There are no stakes in A Wild Sheep Chase, whether they be lives, reputations, jobs, money-nothing that anyone really cares about enough so that losing it would affect them in any way.

In fact, there is so little conflict in this book it seems, at one point, the author felt compelled to throw some kind of strenuous task into the mix–near the climax of the novel, the main character and narrator (unnamed) feels he has gained too much weight from the food left for him at a scenic cabin in the mountains, and takes up running. He is supplied with great sums of money to complete the quest that is bestowed upon him. This protagonist encounters few hardships. All the cards fall his way, when favors aren’t being done for him outright. A hardboiled story implies a great struggle on behalf of the protagonist–against his enemies, against his own limited means, against the dangerous environment in which he finds himself–but in this novel, the protagonist has it exceptionally easy. Likewise, there is nothing hardboiled to be found in the proceedings. Though A Wild Sheep Chase is predicated on a mystery, its concerns aren’t those associated with the mystery fiction genre: violent crime, questionable motives, shady, uncertain alliances, betrayals, or any kind of conclusion that satisfies a reader’s sense of logic.

“Chandler-esque” has become a cliche by Western reviewers to describe Marukami’s storytelling style. The sooner you put the comparisons to Raymond Chandler out of your mind, the sooner you can come to grips with the prose of Haruki Murakami, especially with regard to this novel.

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