A Wild Sheep Chase #
Author Haruki MurakamiDate February 22, 2026Rating 5/5
This is third novel from Murakami, actually apart of a trilogy called “Trilogy of the Rat”, though this is independent of the previous novel. I haven’t read those previous novels, but this does appear to be somewhat in line with a lot of his later novels, establishing themes and a writing style that would be expanded upon further or developed in somewhat different ways in his future novels. However, I should say this novel was translated by Alfred Birnbaum, which could have made a difference as well. I really like the novels he has translated of Murakami’s, they feel to be a bit warmer in the way they express isolation compared to Murakami’s other translated works.
I though this was a great book, I found it to be one of the better Murakami novels I have read. It avoids some of the more annoying tropes of his later works, and it feels somewhat more optimistic too.