1980s a-wild-sheep-chase abstinence absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alienation allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality animals anne-applebaum atmospheric authoritarianism bizarre celibacy character-driven chase coming-of-age consciousness conservative-politics conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-issues contemporary-literature cult cult-classic cult-following culture-clash current-affairs dark dark-comedy dark-humor darkness democracy destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters englishnurseryrhymes enigma enigmatic escape europe existence existential existentialism experimental exploration fantasy fascism fate fiction folklore freedom friendship general global-politics government haruki-murakami haunting history horror identity identity-crisis ideology imagination individuality intellectuals introspection introspective involuntarycommitment isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-literature journey kafkaesque liberalism literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism man-womanrelationships manipulation media metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami murakami-style music mysterious mystery mythology nationalism neurosis noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds philosophical philosophy polarization political-analysis political-culture political-disillusionment political-ideologies political-movements political-science politics pop-culture pop-culture-references populism postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics propaganda protagonist psychiatrists psychological quest quirky reality redemption romance romantic sadism satire self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary sociallifeandcustoms society softdrinks solitude spinsters spirituality subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals thought-provoking thriller tokyo transformation translation twilight-of-democracy:-the-seductive-lure-of-authoritarianism uncanny unconventional unexplained-phenomena unique-narrative united-states urban urban-fantasy urban-life vicars yakuza