A few months back Marukami for me , was just a Japanese writer with a huge fan following,one among the many writing superstars I never read and thought i would never need to too.
Too self imersed was i ,that I always had a aversion to translated works in english , because I was sure I cannot connect to alien culture and of course there was the fear of things getting lost in translation.
But the experience of reading "The Legends of Khasak",has gone a long way in proving my fears wrong.I was more confident when i picked up the "A Wild Sheep chase" earlier this month.
Now that I have finished with it ,i can say confidently that my fears were totally unfounded.
The story is told in first version POV .The narrators name is never revealed.felt it helps one personalize the narrator's experiences .A name ,i normally feel detaches the reader from the protagonist and provides a slightly distanced view of what is happening.
The protagonist ,I am told ,as is often the case ,is goalless youth wandering aimlessly in life, a drifter,who ends up in a search for a elusive and mysterious sheep .A mysterious girlfriend ,a ear fetish,a mafia boss on his deathbed,and professor whose obsession lead him onto a lonely life ,a friend who withdraws to hide his weakness are just a few people who come along the way.
As the hunt begins the books moves slightly onto the detective genre (if there is one) which makes it a fast paced read.
Of all the passages,somehow ,the one that caught my fancy the most was his exchange with his recently divorced ex wife ,quite early in the novel.There was something in those lines between the 2 characters,seeing through their relationship quite cordially .Quite comfortable in each others presence all the same.
In the end it would be wrong to say I completely get what Marukami what saying in this books?What does the sheep symbolize.Who was his girlfriend? and many more.
Maybe another day when I am more educated I may be able to comprehend all this.And if that day never comes ,maybe i will never.But one thing is for sure,this wont be the last Murakami book I would have read.
Too self imersed was i ,that I always had a aversion to translated works in english , because I was sure I cannot connect to alien culture and of course there was the fear of things getting lost in translation.
But the experience of reading "The Legends of Khasak",has gone a long way in proving my fears wrong.I was more confident when i picked up the "A Wild Sheep chase" earlier this month.
Now that I have finished with it ,i can say confidently that my fears were totally unfounded.
The story is told in first version POV .The narrators name is never revealed.felt it helps one personalize the narrator's experiences .A name ,i normally feel detaches the reader from the protagonist and provides a slightly distanced view of what is happening.
The protagonist ,I am told ,as is often the case ,is goalless youth wandering aimlessly in life, a drifter,who ends up in a search for a elusive and mysterious sheep .A mysterious girlfriend ,a ear fetish,a mafia boss on his deathbed,and professor whose obsession lead him onto a lonely life ,a friend who withdraws to hide his weakness are just a few people who come along the way.
As the hunt begins the books moves slightly onto the detective genre (if there is one) which makes it a fast paced read.
Of all the passages,somehow ,the one that caught my fancy the most was his exchange with his recently divorced ex wife ,quite early in the novel.There was something in those lines between the 2 characters,seeing through their relationship quite cordially .Quite comfortable in each others presence all the same.
In the end it would be wrong to say I completely get what Marukami what saying in this books?What does the sheep symbolize.Who was his girlfriend? and many more.
Maybe another day when I am more educated I may be able to comprehend all this.And if that day never comes ,maybe i will never.But one thing is for sure,this wont be the last Murakami book I would have read.
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