Murakami’s books were always of interest to me but in reading the blurbs I never really knew what I would be in for, so shied away from delving in. That changed in 2018 when I picked up a copy of 1Q84 on sale in the Kindle store.

I read the book, I enjoyed the book, but afterwards I wasn’t exactly sure why.

I feel the same with this book. It is hard to put a finger on it, but I think what I enjoy when I read these books is simply being in the moment. I enjoy the reading, the words, the experience. I enjoy the act of reading the book, less so the remembering, or the lasting things I get from it.

Maybe this is a new kind of purpose in books for me. In the past I read books and found enjoyment in them for more explicit reasons. I read Matthew Reilly when I want non-stop action. I like Kim Stanley Robinson’s books for the grounded, realistic hard science fiction worlds he crafts, and the believable utopian ideals he espouses.

Additionally I like reading non-fiction books because I love to learn. I want to know about Einstein’s life, or why sleep is important. I want to try and square the circle of my meat-eating, with my love of animals. I want to understand humanity’s place in the anthropocene. I have agendas behind a lot of my reading, but with Murakami’s books I feel like there is a different purpose in mind.

I like being able to throw this to the wind, and just lose myself in the strange worlds he creates.

For instance this book is ostensibly about a man’s search for a mysterious sheep, but as we delve deeper into the journey, and the character, the story turns into a more surreal tale where the chase for the sheep has existential bearing on reality. Or maybe it doesn’t.

I honestly don’t know, and can fully understand how academics can make a living analysing these kinds of fiction.

But for me I am starting to learn that I don’t need to ‘understand’ all fiction in this way. I can simply let the experience happen, and enjoy it for what it is.

Not that that has stopped me Googling theories, and explanations mind you….

#2020inBooks #Murakami #ReadingforReadingssake #AWildSheepChase