17th-century 17th-century-japan 1990s a-wild-sheep-chase absurdity adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation alternate-reality ambiguity ambition american-dream american-history american-literature apostasy artificial-intelligence atmospheric belief betrayal black-experience brotherhood career catholicism christianity civil-rights coding colonialism coming-of-age computer computer-industry computer-programming computer-science conformity contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature conversion corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world coupland cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-conflict cultural-identity culture-clash dark-humor detective detective-fiction detective-story digital-age digital-revolution discrimination disillusionment doubt douglas dream-like dreams east-meets-west endurance enigmatic entrepreneurship existential existentialism exploration faith faith-crisis fantasy fate fiction forgiveness freedom friendship geek-culture geeks generation-x harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami historical-fiction humor identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inner-struggle innovation internet internet-boom introspection introspective invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature jazz jesuit-priests jesuits journey literary-fiction literature loneliness love love-story loyalty magical-realism martyrdom metaphysical microserfs microsoft mind-bending missionaries missionary missionary-work modernism moral-dilemma morality mystery mythology nerd-culture nerds novel obsession office-culture office-life office-politics oppression persecution personal-growth philosophical philosophy pop-culture postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics prejudice programming protagonist psychological quest race racism redemption relationships religion religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-intolerance religious-persecution romance sacrifice satire segregation self-discovery sheep shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god silicon-valley social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice social-isolation social-justice social-media society software software-development southern-united-states spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spirituality start-up start-up-culture start-ups startup-culture startups stereotypes suffering supernatural surreal surrealism symbolism tech-industry technology tokyo transformation unconventional underground virtual-reality work-life-balance workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics