1889-1976 194 1980s 20thcentury a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure aesthetics alienation alternate-reality alternative-reality animal-symbolism animalrights animals art atmospheric autobiography biography bizarre character-driven chase christianity collegesuccess coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture criticaltheory criticism cult-classic culture-clash dark-comedy dark-humor democracy derrida destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters ecology english enigma enigmatic essays ethics existence existential existentialism fantasy fate feminism feministtheory fiction filmcriticism/rhetoric folklore french friendship general generalinterests haruki-murakami haunting historiography history historyandcriticism hobbies humanities identity identity-crisis imagination individuality introspection introspective isolation jacques japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-literature journey judaism kafkaesque liberation literary literary-fiction literarycriticism literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost love love-story magic-realism magical magical-realism manipulation mediastudies metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person mng modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature moralphilosophy movements murakami music mysterious mystery myth mythology nature noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds paul phenomenology phi01 philosophers philosophical philosophy political politicalscience pop-culture postmodern postmodernism pragmatism psychoanalysis psychological psychology quest quirky radio rationalism reality religion religious religiousaspects romance romantic satire science self-discovery semiotics sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social socialaspects socialsciences sociology solitude specialtopics spirituality subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surveys suspense symbolic symbolism symbols talking-animals theology theory thought-provoking thriller tokyo tr transformation translation unconventional urban urban-fantasy urban-life women'sstudies yakuza