085 4 I just finished this and contrary to my prior expreriences with Murakami's books I should say I'm glad it finally got over because this was for , for most of it's running length , one of the most BORRRRING books I've read .
The story actually began extremely well , in the author's trademark vein . Here his protagonist feels psychically drawn towards the Dolphin hotel , an utterly run-down place in a Japanese province called Sapporo , where events had happened to him years back . He decides to lay off work for a while and go down there to check out on it , only to find that it has been completely torn down and replaced by a flashy new upmarket hotel bearing the same name . However , all is not mundane , as he discovers that beneath the shell of the new place , the old hotel is still lurking around housing a mysterious character called the Sheep Man . It's quite an interesting concept , the idea of a ' haunting hotel ' , instead of a haunted one and would have served as an excellent premise for Murkami to set up his trademark parallel universe .
But unfortunately for us , Murakami does very little to actually flesh out the concept and instead , has his ' hero ' being carted off by destiny to various places , meeting various people who're oddballs in one or the other sense . But unlike his other books , the formula here seems very watered-down and bland . For all his attempts he is never able to generate the sense of connection between the various incidents and people necessary for one to feel hooked by it - most things just feel very arbitrary and tacked-on . The characters with the exception of the hero's actor friend Gotanda come off as dull props that you don't care a whit about . Even Murakami's prose for long stretches of the book comes off as rather . . . well . . . prosaic . his descriptions of the hero's routine get painfully repetitive since , unlike his previous books , they do nothing to push the story ahead or give any further insight into his character . He tries to pull the strings together for the last act where he returns to the hotel , but IMO it seems as arbitrary as the rest of the book .
In short , this book was for me a waste of time . But I do sincerely recommend Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Hard-Boiled Wonderland as impeccable classics by the author .
001 4 A sheep-man sits in a hotel room and operates a switchboard connecting the lonely , drifting narrator to a web of unforgottable individuals . The sheep-man's room is full of books about , well , sheep , and the narrator mostly experiences reality with the aid of his thirteen-year-old sort-of girlfriend . Logs of days spent lolling on the beach , wonderful descriptions of pizza , allusions to Boy George and the Talking Heads , and the sense of frantically trying to escape something ( or is it find something ? ) all combine to make a novel that is not plotted , but choreographed .
Dance Dance Dance is electrifying , captivating , and intense - - and it's pretty brainy too , much like Murakami's characters . The narrator's perspective is standard Murakami : the slightly dreamy , out-of-place 30ish man trying to reason with a world that seems stranger by the minute . Assumptions constantly fall , and no one is sure what or whom to believe .
Yet the strange-goings on are the only thing rescuing the narrator from the miasma of ennui that comes from having rejected the dream of being a salaryman with a family and a linear , predictable lifestyle . This is a novel about staring out into the unknown - - and staring deeply into that unknown , it seems Murakami is saying , is the only way to find meaning if we reject the traditional lives that have been prearranged for us .
The only slightly negative thing I can say about this novel is that the plot and the characters have uncanny similarities to those in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle . It almost seems as if Murakami had one outline of a novel , which could go two different ways , and made one into the Wind Up Bird Chronicle , and the other into this book . The narrator's voice , and many of the supporting characters , are exactly the same , as are several plot elements .
Overall , this is significant , and highly enjoyable literature . It manages to ask deep questions about reality , fate , relationships , family , and life , while still packing the thrills of something much more pulpish .
002 4 Far superior to its successor , the Wind Up Bird Chronicle , this book wonderfully concludes the story of a protagonist started with Hear The Wind Sing , Pinball 1973 , and A Wild Sheep Chase . In this book , the protagonist , a self-employed loner who lives outside the normal conventions of the Japanese salaryman and society , sets out on a quest to find his girlfriend from A Wild Sheep Chase . ( For those who have not read A Wild Sheep Chase , I will not ruin for you the circumstances that set this off ) . For the first few chapters , the protagonist is alone , walking the streets of Hokkaido , sitting in bars by himself and contemplating the ashtray ( there must be tons of loners out there who can appreciate this ) until eventually clues , both supernatural and other , take him to Tokyo and Hawaii , and introduce a slew of unforgettable , well written , deep characters . Such characters include Yuki , the troubled 13 year old psychic who is far superior to the undeveloped clone of May Kasahara in the Wind Up Bird Chronicle , the actor Gotanda , who can portray your life better than you can , the unforgettable detectives Bookish and Fisherman . . . the list goes on and on . What this book is , basically , is the fulfillment of the personal quest . It is a book that will be best appreciated by people who have been loners , stand removed from the norms of society of a wife , a 9 to 5 job in an impersonal office , two kids , a pet , and perhaps even a dedication to any particular religion , and have , as such , culivated a deep level of observation , a bit of an alienation to and from society , and perhaps a personal subconscious inkling / longing for a supernatural happenstance such as The Dolphin Hotel that make up for a lack of belief in any conventional religious notion accepted by the masses . . .
003 4 I picked up Murakami on a whim . I had been exploring Japanese literature , but my preferences were for the ancient works . Yet , something about it spoke to me . Maybe it was the wild title , maybe it was the synopsis , maybe it was fate .
What I found was a strange , surreal noir . At heart , it's a detective story . The search for a long-lost love ( so cliche that it becomes subversive and the subplots seem to take center stage ) in a place out of memory that isn't what it seems . The narrator wanders through a dreamland of wild experiences pulled from Murakami's imagined reality that just drips with an old-school sensibility . It almost seems perfect for a 30 ' s or 40 ' s era noir film , pulpy and beautiful .
What I liked most about it was how empty it all felt . His narrator is a loner , and the world that was built emphasized this . It just seems a lonely book , and all the characters seem motivated by loneliness . It's a great atmospheric , not overly dramatic but understated in the dry humor in the piece .
What seems most interesting is how the narrators various threads of story all eventually come back to the main plot , which becomes muddled throughout the tale . It all comes back to point out the interconnectedness of people , the power of consequence and luck in determining destiny , and a kind of grand design where it all seems to work out without any reason why ( even when working out isn't the best option ) . It's not deus ex machina , it's how real life seems to work , and Murakami captures that chaotic purpose beautifully .
I've gone on to read other Murakami , but this one stands out in my mind , being the first . It's a sequel to a book I'm not sure I want to read , but it's complete on its own . I don't want to know about the narrator's previous adventures , that's how good this book is at telling this man's story . A wonderful tale , highly recommended .
004 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
I do not have much to add to the other positive reviews .
The negative ones are just silly ( of course apart from the objection against abridging the English edition ; that annoys me too , but let's not hold it against HM , and I would not have noticed anyway ) .
I like the comparison made somewhere that this is like Kafka in a Chandler novel , but I have to object to the notion that Kafka had no sense of humour . Please read the Hunger Artist or even the Verwandlung again , what are they if not hilarious in a black sort of way .
The protagonist of Dancex3 is sometimes like a Philip Marlowe without a mission , but that is a fleeting impression . He starts off looking for somebody , but gives up quickly . Marlowe wouldn't do that .
Nothing sticks . The novel might be a normal noir mystery , if it did not escalate into esoterics once in a while . One expects that from HM .
I liked the names of Yuki's disfunctional parents : the father's name , the writer's , is an anagram of HM's , and the mother is called Rain , like Barry Eisler's half Japanese killer . Coincidence ?
I liked the encounters with unexpected developments : the receptionist , the actor , the writer , of course the brat . One of HM's strengths , developing people relationships off the beaten track .
What I mean by my review title : reading Murakami is like listening to Coltrane or the Stones or Brahms , it does not matter so much what the plot is , nor who the characters are , it is a purpose in itself . You don't need to learn anything from it , nor is it to be used in the sense of the protagonist's frequent spouts of killing time . Of course it is not shoveling snow either .
It is what it is . A way of life . Like meditation .
Great stuff .
005 4 I do not have much to add to the other positive reviews .
The negative ones are just silly ( of course apart from the objection against abridging the English edition ; that annoys me too , but let's not hold it against HM , and I would not have noticed anyway ) .
I like the comparison made somewhere that this is like Kafka in a Chandler novel , but I have to object to the notion that Kafka had no sense of humour . Please read the Hunger Artist or even the Verwandlung again , what are they if not hilarious in a black sort of way .
The protagonist of Dancex3 is sometimes like a Philip Marlowe without a mission , but that is a fleeting impression . He starts off looking for somebody , but gives up quickly . Marlowe wouldn't do that .
Nothing sticks . The novel might be a normal noir mystery , if it did not escalate into esoterics once in a while . One expects that from HM .
I liked the names of Yuki's disfunctional parents : the father's name , the writer's , is an anagram of HM's , and the mother is called Rain , like Barry Eisler's half Japanese killer . Coincidence ?
I liked the encounters with unexpected developments : the receptionist , the actor , the writer , of course the brat . One of HM's strengths , developing people relationships off the beaten track .
What I mean by my review title : reading Murakami is like listening to Coltrane or the Stones or Brahms , it does not matter so much what the plot is , nor who the characters are , it is a purpose in itself . You don't need to learn anything from it , nor is it to be used in the sense of the protagonist's frequent spouts of killing time . Of course it is not shoveling snow either .
It is what it is . A way of life . Like meditation .
Great stuff .
006 4 I know A Wild Sheep Chase ( WSC ) is a revered Murakami book and that Dance , Dance , Dance ( DDD ) is widely regarded as not in the same league as WSC , or the The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore but I thought DDD a much better book than WSC , superior also to South of the Border , West of the Sun and Sputnik Sweetheart and Norwegian Wood and up there with Kafka on the Shore though falling a bit short of Wind-Up Bird which is still Murakami's masterpiece I'd say . As far as DDD , the homage to Raymond Chandler is obvious and much appreciated . If Philip Marlow had grown up in Japan , listened to a lot of 60 ' s classic rock ( as well as the classical music Marlow fancied ) and also liked swimming , cooking , housekeeping , and post-modern irony and metaphysics , then bang - - you'd have the anonymous narrator of DDD ! The beauty of this book is in the laconic , ironic , satirical , yet also compassionate , decent , and kind narrator . Those are tough qualities to combine , and Murakami pulls it off . The anonymous narrator , much like Chandler's Philip Marlowe , is a guy you'd love to hang out with . He's funny , laid back , honest , and basically a decent guy . He can admit his faults and while he's a little self-centered , he'd own up to that fault in a hurry , and compensates for it by being very patient and very loyal to his friends and fair to his enemies . He doesn't hate , doesn't want what he doesn't have , doesn't aspire to be famous or rich , doesn't hold grudges , and can see the world from the other guy's perspective . I would argue it is the essential likeableness of Murakami's narrators that makes him so readable . And the narrator of DDD is one of the most endearing of all of them , I would argue .
As others have noted , I don't think the plot is the reason you read Murakami , so I'm not going to go into that much . Suffice it to say it will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens to them all and the ending doesn't disappoint . But it's for the style , the tone , the questions he raises , the way he makes you look at your life from a whole new angle that you read Murakami and why you should read DDD . Of course , the re-appearance of the Sheep Man in DDD is just a joy difficult to describe . Has anyone else noticed that there is a reference to Siberia ( and how awful it is ) in almost every Murakami book ? Along with swimming , cats , and parallel universes , Siberia is another recurring Murakami theme , though one seemingly less noticed . It's brief , but there in DDD . . .
Murakami seems to write two different novels : straight up love triangles ( if there is such a thing ) like Norwegian Wood , South of the Border . . . , and Sputnik Sweetheart , or metaphysical detective stories like Wild Sheep Chase , Hardboiled Wonderland . . . Dance , Dance , Dance , Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore . I've noticed some reviewers like the love stories more , some like the detective stories more , and some , like me , enjoy them both . I think Wind-up Bird . . . is the best liked of all Murakami novels because it is kind of the best of both worlds , mainly detective story , but also love triangle with a parallel universe , all melded into an interesting and enjoyable single narrative . Kafka . . comes close to doing the same thing , but not as smoothly . I think Dance , Dance , Dance integrates a compelling love triangle with a solid metaphysical detective story . So if you like Murakami , don't skip Dance , Dance , Dance , just because it doesn't usually get the raves the other books get . . .
007 4 There are already a number of helpful substantive reviews of this novel , and I will not repeat that discussion here .
But what the previous reviews do not make clear is that the English translation of Dance , Dance , Dance significantly abridges the original Japanese text . The casual reader would have no way of knowing this , because the only reference to this fact is the cryptic notation on the copyright page that the novel was not only translated but also adapted from the Japanese .
How much of the Japanese text was adapted away ? My rough estimate is that something like 20% of the original has been cut . While I have not done a detailed study of what has been deleted and what has been retained , a few spot comparisons show a rather troubling and cavalier editorial approach that retains the broad strokes of the novel's structure but tramples much of Murakami's carefully-developed texture .
Anyway , the upshot is that if you can comfortably do so , try to read Dance , Dance , Dance in a non-English unabridged translation . If you can't , the novel is still worth reading in English - - but you are getting a bit of a Cliff Notes version of the original .
008 4 I would still rate ' South of the Border , West of the Sun ' more highly , but this is Murakami's most flat-out entertaining novel . Although it's billed as a sequel to Wild Sheep Chase , and it is about the same character , _ all _ of Murakami's novels seem to be about the same basic everyman character , and reading Sheep Chase first isn't neccesary ( I read this before I read Sheep Chase ) . Still , Sheep Chase , as Murakami's first novel , provides a good point of reference .
The characters in Dance , Dance , Dance are almost exponentially more vibrant than those in Sheep Chase , from the bored , occasionally clairvoyant young girl who might have stepped out of a Salinger novel , to the plucky one-armed American poet . There's an almost cartoonish ( not in at all a bad way ) quality to these people ; they stand out that much , and are that sharply drawn . The intriguing criticism of genius offered in Sheep Chase recurs , more subtly and kindly , in the form of a brilliant woman photographer who happens to be a very poor mother . Murakami is also unexpectedly kind to another character , the superificial actor Gotanda , who reveals a sharply human side . In the end , that may be exactly it about this novel ; a sense of warmth and quiet joy underneath everything , even the more sinister events , which not many novels of this modernist type can muster . Every stroke of good fortune seems deserved , and every tragedy is lamented .
009 4 I finally found out why I love Murakami . Bear with me , because I'm still molding this idea . . . Murakami's protaganists are , for the most , not the typical Japanese sterotype . They don't work , or they little , or they work sporadically . They rarely follow tradition . They steep themselves in Western culture , trying to become Western . They reject their Eastern mindset without ever rejecting the East . They stay fundementally Japanese , no matter how hard they try to push away from that life . I think that many Americans feel this same way ( flip-flopped , obviously ) . How many Westerners have become Buddhists ? How many steep themselves in the insane culture of modern japan ( wether it be Anime , video games , J-pop , whatever ) ? How many long for the East and reject the West without ever leaving the mindset ? Many . I'm one . Murakami's books are the perfect relic of modern life . In our interconnected world ( connected by Wind-up Birds and Sheep Men alike ) , cultural identity is something we long to shrugh off . Yet we can't . We dance in a never-ending sprial of life .
Dance Dance Dance is just as good as Wind-up Bird . Unlike Wild Sheep Chase , it does not have that brevity , almost short story quality that marred A Wild Sheep Chase for me ( which isn't to say I didn't like it . . just the opposite , it is certainly one of my favorite books , just not on par with Dance or Wind-up Bird ) . There are certain things we need to forgive Murakami for though . He certainly has a stock leading man . But so did Hemmingway , and no one is cursing him for it . The Hemmingway-Hero is a legit archetype now . Murakami repeatedly uses the same themes and motifs throughout his work . Well , so what ? What great author hasn't ? Pynchon and Dellio consistently do , but no one questions their ranking amongst the great writers . Murakami is a great writer , of incredible depth and insight . He is one fo the greatest treasures of the International literature scene , and there is no reason whatsoever that we should question his validity as a writer of genius Literate Fiction with a capital LF .
010 4 Two things are sure about Murakami's writing now :
1 . It's out of this world . Every book leaves something and changes me .
2 . I am having troubles describing it .
Most amazing is how you are able to synchronize with the character's state of mind . All this calmness and deepness , you think that you should first get into similar mood in order to read , but once you start , your mood is itself shaped by the book .
011 4 Before I start actually reviewing this book , I should note that I haven't read any of Murakami's other books , so I can't comment on how this one compares . I was also unaware until just now that the book was a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase . I actually have a hunch that Dance Dance Dance works better without having read that book , but obviously I can't say for sure . At any rate , it stands on its own .
Despite containing many impossible things , Dance Dance Dance is a very realistic book . I say this because not everything that happens fits neatly into an overarching structure , and some events never end up making sense . Neither of those things are true of most novels , but they almost always apply to real life . The characters , weird as they are , almost all have authenticity . This is especially true of the nameless protagonist .
It's necessary to learn what to expect from this book . If you read it looking for a straight-up mystery that resolves itself in the traditional way , as is tempting , you will be disappointed . What you can expect is an entertaining , darkly surreal , and ultimately reassuring story which probably would have been classified as urban fantasy had it been written by an American or British author or magical realism had it been written by a Latin American . Seen that way , I really can't think of any particular flaws in it . The lack of a fifth star is due to the absence of superlative things , not the presence of bad ones .
The authors this book reminded me of most were Philip K . Dick and Neil Gaiman , though it doesn't resemble either so strongly .
012 4 I read a couple other Murakami novels and they glanced off me , but this one stuck . An unnamed narrator , adrift in modern Tokyo , dreams of a girlfriend who disappeared years ago . He returns to the hotel where he last saw her and there discovers a secret floor that's a gateway to another dimension . On this floor he encounters the Sheep Man , making a return appearance from Murakami's earlier novel A Wild Sheep Chase . Our protagonist searches for his lost girlfriend , befriends a teenage psychic , and reconnects with an old high school buddy who's now a famous actor . The plot meanders between Tokyo , Osaka and Hawaii , but the pages keep turning . In the end , we find out what happened to the girlfriend , and our anomic hero learns what it means to reach out to other human beings .
Murakami is a bit of a one trick pony , but it's a good trick . He speaks through a disaffected thirtysomething narrator with a vaguely creative profession ( the one in Dance , Dance , Dance is a freelance journalist ) . In flat , precise prose , this narrator takes us through his unremarkable daily life . At some point in the story , our narrator bumps up against another realm or dimension outside the quotidian one he lives in , a dimension where the past is present and dead people are still alive . Out of this collision with the metaphysical emerges a new understanding of the mystery and complexity of existence .
Why is this a good trick ? Because the Japanese culture Murakami writes about is fascinated with surfaces and secrets . His hard-boiled prose captures the surface ; his metaphysical plots expose the secrets . Although Murakami is very international in his outlook and his cultural references , his emotional preoccupations are Japanese to the core , which explains his popularity there .
Murakami also manages to wring a surprising amount of emotion from his tight , reportorial prose . The main characters in Dance , Dance , Dance want something they can barely glimpse and struggle to name . Murakami's best trick of all is that he makes their yearning so affecting .
013 4 I don't understand why people read Murakami's books with an expectation of a strong plot going on . I mean seriously . Why ? Murakami's books are fragile and just really random . I find that he stresses more on the idea of his books than forcing a straight plotline . The central point of Murakami's books generally tend to be rather cliche . Human interaction , life , death etc . But his prose is just so stunning and mesmerizing . Who enjoys a Picasso painting to appreciate the accuracy of human anatomy ? What unrealistic expectations . Gosh . Murakami's books are certainly a sort of a hit and miss thing , since you either hate it or you love it . I find the entire fun is the journey of the reading and enjoying the fragility of his ideas . I definitely don't ever expect a straight plot out of Murakami . And I'm glad he writes as such . It's refreshing now , in repetitive and monotonous journey of life plot-lines where characters , plots and dialogue have just gotten stale .
014 4 * Dance , Dance , Dance * is a wholly original novel that's been rightly characterized as reminiscent of ` a Japanese Philip K . Dick . ' That's a compliment , by the way . If anything , Murakami out - [ . . . ] in this offbeat murder-mystery where the real mystery isnt so much whodunit , but nothing short of the ` meaning , ' if there is any , of life itself . A murder-mystery where the murder is only a subplot ? Unusual , yes , but welcome to the world of Haruki Murakami . A work marred , or redeemed , depending on your tolerance for sweets , only by its somewhat syrupy ending , * Dance , Dance , Dance * goes down nice and easy thanks to a quicksilver plot and the smooth , almost conversational voice of Murakami's fictional narrator - - an ordinary guy , who , true to hardboiled tradition , is doing his best to hold to a personal code of honor and decency in a world void of either .
With a minimum of sentimentality , Murakami gets you to sympathize with his quirky , but realistic characters , each of whom is broken in some heartbreakingly human way , even the ` killer . ' Has a ` crime ' even been committed , Murakami seems to ask , and if so , is it really what we think it is ?
* Dance , Dance , Dance * is a novel that fits comfortably , if somewhat less comically madcap , alongside such recent novels as Matthew Sloan's * Fake Girls , * Jeff Noon's * Vurt , * and the earlier Chuck Palahuniuk .
015 4 Let's face it , confirmed Murakami fans - - which means just about everyone who reads one of his books - - will read this book sooner or later , and that's a good thing . It's not as celebrated as many other Murakami novels , it is a great read that I highly recommend to you .
I read Norwegian Wood and a collection of Murakami stories ( After the Quake ) before reading this novel , which combines the poignancy and malancholy fatalism of the former , and the cynical humor and supernatural elements of the latter . It is a delicious brew .
I won't repeat plot summaries you can read elsewhere because no description of the plot conveys the flavor and texture of the book . You would not read the book based on the plot anyway .
My only criticism of the book is that the ending , while it did not betray or ruin the book , did not seem true to the arc of the story . In any event , that is a good subject to chew over with a friend who has also read the book .
EDIT : I now regret reading this book before I read A Wild Sheep Chase . I highly recommend reading A Wild Sheep Chase first , and then Dance Dance Dance . Loved both books - but they are best read in that order !
016 4 I think the greatest complement a book can receive is that you actually miss reading it . Often we go to the movies , read a novel , and two months later you can barely remember seeing / reading it . I miss this book , perhaps more than other Murakami's work . If you haven't read anything by him yet , you must try it .
It's hard to describe the style of the book , but I think he has a pretty universal appeal . A little strange and familiar at the same time . Weird things happen , but he describes them in a lightly straight-forward way .
017 4 In Dance Dance Dance , we are drawn into Murakami's typical murky world where our nameless narrator from A Wild Sheep Chase continues to search for his place in a world of advanced capitalism - struggling to place meaning behind a world of false values / aspirations and pressures to conform .
Old friends such as Kiki , the Sheep Man , and his copywriting partner surface for a much welcomed appearance - while new warm and fuzzy characters are introduced in familiar places such as the Dolphin Hotel to further propel the plot .
Murakami succeeds in Dance because he forcefully reminds us of the true value of things in everyday life . He tactfully revisits old themes such as - not realizing the value of things until it's too late - the fragility of the human psyche - and the pain of losing loved ones . Further more , only Murakami can compare and contrast the value of Rolex watches , Maserati sports cars with the joys of preparing and savouring simple but rich , mouth watering homemade-meals .
After flipping through the last few pages of Dance , I am glad to say that it feels as though I have fallen in love for the first time all over again .
018 4 I have reviewed a lot of works of art , and many reviews have been silly or insulting , or just plain stupid , but I must say , seriously , that this book ( and all by Murakami , ) is wonderful .
I love them all , but Dance , Dance , Dance takes the proverbial cake . Many complain that the protagonists of Murakami's books are all too alkie , and they find this to be a fault . I suppose I can see that , but damn , I love the Murakami protagonist , and I love every other recurring theme he uses . These are the books I have always wanted to exist , the books I have have always dreamed of writing . I can only advise reading them . All of them . Now . I mean it .
019 4 I'm only at page 297 , 100 more to go , but Murakami's writing moves me , like only a few others have done .
There are similar metaphors in this story as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : a relationship with a young teenager who doesn't fit in at school , wealthy benefactors , baseball bats ; and the writer in first person , who is in a state of limbo , taking a break from work while he tries to adjust his metaphysical , subconscious life to regular daily events that take place . And it can all be rather odd .
Personally , I relate to the state of mind that he describes , [ unfortunately without the psychic experiences ] , but the odd floating spaces that we can occupy as our life jetstreams by . Initially I thought of Murakami as a Japanese version of Isabel Allende , but I only believe this superficially now .
He is Japanese , but what he writes about is global .
I'm totally seduced .
021 4 Dansu Dansu Dansu is the best Murakami novel so far . But please read all of them , starting with Norwegian Wood , the short stories , then Wild Sheep Chase . I read these while living in Taiwan . It struck me how many of my Taiwanese friends also described Murakami as their favourite author . The narrator has universal appeal as he draws the reader into his world , one filled with dry wit and deadpan humour . The characters are unforgettable , from his girlfriend with large , erotic ears in Sheep Chase to the Sheep Man himself and the quiet Ms Yumiyoshi at the Dolphin Hotel . I dreaded finishing the book , as I felt I had become close friends with the narrator . I almost bought a used Subaru and learned how to cook , just like the narrator , after finishing the book . I even began studying Japanese in hopes of reading the original language titles . But now at least we have one more of Murakami's books to read in The Wind Up Bird Chronicles .
022 4 What a disappointment . Having finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle a couple of weeks before , I was excited to be wrapped up in a completely new invention of Murakami's , but it turned out to be more like a trial run . It almost makes me want to go back and change my assessment of The Wind-Up Bird simply because now it feels recycled and reused . The main character feels like the same aimless , disconnected bachelor , there are people hidden in hotel rooms in alternate dimensions , there are psychic powers , there's an adolescent girl who smokes with whom he has a completely platonic relationship while perpetually noting her beauty , there's a cat named Kipper instead of Mackerel , there's a rich guy close to the main character who somehow reeks of violence ( who also happens to be the most popular everyman we all supposedly went to school with , and who resides in Murakami's short stories as well , even as he protests through the main character that this guy barely meant anything in his life ) . Our hero , who usually cares little for money winds up with a lot of it , is divorced with a wife who just walked out without warning one day and is befriended by an independent and sexually blossoming thirteen year old girl . We are now meant to believe that in spite of his completely unremarkable personality that the world has been altered drastically in order to tell him a short message , with which he does little to nothing .
There is a complete lack of bother when it comes to explaining why events happened the way they did in the story . It's as if when Murakami needs a plot twist , something supernatural ( and thus conveniently inexplicable ) happens , and we are supposed to marvel at the incredible connection . It was charming in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle , but this book lacks the depth of plot and charm to back it up . The passion and mysteriousness of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle just isn't there in Dance Dance Dance .
023 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
We interrupt this review for a Public Service Announcement . It is STRONGLY recommended that you read Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase before reading this book . While not 100% necessary , your enjoyment of DDD will be greatly enhanced ! We now return you to your regularly scheduled review .
I got so wrapped up in the book I almost thought I was a part of it . There was that gnawing at the edge of my mind - a glimmer of understanding . Then an insight : I am in the book ! Murakami has a way of writing the reader into the story ; making the reader an unmentioned character .
This is too real for magical realism ; it's post-modern with a reliable narrator ; it has a tinge of science fiction and fantasy but is really neither . It's simply Murakami .
024 4 We interrupt this review for a Public Service Announcement . It is STRONGLY recommended that you read Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase before reading this book . While not 100% necessary , your enjoyment of DDD will be greatly enhanced ! We now return you to your regularly scheduled review .
I got so wrapped up in the book I almost thought I was a part of it . There was that gnawing at the edge of my mind - a glimmer of understanding . Then an insight : I am in the book ! Murakami has a way of writing the reader into the story ; making the reader an unmentioned character .
This is too real for magical realism ; it's post-modern with a reliable narrator ; it has a tinge of science fiction and fantasy but is really neither . It's simply Murakami .
025 4 this is my second haruki murakami novel , having previously read norwegian wood . i wont go into detail about how much i enjoyed the novel , which is apparent anyway from my rating , but i do want to agree with the reviewer who mentioned that the english text is abridged .
i read the novel in the mandarin-chinese translated edition , and though i ( not being able to read japanese ) obviously cannot be certain that the chinese version isn't somewhat abridged as well , after comparing segments of the book i own with an english translated and adapted version , i found several substantial differences , and I have reason to believe that the version i read is probably closer to the original text .
I actually felt , very strongly , in fact , that I liked the chinese version i had read more as it seems more in the style of HM ( but having read norwegian wood in chinese also , i cant promise that i dont have an unclear perception of what his style is ) , and some segments in the english text make the novel seem boring ( e.g the narrator rambling on and on ) , while in the chinese text there is more use of free indirect discourse / stream of conciousness and it's hardly as annoying .
so , perhaps , if you didn't enjoy the novel because of that , dont blame haruki murakami . blame the translator .
026 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
Well , what can I say ? It's Murakami . . . . I love Murakami , but I have to admit having a sequel , to me , is somewhat anti - Murakami ( but of course I had to read it anyways ) .
It's a good book , written in a way that you don't have to have read Wild Sheep Chase to understand it , but I would recommend it so you have more background story ( and I liked Wild Sheep Chase way more ) . This is probably the most literal Murakami book I've read . . . it has an actual ending ( but not a cool one like Hardboiled Wonderland ) and you're mind isn't spinning with questions afterwards , which is somewhat disappointing . Or maybe it's because I've read so many of his books that I'm starting to get bored of it . . .
Someone once said that the first Murakami book you read ( the one that got you hooked ) will always be your favorite one , and it's true because my favorite is still Kafka on the Shore , so of course I would recommend that one instead : P
027 4 Well , what can I say ? It's Murakami . . . . I love Murakami , but I have to admit having a sequel , to me , is somewhat anti - Murakami ( but of course I had to read it anyways ) .
It's a good book , written in a way that you don't have to have read Wild Sheep Chase to understand it , but I would recommend it so you have more background story ( and I liked Wild Sheep Chase way more ) . This is probably the most literal Murakami book I've read . . . it has an actual ending ( but not a cool one like Hardboiled Wonderland ) and you're mind isn't spinning with questions afterwards , which is somewhat disappointing . Or maybe it's because I've read so many of his books that I'm starting to get bored of it . . .
Someone once said that the first Murakami book you read ( the one that got you hooked ) will always be your favorite one , and it's true because my favorite is still Kafka on the Shore , so of course I would recommend that one instead : P
028 4 Having read A Wild Sheep Chase just before this , I can attest to the complexity of Murakami's writing and character creating skills . Read separately or in conjunction with A Wild Sheep Chase , this novel is a lovely look into the mind of a character with complex inner workings and a past to overcome . I love this book and would definitely recommend it with or without reading A Wild Sheep Chase .
029 4 If you desire a mindless fast-paced action-packed novel , try Tom Clancy . Every facet of this novel is developed beautifully and flows at a perfect pace . At no point did I feel that any aspect of character , emotion , setting , or meaning had been rushed . Definitely , it is the type of novel that , when finished , requires you to sit and contemplate situations in your own life .
This novel , like many of Murakami's , is an analysis of contemporary Japan , the intrinsic carnal desires of man , the malignant qualities of capitalism ( and the exuberance of the modern world ) , and the roles we play in relationships with others . I can't say enough positive things about it . Deep aspects of the novel are eased through introduction and analysis with tidbits of humor and opposing arguments that are perfectly placed and aid in keeping the narrator from coming off as preachy and self-indulgent . All of this is wrapped in a fantastic fiction-mystery-scifiesque social commentary . Definitely read it .
As a side note , this novel is entirely readable and enjoyable without reading , A Wild Sheep Chase , the precursor ; however , reading Sheep beforehand will definitely give you more of a connection to the narrator and story . The author was , by no means , shoveling cultural snow . Keep Dancing .
030 4 I was given this book to read by someone who said it sucked . Having heard a few variable opinions on his books , i decided to make up my own mind . I really quite enjoyed it as its unlike any book i've read before . Its well written and the story unpredictable . I like a bit of dream / supernatural in my books , just a little bit of it , and even though i didn't in the end understand what the hell happened , i still liked this book so much i immediately went out & bought another , Kafka on the Shore . There's a sense of greater things in these books , and a high degree of readability that keeps dopey people like me reading them even when we don't get it . So i found its not a bad thing to not get it & learning that alone is worth the effort .
031 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
If you have not read The Wind Up Bird Chronicle , I strongly recommend it . It is Murakami's best and most complex novel dealing with the images and themes explored in Dance , Dance , Dance . This is a sweeter story , a kind of love story , set in the strange landscape of Murakami's parallel universes . Although it is not quite as thought provoking as Wind Up Bird , it is very engrossing and enjoyable .
032 4 If you have not read The Wind Up Bird Chronicle , I strongly recommend it . It is Murakami's best and most complex novel dealing with the images and themes explored in Dance , Dance , Dance . This is a sweeter story , a kind of love story , set in the strange landscape of Murakami's parallel universes . Although it is not quite as thought provoking as Wind Up Bird , it is very engrossing and enjoyable .
033 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
Dance Dance Dance is honestly one of the most remarkable books I've ever read . I felt completely in touch with the narrator and was drawn to Murakami's characters . Yuki was my favorite , Gotanda and Ame were up there too . There were so many memorable scenes . It was almost a disappointment to finish the book , leaving those familiar people behind .
I liked how the Sheep Man made but a cameo appearance , leaving the narrator to figure everything out for himself for the most part . That's how it works in real life afterall . The mystery of Kiki was equally interesting . Perhaps the most impressive part of the book was the interaction between the narrator and Yuki though .
I can't say enough good things about the book . I was completely blown away by it and given a new perspective on life . Read Wild Sheep Chase and then Dance Dance Dance - you won't regret it !
034 4 Dance Dance Dance is honestly one of the most remarkable books I've ever read . I felt completely in touch with the narrator and was drawn to Murakami's characters . Yuki was my favorite , Gotanda and Ame were up there too . There were so many memorable scenes . It was almost a disappointment to finish the book , leaving those familiar people behind .
I liked how the Sheep Man made but a cameo appearance , leaving the narrator to figure everything out for himself for the most part . That's how it works in real life afterall . The mystery of Kiki was equally interesting . Perhaps the most impressive part of the book was the interaction between the narrator and Yuki though .
I can't say enough good things about the book . I was completely blown away by it and given a new perspective on life . Read Wild Sheep Chase and then Dance Dance Dance - you won't regret it !
035 4 Reasons why you should skip this novel :
1 . This book is abridged . One of the title pages says : Translated and adapted by Alfred Birnbaum with the approval of the author . What exactly does this mean ? Was this novel censored ? What was cut ? And how much is missing ? An Amazon reviewer mentions at least 20% . This immediately turned me off .
2 . The Sheepman . This character from A Wild Sheep Chase is as annoying as ever . Example from his speaking style : Youandustalkinghere'sreality . Butit'snottheonlyonereality . Lotsofrealitiesoutthere . etc , etc . . .
3 . Stock characters and situations . This book makes me think of one of the lesser Philip K . Dick novels . You tell yourself any P.K.D . or Murakami is better than nothing , but it's no consolation . This novel reads like a potboiler .
4 . It's boring . It starts well , as others have mentioned , and then , it's dull and repetitious . How many times do we have to read about the hero brushing his teeth or taking a bath or going to a bar or a Dunkin Donuts ?
5 . There are other much better Murakami novels you should read . I'll just mention Norwegian Woods and Kafka On the Shore and A Wild Sheep Chase .
036 4 Haruki Murakami mostly writes books that fall into two categories : either the ' confused but in love ' bucket , or the ' confused young man finds himself totally weirded-out ' bucket . The first category has Murakami classics such as ' Norwegian Wood ' and ' South of the Border , West of Sun ' , and the latter has ' A Wild Sheep Chase ' and ' The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle ' . ' Dance , Dance , Dance ' , being a sequel to ' A Wild Sheep Chase ' , is about as weird as anything published by Murakami . And it is about as good , . . . which is to say it is very good indeed .
It is very hard to explain the novel since the story is so . . strange , convoluted , surreal , etc . We have altered realities , a 13 year old spoilt girl with precognition powers , and a befuddled young Japanese man caught in the middle . It all works , sort of . Believable ? Not even close .
Bottom line : a book best enjoyed by seasoned Murakami readers . Fans will love it .
037 4 After I read Dance , Dance , Dance from cover to cover and over and over in Japanese . I find that it is exciting the translation version is available . First of all , I must gave the credit to the translator , who did its best to translate the thinking of the writer , not just word-to-word conversion . However , it is hard and often impossible to translate the culture and racial mind-set into different language . For the English version , it lack of excitement and sadness of what I proceeded from the original version .
038 4 I cannot adequately describe how wonderful this book is . Everyone should read it . Now .
I actually read this before i read _ Wild Sheep Chase _ , but i'm glad i did . It easlity holds itself up without knowledge of the earlier events . Reading _ Sheep Chase _ afterwards then strengthened the experience of having read the sequel , which is actually a more solid book . Read both , but read _ Dance Dance Dance _ first . trust me . just read it .
039 4 I'd read two of Murakami's novels before , and several of his short stories , but I had yet ( and still have yet ) to read A Wild Sheep Chase . I didn't realize that Dance Dance Dance was its sequel when I picked it out at the bookstore . I just knew I needed Murakami back in my life , and the description on the back of this book sounded the most intriguing because it promised an ' oracular sheep man ' .
The verdict is , it didn't matter that I hadn't read A Wild Sheep Chase . Well , I'm sure there are things I didn't quite pick up on ( like what's up with the ear fetish ? ) and of course the Sheep Man was more mysterious to me than he may have been to others , but that didn't detract at all from the main plot or the overall reading experience . AND , I think it will be uniquely interesting to read A Wild Sheep Chase now , with this story in mind . I like series that you can read out of order and each book still stands alone .
One of my favorite things about Murakami is that no matter how different I am from his main characters , I am always able to see the world very precisely through their eyes . Whether or not you really care about the people Murakami writes , you can understand them on a complex level . He lets you inside of their world . Without limits .
040 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
Dance , dance , dance is one of my preferite book and I like to collect it in different languages .
Unfortunately the book in this version has been so heavily and bad cut ( several pages ) that is making me wondering :
- did the author really approve this version ?
- can be still considered a translation of the original book ?
While I still love this novel , I suggest to whoever interested in it to looking for another translation .
041 4 Dance , dance , dance is one of my preferite book and I like to collect it in different languages .
Unfortunately the book in this version has been so heavily and bad cut ( several pages ) that is making me wondering :
- did the author really approve this version ?
- can be still considered a translation of the original book ?
While I still love this novel , I suggest to whoever interested in it to looking for another translation .
042 4 Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949 , and is one of Japan's most famous authors . He started writing at twenty-nine - the inspiration , apparently , appearing out of nowhere at a baseball game . Dance Dance Dance is his sixth novel , was first published in 1988 and is a follow-up to A Wild Sheep Chase .
About four years have passed since A Wild Sheep Chase and the events of that book still cast a long shadow over our still-nameless narrator . For about six months after he returned to Tokyo , he tried - and failed - to figure out just what he'd been through . In doing so , he became a virtual recluse - he rarely went out in daylight , lost touch with just about everyone and avoided the real world as far as possible . However , some news did filter through - his ex-partner's new business is doing very well , while his ex-wife has now remarried . Still , it was only when his cat Kipper died that he decided to reconnect with society . Nevertheless , he leads a very solitary existence , is plagued by doubts and it still seems like he's just drifting through life .
During A Wild Sheep Chase , our hero had stayed in the Dolphin Hotel in Sapporo with his then-girlfriend . Although he knew she'd earned a living as a high class call girl and an ear model , he never actually found out what she was really called . ( Since the end of that book , however , he's discovered her name was Kiki ) . As this book opens , he's been suffering from a recurring dream - he's back in the hotel , and he can hear someone crying . He is now certain that Kiki is calling him back to the Dolphin , and that she's been crying for him in his dream . Although he feels he's now back on ` steady ground ' , he decides there's only way he can move forward with his life : take a month off work , return to the Dolphin and find Kiki again . Unfortunately , he doesn't even get through the front door of the hotel before he gets his first shock : the Dolphin is now 26 stories of fashionably expensive steel and glass and the former owner is nowhere to be seen . The staff all appear charming , though nervous - apart from the goons in the back office - and initially , no-one is willing to talk about the hotel's former incarnation .
Luckily , our hero gets a little help as the book goes on . Yumiyoshi , the receptionist at the Dolphin's front desk , is the first to step forward . Then , there's Ryoichi Gotanda , an actor our narrator had been at school with - Kiki had made a very brief appearance in one of his movies . ( In fact , it was Gotanda who was able to supply the name ' Kiki ' ) . The book's most likeable character , however , was Yuki - a 13 year old girl who'd been staying with her mother in the Dolphin . ( Yuki also had psychic tendencies , and , is spite of liking Culture Club , was probably the wisest character in the book ) . The Sheep Man returns briefly , though he's in really bad shape .
Dance Dance Dance has a great deal in common with A Wild Sheep Chase - occasionally sad and a little surreal in places . However , it's a very enjoyable read at the same time and it lands closer to a happy ending than its predecessor.Totally recommended , but read its predecessor first .
043 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance ( Paperback )
Honestly , Murakami is brilliant . I love so many things about him ( and this book ! ) I do not even know where to begin .
His writing is witty , quirky , and intelligently conversational . And in this , he manages to take it to another level by weaving in fantasy and philosophy . . . it's pretty rock and roll .
Dance , Dance , Dance is one of my favorites . Murakami's main character floats around ( although never all together ) with a group of complex and seemingly non-sensical characters ( a one-armed surfer poet . . . a man dressed in sheepskin clothing . . . an extremely intuitive 13yr old girl who is constantly abandoned by her famous photographer mother . . . )
044 4 Honestly , Murakami is brilliant . I love so many things about him ( and this book ! ) I do not even know where to begin .
His writing is witty , quirky , and intelligently conversational . And in this , he manages to take it to another level by weaving in fantasy and philosophy . . . it's pretty rock and roll .
Dance , Dance , Dance is one of my favorites . Murakami's main character floats around ( although never all together ) with a group of complex and seemingly non-sensical characters ( a one-armed surfer poet . . . a man dressed in sheepskin clothing . . . an extremely intuitive 13yr old girl who is constantly abandoned by her famous photographer mother . . . )
045 4 It helps to have read A Wild Sheep's Chase before venturing on this book as this is a continuation of the story from it , but I can see how you do not need to have read A Wild Sheep's Chase . However , your enjoyment might be blunted without the knowledge of the adventures and misadventures that the protagonist experienced in A Wild Sheep's Chase .
Typical of Murakami , there are otherworldly elements of fantasy and science fiction permeating throughout the book . The story pulses along a magical beat that doesn't let down . It was a thrilling , addicting read and I couldn't put it down . I took one star away from the rating because I found the ending rather unsatisfying and it left me hanging .
046 4 I love Haruki Murakami . Love him . You get the most wonderful nostalgic feeling when you read his books , whether for the first time or the third . He's a very nostalgic writer , creating atmosphere with music , weather , and poignant description of every day things . I can't explain it , it's like the warm , fuzzy glow you get from the Christmas season .
047 4 Murakami describes a strange place ; it cannot be Japan or any spot on this earth . It is a land where cooking spagetti is an art form , where one admires girls for the beauty of their ears , and rides elevators to move between layers of reality . Reading this first person narrative , you feel transported to this land . You read sentences but the simplicity of the sentences should not fool you in believing that the tale it tells is also simple . On the contrary !
048 4 This is the third Murakami novel I have read and they just keep getting better and better . This book is full of interesting twists and turns , but with a mix of fantasy that keeps you on your toes . I haven't finished it just yet , but I am sure I won't be disappointed .
049 4 I've said it before , I truly do like Murakami alot because he likes writing these normal situations like eating donuts and reading a newspaper and watching TV in his stories but for some odd reason it just never gets boring . This book is the sequel to The Wild Sheep Chase which became one of my favorite books this year . And yes , it does connect to everything eventually . Still , as most sequels go , I liked the first book better and I do think it could have gone without this little book . But I bet the Sheep Man fans wanted this book and it started getting stranger and stranger as it finally wrapped up the little twists . I do have one complaint about this book though but it's a little thing really . One of the characters in the book was this Filipino prostitute whom Murakami wrote as someone who speaks very broken English . The thing is though , Filipinos don't speak in broken English , bad grammar maybe but NOT broken English how can they , when other than Tagalog , English is also their national language and you learn it from Kindergarten on . Anyways , that was my one gripe . But then again , maybe it was due to the translations .
050 4 The hotel in Murakami's Dance , Dance , Dance seems to have been built by the same guy that built Danielewski's House of Leaves .
I didn't enjoy this one as much as Hard-Boiled Wonderland . . . but it still had some entertaining moments and was certainly worth the read .
That said , I didn't feel that it was a particularly special or memorable werk .
051 4 Loved this book . Maybe the best Murakami book I've read . I really fell into his world , feeling that his insight into the character's lives was continually poignant and full of a human empathy . of course , its also surreal and uncanny in that special murakami way .
052 4 This novel was simply a lot of fun . Murakami has a way of creating these off-beat , odd-ball , and solitary - I almost said lonely , but that wouldn't be quite right - characters that get thrown into these strange situations that provide for entertaining reads . For readers who are new to Murakami , this isn't a good place as although you can read this book on its own , it is a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase and it helps to have read and been introduced to these characters previously . Our narrator , who is never given a name , is a freelance writer who starts the book with the simple desire to return to the strange Dolphin Hotel , a place he stayed at in the previous novel . From that point on , he meets a strange group of characters and makes some unlikely friends - a 13 - year old girl , a beautiful hooker , a one-armed poet , and a famous actor - all of whom become attracted to the guy they constantly refer to as different , although in a complimentary way . The prose , whether it's a function of the translation or not , is smooth and easy to read , and not much is vexing except for the plot . I always attribute my desire to understand everything to my Western perspective and education and I always find myself waiting for the climax where I presume an explanation of all of the off-the-wall events and threads , only to find myself a little disappointed at the end when I don't get everything . But that's OK in this instance becasue you don't need to understand everything to enjoy the voice of the narrator and the way he tries to navigate the mystery of The Sheep Man , a being from another world that communicates with him from time to time . None of the plot threads make sense unless you read the book , which you most certainly should , especially after the hole that the last Harry Potter novel is going to leave , which I'm about to start .
053 4 Winsome window into the quiet and confused soul of the narrator , whose name I wish I knew but the author chose not to disclose . Shadowy sheep , dead women and a 13 - year-old girl haunt him yet he never manages to lose his sanity or humaity . The language is lyrical and haunting in its own right .
A remarkable book well worth reading .
This was the first Murakami novel I've read but I'm addicted now . The man is a master .
054 4 I have finished four of Murakami's works and I found this to be the most compelling and rewarding . I did not know that this was a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase when I started it , but it soon became obvious . I found the resolution at the end of this novel much better than Hard Boiled or Wind Up Bird . This book ended with hope for me , but Wind Up Bird really started to drag a bit half way through and I didn't like the surrender to darkness that ended Hard Boiled - although it was a brilliantly executed work . Read a Wild Sheep Chase first .
055 4 I found this novel much more enjoyable than the first novel in the series , _ A Wild Sheep Chase _ . Another reviewer described the enjoyment gained from reading this book as falling in love for the first time all over again . My experience was similar .
This book reminded me very much of the feelings I had after watching the American film Beautiful Girls ( 1996 ) . First , I was very disappointed to reach the ending of both stories because I wanted it to go on . Second , I was so enchanted with the little girl in each story that it did sort of feel as if I had fallen in love .
The one-armed poet and his oblivious yet brilliant photographer girlfriend , the washed up novelist , their sometimes obnoxious yet somehow always loveable daughter , the film actor forever trapped in film roles he detests and , of course , the protagonist himself make for a memorable cast of characters . The whole thing reminds me a bit of a The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany except that I found this story so much more compelling than any John Irving novel I have read . ( Please don't be offended , Mr . Irving . The fact is , very few works of fiction grab me in the way this book did . Even other novels by the same author . And , the fact is , I did enjoy Garp and Owen Meany . They were just different reading experiences than this one was . )
056 4 New Yorker contributor and former Princeton lecturer , Murakami manages to garner critical acclaim while enjoying great popularity both in Japan and abroad in translation . The central character in Dance Dance Dance has recurring dreams about a Sapporo hotel he once stayed in years ago with a girlfriend who has since disappeared . He returns finally to the old Dolphin Hotel and finds it has been transformed into a chain hotel but has retained the original name . In the parallel universe of the hotel , the lead character meets the teenage psychic Yuki , her bizaare mother Ame , and Dick North , Ame's one-armed American boyfriend . In the search for Kiki , the missing girlfriend , Murakami takes the reader on a psychedelic ride . Translator Alfred Birnbaum has done an excellent job in staying true to the nuances in the original Japanese text .
057 4 This is a good book . Murakami's writing involves detailed characters who do not always know where they are going nor who they are . The characters and environment are detailed and exquisite , making one want to visit the places written about .
This book includes a sideline into a metaphysical world for the narrator , which helps to drive him and guide him . By the end of the book , typical understanding of all the events and characters may not be achieved but a sense of peace is created .
When you read this book , do not expect typical Western narrative structures , details or a sense of closure . As with other Murakami books consider the leaves , on the trees in the forest .
058 4 Murakami and Paul Bowles are my favorite authors . Don't ask me why . I guess it's because they see something beyond reality . Dance , Dance , Dance is a facinating experience , but it's also simply a fun read .
059 4 5 stars doesn't do justice to this novel . It has been some six months since I put the book down and it shall be many , many years before I pick up another book that will catch my imagination so . Despite what other reviewers have written , I say that this is the finest of Murakami's works . No questions . That's all .
Never before have I felt so enveloped by a written work . It kept me warm during the cold weeks of a Japanese January and the very mention of this novel or it's author sends me scurrying back to my blankets , on my futon , inside my futon closet ( of all places ) . Emerging from this novel was like emerging from the most perfect of dreams . A worthwhile meal . A delicious Christmas .
060 4 As usual , I found this Murakami book an excellent read . While it moved a bit slower than Hardboiled Wonderland for instance , it still had me reading at every possible moment . Love , confusion , parallel realities , what more can you ask of a book ?
061 4 This is one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read . Murakami is splendid in plot , substance , and literary style . The metaphor of shoveling snow is especially an apt description of the world today . Actually , one of the greatest feats of Murakami is that he is able to mix the fantastical with the ever so real and mundane reality of everyday life . This book is about a 30 - ish protagonist search for his ex-girlfriend and the various people he encounters and adventures he undergoes in the search . In the book Murkami takes you from neon-lighted districts of hip modern Tokyo to darkened chambers in Haiwaii . Despite its various adventures in psychic wonderland , you are never out of touch with the capitalist modern Tokyo whose lifestyle is emblematic of that in New York or any other modern city . This books is on par with Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and loads better than his earlier novels - - Norweigian Wood , Pinball 1973 , Hear the Wind Sing . A definite read .
062 4 I read this story in Japanese first and I thought the traslator did a wonderful job . I understand that translating I from Japanese into English is sometimes hard job and I think the sentimentalism of the main character , I , is weaker than the original Japanese version because of that . But this is still wonderful book .
063 4 I really enjoyed this book for its dislocation of time and space . Everybody I've lent it enjoyed it too . . . Better Japanese fiction than Murakami ? Only Banana Yoshimoto !
064 4 This book is simply an incredibly good read . It is brief , to the point and very entertaining . Everytime you pick up a book like this , you cherish every moment you have , anticipating what happens at the end . Every line , paragraph , page , chapter is simply worth anybody's time . I read this when I was 12 ( a year ago ) and I still remember everything that happens ; it is simply too entertaining . Kudos to Haruki Murakami and Alfred Birnbaum .
065 4 A Wild Sheep Chase had me out the door on my way to pick up this sequel before I had even finished , causing much worry among those sharing the road with me as I read and drove . Murakami's tightly woven loose story continues to descend and ascend through the shadows of everyday life and explore the ambiguities and absurdities of the world . This is an incredible blend of comedy , metaphysics , detective stories , and horror , with plenty of other spcies added along the way .
The story reminds me of ball lighning or swamp gas - - a bizarre anomoly you cannot explain and may not fully fathom , but are endlessly delighted by .
066 4 This review is from :
Dance Dance Dance : A Novel ( Hardcover )
Murakami Haruki just gets better and better . With each new novel , he spins ever-increasingly complex tales that read like paintings in a gallery : The juxtaposition of light and dark , funny and sad , quiet and clamorous . Truly a work of art and an outstanding book . Murakami's characters haunt and mirror us , and perhaps this is what makes his work so irresistible ! Standing ovation for this book . Keep writing , Mr . Murakami , and whatever you do , don't stop dancing
067 4 Murakami Haruki just gets better and better . With each new novel , he spins ever-increasingly complex tales that read like paintings in a gallery : The juxtaposition of light and dark , funny and sad , quiet and clamorous . Truly a work of art and an outstanding book . Murakami's characters haunt and mirror us , and perhaps this is what makes his work so irresistible ! Standing ovation for this book . Keep writing , Mr . Murakami , and whatever you do , don't stop dancing
068 4 This poetic novel about desire , loss , and ambivalence is easily Murakami's best . As the nameless protagonist wanders through a tangle of supernatural happenstance and ordinary coincidence , he discovers what he has made of his life and how he can salvage what's left of it . Though very Japanese in structure , Murakami's writing avoids being buried in that culture and gives us a commentary that applies equally well to the modern West as it does to the East , while his trademark juxtaposition of the mundane and paranormal gives the book an eerie mood and accentuates the sadness and heroism of everyday life
069 4 I couldn't get out of the bathtub until i finished this book ! It's so engrossing , although you might not find that until you've realized you're deep inside a contemporary Tokyo mystery story . It's so engrossing that I accidentally found myself reading at the dinner table at Tony Roma's instead of talking to my boyfriend . However , if you get THAT excited over Murakami , just read aloud b / c you'll be spreading the word , and it's definitely worth sharing . In fact , my boyfriend thought the description of the Dolphin Hotel in the opening pages was brilliant . It's not any one thing that distinguishes this novel , but it's unique all the same . The narrator has an almost fetishistic mode of observation . He constantly undermines himself and his status by describing those around him in larger-than-life terms and delineating their various incredible qualities . but by the end of the novel , you realize that the one who comes out intact is our very own , humble and unhip narrator . And what a relief that is after all the close calls we experience vicariously through him ! Dance Dance Dance is a paradoxical novel b / c it's both lighthearted and very easy to read while also raising and considering deep epistemological questions . I loved that combination , and it made the book both comic and also heartbreaking , a nice duality in these times .
070 4 This was the second time that I have read this book . The first time I read this book i read something like 10 books in between reading it and A Wild Sheep Chase . This time I read it right after A Wild Sheep Chase , and i found the book to be more enjoyable .
The book is about the unnamed narrator of A Wild Sheep Chase . Something like four years have passed since he has talked to his dead friend the Rat and the disappearance of his girlfriend . We find the narrator living day to day shoveling cultural snow . He dreams of the Dolphin hotel and soon returns there , but finds the place a massive , beautiful expensive hotel . Not the run down sheep research haven that it had once been . He meets a pretty employee there named Yumiyoshi and soon strikes up an odd relationship with her . She tells him of a night when she went to the 16th floor and she ends up in a dark hallway . She walks down the hallway and sees a light underneath a door . She knocks , but soon runs when she becomes unnerved at the sound of foot prints . The Narrator winfds up on the dank , chill hidden hallway himself and runs into the Sheep Man . The Sheep Man tells him that he has been waiting for him a long time . The Sheep Man then tells the Narreator that he needs to find himself , and what an adventure he has . He meets a movie star , a washed up writer , a spaced out photographer , and a beautiful psychic girl . Wonderful book .
071 4 Well it's more than nice , sometimes Dance Dance Dance can be a little overwhelming on the fantasies , but i like it . Bizzare but still normal . I especially like how Murakami makes all the connections connect . He's got some nice sense of humor . And it leaves you with just the nice pleasant feeling .
072 4 although i don't usually gush over books and tell everyone how great they are , dance dance dance has been one of the best books i've read in my life . a wild sheep chase , the prequel to dance dance dance , was very good but did not suck me in the same way this one did . i read the whole book in about 12 hours , including sleep time and meals . couldn't put it down . what is it about ? the plot is too complex to describe in a review , but every detail fits together like a puzzle , and at the end you see the whole picture and don't want to stop looking . i flipped through the pages when i had finished , reread a few chapters , and was hesitant to return it to the library .
some readers may find dance dance dance a bit disorganized or unfocused , but i enjoyed all the details . buy the book and see for yourself ; it's worth every penny
073 4 Rarely does a book leave me scratching my head and wondering if i read everything correctly . I loved this novel with its absurd fantasy story and characters . It made me wonder if people like this really exist or we have to make them up . A friend had told me about the book and hadn't quite gotten what it was about . But the writing flows and before i knew it , i had finished it . Maybe its time to read it again . I highly recommend it for someone that is looking for a different kind of book to read .
074 4 This was my first Murakami novel . It took me some time to get the hang of his style . I found it strange and compelling , full of atmosphere , a nice surprise . It has been a long time since that last happened to me .
075 4 murakami has created a genre all of his own , so of course the themes are going to be similar . i was initially disappointed with this novel when i first read it 6 years ago , but re-reading it now i was all wrong .
beyond the psychic teens , haunted-hotel-in-other-dimension , dead prostitutes , film-noir cops and our nameless 30 ' s protagonist is a loopy but nonetheless moral tale about obligation and connection .
murakami's characters always reach their enlightenment through relative inaction ; stop work , don't take calls , go to hawaii or sit in the bottom of a well for a few days .
dance dance dance leaves you with a feeling of completion , yet unease - what was the price of the final chapters ' actions ?
076 4 I am glad to see that the translation was fairly good . I have a copy of this title in original language and this book is the one that I love to read over and over again . We always find slight awkwardness in a translated foreign literature , but this case it was not that annoying . That is simply why Murakami's novels have strong force that swallows us into his world . IT IS A JOY OF LIFE !
077 4 Not quite as immersive as before , but worthy nonetheless . Murakami's literary love lives are as strange as they come . In a vain search to find a glimpse of a woman he'd known before , Murakami plows the depths of the protagonist's pysche . The clarity and disclarity of his writing never ceases to amaze .
078 4 Murakami takes the hard-boiled mystery and gives it a post-modern , jokey twist . The first half of the novel is almost unbearably slow , as it takes too many pages to set up the story . But the characters are fascinating and the story becomes compelling in the second half . It is very hip and sly ; it mocks the genre gently .
079 4 I'm generally struck by Marikumi's surreal narratives and spare , lyrical prose , but Dance Dance Dance is pretty disappointing disappointing disappointing , with none of the kind of profound weirdness that makes A Wild Sheep Chase such a moving read . Here , the prose seems forced , the plot stilted and boring , and the characters lifeless - - none of the magic captured in ' Sheep ' crosses over into this semi-sequel . The lack of the Marikumi touch here makes some of the book's weaknesses ever more glaring , particularly the author's tendency to rush an ending after doggy paddling in characterization for 300 + pages . . . not his masterpiece , for sure .
080 4 Murakami has cashed in on the deserved success of A Wild SheepChase by writing what is superficially a sequel . He grabs a couple ofthe old characters , but quickly drops them . He introduces several new people , but he doesn't do much with them either . He's a writer desperately trying to clutch at wacky sub plots to bolster a weak central story . He alludes to everybody from Agatha Christie to Nabokov and sprays us with hundreds of empty references to popular culture . Where the quirky characters in the Sheep novel propelled the protagonist through the book , here they are just quirky for the sake of it . The one armed Vietnam vet / poet with a talent for making sandwiches is a fairly desperate apology for the author's lack of imagination : the guy has clearly escaped from a lesser writer's menagerie - perhaps an early Ben Elton book . Murakami borrows liberally from other writers and has a lot of pastiche , self-parody and self-deprecation . The novel has a minor character called Hiraku Makimura a novelist ( the same age as Haruki Murakami ) who by his own admission writes crap novels . The character used to be the bright young thing of Japanese literature but now everybody has seen through him and he is reduced to cashing in on earlier successes by regurgitating old material ! You can't accuse Murakami of taking himself as seriously as some of his readers do ! I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anybody who wants a light read , but my earlier reading of Murakami had led me to hope for something more challenging and ambitious . In this novel he's just treading water . The protagonist is likeable , sympathetic and a wonderful companion for this 400 page ride . He is a worthy representative of this post-everything age , an introverted , decent man looking for meaning and direction , but also a man who is reduced to killing time : I bought this . . . and this . . . and this . . . I didn't need any of them , but I wanted to kill some time . I killed two hours . He's tried everything - money , sex , marriage , cars , travel , business ; liked them all , but ultimately found them all wanting . Now in his 30s he's just drifting in search of something . . . anything ? This character was well developed in A Wild Sheep Chase , but he doesn't evolve much in this novel .
081 4 The book starts out boring . Plan on it : the entire first third of the book is nonsense . When the action does start , it brings up the following concepts : we will all die ; young people's lives are crumpled by the society and their parents ; like any other living organism , we - - the humans - - have to dance to the life's tune to survive . If you are interested in Murakami , this is not the right book - ; you can read the Sputnik Sweetheart , or the South of the Border . . . The latter is actually my favorite , as it seems to be talking about real people's lives and feelings .
082 4 This is the third book of Murakami's I've read in the last several months - the other two being The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles ( Wonderful ) and A Wild Sheep Chase ( Great ) . However , about halfway through Dance , Dance , Dance I realized that there was very little difference between the three books in terms of the general features of the plot : Disaffected 30 - something guy looking for a missing woman and / or abandoned by same , psychic teen-age girl , spacey hookers , comings and goings between various layers of reality , etc . For a writer with the supposed breadth this guy has , you'd think he could do a little more in terms of exploring other ideas .
Also , this book just didn't read as well as the other two - whether it was the translation or simply the way it was written , I have no way of knowing . But several times I found myself cringing at the awkward turns of phrase that kept turning up .
I thought the last 70 pages or so of the book were very good , but the vast majority of the remainder seemed to consist of pointless meandering .
I've rated his other books five stars but this one gets two for the following reasons : ( 1 ) It's simply not anywhere as good as the other two , and ( 2 ) I'm totally burned out on the overall theme that has been repeated in all three .
083 4 If you have read Murakami before , you will find that Dance Dance Dance is not his masterpiece . The story is long and boring , the main character is pathetic and full of self pity and the plot is a mixture of previous books . If you have never read Murakami I suggest you start with A Wild Sheep Chase , which is by far his best book .
084 4 Dance Dance Dance has similar plot elements to Wind Up Bird Chronicle yet makes for a much lighter read . The simpler plot ultimately makes the story less compelling though not necessarily less enjoyable . If anything the similarities in the plot accentuate Murakami's versatility as a writer who can shed new light on the mundane . Definitely a fun page-turner !
086 4 I read Sputnik Sweetheart and loved it .
I read South of Border and it was ok .
First 200 pages of Dance Dance Dance were interesting , and I read last 100 just to see ending , which is disapointing .
I don't recommend book to anyone .
087 4 Technically this is my first book by a Japanese author and Japanese culture has always fascinated me . The book starts on a promising premise . . . and has an intriguing and intriguingly simple protagonist . He seems like a loner , has spartan habits and long philosphical discourses with himself . Where the book loses me is the entire science fiction / surreality of the story , the premise . Some ghoulish Sheep Man , some wierd 13 year psychic girl . . . towards the end , I was flipping pages just to see if Mr Protagonist will solve the riddles he presents , in some very insightful ways , and interesting interpretations of his reality .
088 4 I've read everything of Haruki Murakami's in both English and Japanese , and let me say , this is the best of them all . First of all , let me say to all the dummies who praise Wind Up Bird as the best : This book came first ! Wind up bird repeats the missing woman , and the teenage girl , and doesn't make either as interesting as in Dance . May Kasahara is no Yuki , and Okada's wife is no Kiki . All Wind Up does is fulfill Murakami's fetish with wells . Yes , wind up has some interesting characters like the Kano sisters , but they're dropped a third through the book ! So what if he wrote a good section on Boris the Manskinner et al . . . that again was the author just fulfilling a need to write something along a historical line , but it had nothing to do with the main plot . It should have been in its own book . Nothing in Wind Up got tied up in even a tiny little bit . Now , Dance Dance Dance on the other hand comes full circle . It starts with the Dolphin Hotel . . . and it ends there . All the characters are extremely rich . . . Yuki , her spaced out genius mother Ame , even Dick North . And never , ever did Murakami have such a fantastic character as Gotanda the actor who was just too perfect . The detectives Bookish and Fisherman also deserve kudos . It is only in Dance Dance Dance that we see the lonely protagonist on his path towards his mysterious goal done at its most fulfilling . And a final word to all you untrue fans of Murakami who put this book down for Wind Up , I bet you had no idea that in the native Japanese , the sheep man's lines are not strung together , they're written in regular , normal Japanese sentences . Didn't know that , did you ? ? I bet you also didn't know that the Japanese version has a whole chapter not translated into the English version ! So who's the real Murakami fan ? I am ! All of you other Wind up is the best mindless drones , go read Danielle Steel . . . that's where you belong ! ! !
