1980s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alien-invasion alien-life alien-species alienation aliens allegorical alternate-reality alternative-reality animal-symbolism animals apocalyptic artificial-intelligence astronaut astronomy astrophysical-phenomena astrophysics atmospheric biology bizarre chase coming-of-age consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature counterculture cult-classic culture-clash dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detachment detective detective-fiction detective-story disaster discovery dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian earth eccentric eccentric-characters enigma enigmatic epic escape existence existential existentialism experimental exploration extraterrestrial extraterrestrial-intelligence extraterrestrial-life fantasy fast-paced fate fiction folklore friendship genetic-engineering global-catastrophe haruki-murakami haunting heros-journey hope human-resilience humanity humor identity identity-crisis imagination individuality intelligence intelligent-life interstellar interstellar-travel introspection introspective isolation japan japanese japanese-culture japanese-literature journey kafkaesque literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost love love-story magic-realism magical magical-creatures magical-realism manipulation metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending missing-person mission mission-to-mars modern modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature murakami murakami-style mysterious mystery myth mythology nasa near-future noir nostalgia novel obsession outer-space parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds philosophical philosophy physics planetary-science pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism problem-solving psychological quest quirky reality romance romantic satire sci-fi science-fiction scientific-discovery scientific-research self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man solar-system solitude space space-adventure space-exploration space-mission space-travel spacecraft speculative-fiction spirituality subconscious supernatural surreal surrealism surrealist survival suspense suspenseful symbolic symbolic-animals symbolism symbols talking-animals teamwork technology thriller thrilling time-dilation tokyo transformation translation uncanny unconventional unique-narrative urban urban-fantasy yakuza