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A Wild Sheep Chase

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A Wild Sheep Chase

By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Dexter Galang
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A marvelous hybrid of mythology and mystery, A Wild Sheep Chase is the extraordinary literary thriller that launched Haruki Murakami's international reputation.

It begins simply enough: a 20-something advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend and casually appropriates the image for an insurance company's advertisement. What he doesn't realise is that included in the pastoral scene is a mutant sheep with a star on its back, and in using this photo he has unwittingly captured the attention of a man in black who offers a menacing ultimatum: find the sheep or face dire consequences. Thus begins a surreal and elaborate quest that takes our hero from the urban haunts of Tokyo to the remote and snowy mountains of northern Japan, where he confronts not only the mythological sheep, but the confines of tradition and the demons deep within himself. Quirky and utterly captivating, A Wild Sheep Chase is Murakami at his astounding best.

©1982 Haruki Murakami (P)2020 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense World Literature Magic Fantasy

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Critic reviews

"A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas." (Independent)
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Mildly entertaining. Narration is great, but the story itself is a little bland and nonsensical.

Not as good as his other works

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I’m not articulate enough to explain what makes these books so special. Recommended to all.

Inexplicable

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Shame the narrator rather ruined it. Compared with Mr Harukami’s other books this left me flat.

Good story, poor narration.

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Although I love the writing, the dreadful narration was a real barrier to my enjoyment. I left this book many times . . . then came back to it, to hear more, despite the awful voice

Awful narration

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I really enjoyed this audiobook. The story was interesting and well-written with plenty of plot twists. The narrator didn’t embody the story fully for me but it didn’t detract too much from my enjoyment

Captivating story with good plot twists

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If you’re just getting to know Murukami’s work, avoid this narrator. It’s a brilliant book, but this particular narrator makes you not want to listen, this will probably put you off listening and as a result you are likely to miss out on a giant in magical realism. Dexter Galang has the dullest voice; it’s annoying, monotone, and sounds like a pretentious pubescent nerd. Whoever bought his recordings or encouraged him to read must have been tripping balls.

Worst narrator I’ve come across

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Beautifully written and strange combination of Raymond Chandler and Neil Gaiman. Nicely read in a style that suits.

My favourite Murakami novel

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Before listening to A Wild Sheep Chase, I had just finished listening to Kafka on the shore after reading it years before. With "Kafka", the excellent narration added to the story. It was one of the best narrated books I have come across, which brings us to A Wild Sheep Chase.

The story of this book is good, if not as compelling as "Kafka", but the narrator is awful; lacking in range and with an odd, strained, tone.

I found myself thinking more about how annoying the narrator is than what was going on in the story. Such a shame because this is a book that draws you in and, like Kafka, stays with you - but the narration is very poor.

Good story nearly ruined by poor narrator

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I didn’t find this book as good as some of Murakami’s other books but I had read Dance Dance Dance and this was its prequel so I listened to it. DDD was much better in my opinion but I’m still glad to have listened to this for continuity’s sake and it was not boring. The narration though I didn’t like. It was very monotonous. Could have been done much better.

Not Murakami’s best

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I'm not sure why I don't like this more than I do. It is typical Murakami but didn't gel with me. In that respect it is bit of a Shawshank Redemption movie because I don't get that either, though all the correct elements are present in that as well. In this case I fear that it is the narrator who puts me off (it is a rather weak performance compared to some others) but I will have to read the novel myself to determine if that is really true.

Not my favourite Murakami novel

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