If Colourless Tsukuru wasn't quite Murakami enough for you try this novel from 1985 (translated into English in 1991) which many fans cite as their favourite. In this idiosyncratic story Murakami spins two separate narratives that delve into the kind of existential angst at the heart of Murakami mania.
The odd numbered chapters, Hard Boiled Wonderland, are set in a near future Tokyo which blends science fiction and cyber-punk without conforming to either genre. Anime fans will recognise this version of Tokyo as a megalopolis in which data is a commodity to both steal and protect. Warring factions fight for control in a cyber crime detective story with more than a hint to the novels of, Murakami favourite, Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep and The Long goodbye).
Even numbered chapters, The End of the World, are set in an ethereal walled city where citizens are separated from their shadows and where great horned beasts rise and fall with the changing seasons.
What runs through both stories is profound sense of isolation. Although this is a recurring theme in Japanese fiction it reaches new heights in both of these worlds where characters are nameless; The Librarian, Chubby Girl, INKlings, and lives are governed by the routine of task based work.
The Hardboiled chapters are arguably the most successful. The near future setting exaggerates the neo-noir science fiction scenes which hit many Westerners on a first time visit to Shinjuku or Shibuya. Both stories are dream-like and delusional in places which, to first time Murakami readers, may be inaccessible.
The real reward for reading this particular novel are the 'Murakami-isms' which are aplenty throughout from the mundanity of the laundrette to the whimsy of the secret worlds beneath the Ginza line - all set of course to a soundtrack from mid-century jazz to Dylan.
Discovered in Foyles, Charing Cross Road
Read, in part, in The Monocle Cafe, Chiltern Street
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