1980s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adultbooksforyoungadults adventure alexawardwinner alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality americanfantasyfiction animal-symbolism animals antiheroes asesinos assassins atmospheric bizarre character-driven chase coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture cult cult-classic cult-following culture-clash dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness demons destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters enigma enigmatic epic epicfiction escape existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fantasyfiction fate fateandfatalism ficción fiction folklore friendship godsandgoddesses goodandevil haruki-murakami haunting heroesandheroines homelesschildren identity identity-crisis imaginaryplaces imagination individuality introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-fiction japanese-literature journey juvenileaudience kafkaesque legends literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss loss(psychology) lost love love-story magia magic magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism magician magicians magos manipulation metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style murder music mysterious mystery mystical myth mythology noir nostalgia novel novelafantástica nyt:mass-market-paperback=2015-01-04 obsession orphans parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds philosophical philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism power-dynamics protagonist psychological puzzling quest quillawardwinner quirky reality redemption romance romantic rulers satire self-discovery series sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary solitude spirituality storytelling subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals thekingkillerchronicle thought-provoking thriller tokyo transformation translation uncanny unconventional unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative urban urban-fantasy urban-life voyagesandtravels wild-sheep wizards yakuza