18.-psychological-thriller 1980s 20.-lifes-meaning 20th-century 3.-haruki-murakami a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality american-literature animal-symbolism animalistic animals atmospheric bizarre character-driven character-transformation chase coin-toss coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture cult cult-classic cult-following cultural culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness deconstruction destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story disillusionment dream dream-like dreamlike dreams dreamscape dual-realities dual-reality dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters emptiness enigma enigmatic enlightenment escape existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fate fiction folklore friendship haruki-murakami haunting horror identity identity-crisis imagination indie-music individualism individuality introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey kafkaesque 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 metaphorical metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending minimalist missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style music mysterious mystery mystical myth mythology neo-noir 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 relationships 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 technology thought-provoking thriller tokyo transcendence transformation translation uncanny unconventional unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative urban urban-fantasy urban-life weird-fiction wild-sheep yakuza