A Wild Sheep Chase

A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険, Hitsuji o meguru bōken^?) is a novel published in 1982 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It is the sequel to Pinball, 1973, and is the third book in Murakami's "Trilogy of the Rat".

In A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami blends elements of American and English literature with Japanese contexts, exploring post-WWII Japanese cultural identity. The book is part mystery and part fantasy with a postmodern twist.

Plot summary

This mock-detective tale follows an unnamed Japanese man through Tokyo and Hokkaidō in 1978. The passive, chain-smoking main character gets swept away on an adventure that leads him on a hunt for a sheep that hasn’t been seen for years. The apathetic protagonist meets a woman with magically seductive ears and a strange man who dresses as a sheep and talks in slurs; in this way there are elements of Japanese animism or Shinto. The manipulation of the narrator into the hunt and repeated references to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes raise connections to "The Red-Headed League."

Sequel

Murakami wrote a sequel to this book, entitled Dance Dance Dance, which also follows the adventures of the unnamed protagonist and the Sheep Man. However, its plot, tone and the majority of the characters are sufficiently different that Dance Dance Dance can be seen as separate from the "Trilogy of the Rat."

Awards

• Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize

Book information

A Wild Sheep Chase (English edition) by Haruki Murakami; translated by Alfred Birnbaum.

• Hardcover – ISBN 0-87011-905-2, published in October, 1989 by Kodansha International
• Paperback – ISBN 0452265169, published on November 1, 1990 by Plume Fiction
• Paperback – ISBN 0-375-71894-X, published in 2002 by Vintage International