17.-dark-humor 18.-psychological-thriller 1949- 1980s 20.-lifes-meaning 20thcentury 3.-haruki-murakami a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality animal-symbolism animalistic animals atmospheric authors bizarre character-driven character-transformation chase coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture criticismandinterpretationmurakami cult cult-classic cult-favorite cult-following culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness deconstruction destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dreamscape dual-realities dual-reality dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters enigma enigmatic enlightenment escape existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fate fiction folklore friendship friendships haruki-murakami haunting history horror identity identity-crisis imagination indie-music individualism individuality introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-author japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature japaneseliterature journey kafkaesque lifechangeevents literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost lost-sheep love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style music mysterious mystery mystical myth mythology noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds personal-journey personal-transformation phantasmagorical philosophical philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological puzzling quest quirky reality rebellion redemption romance romantic satire self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man simplicity social-commentary solitude spiritual spiritual-journey spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals theory thought-provoking thriller tokyo transcendence transformation translation uncanny unconventional unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative unique-narrative-style urban urban-fantasy urban-life wild-sheep yakuza