1.-japanese-literature 10.-existentialism 11.-love-story 12.-tokyo 13.-supernatural 14.-crime 15.-symbolism 16.-identity 17.-dark-humor 18.-psychological-thriller 19.-metaphysical 1980s 2.-magical-realism 20.-lifes-meaning 20th-century 3.-haruki-murakami 4.-surrealism 5.-mystery 6.-adventure 7.-sheep 8.-quest 9.-absurdity a-wild-sheep-chase a-wild-sheep-chase:-a-novel abstraction absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdist. absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality american-literature amnesia. ancient-prophecy animal animal-imagery animal-symbolism animalistic animals apocalyptic atmospheric avant-garde betrayal bildungsroman bizarre character-driven character-transformation chase classic coin-toss collegesuccess coming-of-age complex-characters consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture covert-operations crime cult cult-classic cult-favorite cult-following cultural cultural-references culture-clash curiosity dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness david-mitchell deconstruction delusion destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story disillusionment dream dream-like dreamlike dreams dreamscape dual-realities dual-reality dystopia dystopian east-asian-literature east-meets-west east-vs.-west eccentric eccentric-characters elusive emptiness enchanting english enigma enigmatic enigmatic-characters enlightenment escape escapism estrangement existence existential existential-crisis existential. existentialism experimental exploration fantastical fantastical-elements fantasy fantasy-elements fate fiction folklore folkloric friendship friendships haruki haruki-murakami haunting horror human-animal-relationships identity identity-crisis imagination immortality independence indie-music individualism individuality intelligence interconnectedness international intrigue introspection introspective isolated isolation japan japanese japanese-author japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey journeys kafkaesque literary literary-fiction literary-thriller literature literature-in-translation literature-translation loneliness loner loner-protagonist longing loss lost lost-love lost-sheep love love-story lyrical-prose magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manchuria manipulation melancholy metafiction metamorphosis metaphorical metaphors metaphysical metaphysical-journey metaphysical. metaphysics mind-bending minimalist missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fable modern-fiction modern-literature modernism modernist-literature murakami murakami-style music mysterious mysterious-animals mystery mystical myth mythology narrator neo-noir nihilism noir non-linear-narrative nostalgia novel obscurity obsession oddities offbeat outsider parallel-reality parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-world parallel-worlds paranormal personal-journey personal-transformation phantasmagorical philosophical philosophy ponderous pop-culture pop-culture-references popular-culture postmodern postmodern-fiction postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological psychological-thriller pulp-fiction puzzling pynchon-esque quest quest-for-meaning quest-narrative quests quirky reality reality-vs.-illusion rebellion redemption relationships religious romance romantic satire search-for-identity search-for-meaning secrets seduction self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man sheeps simplicity social-commentary social-critique solitude soul-searching speculative-fiction spirit-animals spiritual spiritual-journey spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural supernatural-elements surreal surrealism surrealist surrealist-fiction surrealistic surrealistic-elements surrealistic-fiction suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals technology thought-provoking thriller thrillers time tokyo transcendence transformation transformative translated-fiction translation twisted uncanny unconventional unconventional-love-story unconventional-narrative unconventional-romance unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative unique-narrative-style unknown unpredictable urban urban-dystopia urban-fantasy urban-life weird-fiction whimsical wild-sheep wild-sheep-chase worldliterature writing yakuza