Magical Realism – Blog Hop

For part of the Magical Realism Blog Hop initiated over at Zoe Brooks’ awesome site, I wanted to post something new but I’m a bit pressed for time so I thought I’d share this post from my other site instead:

 

 

A Wild Sheep Chase – Mini Review

I loved A Wild Sheep Chase – I finished it a while back but finally got around to recording a couple of (brief) thoughts about it.

For me, this is a great place to start if you’re new to Haruki Murakami. The story has all the classic Murakami elements; an almost detective-like search, a mysterious, bewitching girl and wonderful surrealist aspects – most strikingly perhaps, in one hell of a strange sheep that no-one can seem to find.

Unlike say, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle‘s wider scope, this shorter novel has a swifter storyline and also features more surrealism than another popular entry point to his work, Norwegian Wood.

When I look back on it my strongest impression is actually (at first) thinking the ending wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, yet I found myself thinking about the end of the novel often in the days after. So, as it turns out, it was actually exactly what it needed to be.

Definitely worth getting a copy.

 

This post is part of the Magic Realism Blog Hop. About twenty blogs are taking part in the hop. Over three days (29th – 31st July 2015) these blogs will be posting about magic realism. Please take the time to click on the button below to visit them and remember that links to the new posts will be added over the three days, so do come back to read more.

1.	The Autumn of the Patriarch – Magic Realism Books blog
2.	Why I Write Magic Realism – Hearth/Myth
3.	Magic in the Real World – Zoe Brooks Books
4.	Magic Realism Betwixt and Between – Malcolm’s Round Table
5.	The Magic In Magic Realism – Lily Iona Mackenzie’s blog
6.	In the Footsteps of Franz Kafka – Adventures in the Czech Republic
7.	The Reincarnation Chronicles and Magic Realism – Qaraq Books
8.	More Words About Magic Realism – Glenda Guest
9.	Putting the Magic into Magical Realism
10.	Do You Believe in Magic – Kathy Bryson
11.	Magical Realism: How Much Is Realism? – Laura Cowan
12.	A Most Enduring Enchantment – Eilis Phillips
13.	Why Every Writer Should Try Magic Realism – JT Robertson
14.	Just Starting Out Beware of Magical Realism – Malcolm’s Round Table
15.	Magic Realism & the Cahuilla Indians Of Southern California
16.	Make it Big – Stephanie Barbe Hammer
17.	The Boundaries of Fantasy – Anfenwick
18.	The Poetry of Magical Realism – Rachel Dacus
19.	Long of the Earth – Jack Marshall Maness
20.	Rursday Reads – Review of Winter by Mark Helprin
21.	Lois Zamora Lecture Series – Magic Realism Books Blog
22.	Ashley Capes – A Review of Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami