in by the quest. The plot was not as intricate as other books by Murakami that I've enjoyed (Kafka on the Shore and Wind-Up Bird Chronicles), but for a taste of the different, it did the trick.