1980s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure agricultural-practices agricultural-traditions agriculture alienation alternate-reality alternative-reality animal-husbandry animal-symbolism animals atmospheric autobiography bizarre british-countryside chase children'sfiction coming-of-age community consciousness conservation conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture countryside cult-classic cultural-heritage culture-clash cumbria dark-comedy dark-humor darkness destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story domesticanimals dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters england enigma enigmatic environmentalism escape existence existential existentialism experimental family family-traditions fantasy farming farming-community farming-heritage farming-practices farming-traditions farmlife fate fiction folklore friendship hard-work haruki-murakami haunting identity identity-crisis imagination individuality infancy introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-literature journey juvenilefiction kafkaesque lake-district lambs landscape literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation livestock loneliness loner loss lost love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation memoir metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature murakami murakami-style mysterious mystery myth mythology nature nature-writing noir nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds philosophical philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism psychological quest quirky reality redemption romance romantic rural-community rural-england rural-life satire self-discovery self-sufficiency sheep-chase sheep-farming sheep-man sheepdog sheepdogs shepherd shepherding shepherds solitude spirituality stagefright storiesinrhyme storytelling subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist suspense sustainability sustainable-farming symbolic symbolism symbols talentshows talking-animals thriller tokyo tradition traditional traditional-agriculture traditional-knowledge traditional-practices traditional-way-of-life transformation translation uncanny unconventional unique-narrative urban urban-fantasy wool working-class working-with-animals