A Wild Sheep Chase: 11-28
Talk Wild Sheep Chasers
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1shewhowearsred
In this thread we're discussing Chapters 11-28 of A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami.
If the first ten chapters didn't hook me, these chapters definitely did. The book started out full of these quirky little sub-stories which were amusing, but it was getting to the point where I felt Murakami was just throwing in weird things into the pot for the hell of it. Chapters 11-28 really fleshed out the story, though! Now it's a full-fledged mystery, and I have to admit it wasn't easy to stop reading after Chapter 28.
Because the characters act so Western, I forget sometimes that the story is set in Japan... and then I come across bits that are so Zen and I remember. I'm thinking about that bit in the first part of Chapter 12 where the main character talks about worm universes and his hypothetical conversation with a cow who was looking for pliers. What do you think that was about? I feel like there's something more there, but I still haven't figured it all out.
And then there's that whole bit about the sheep entering the Sheep Professor. What was that about? I'm trying to find the meaning of the symbol, but sheep are just not very strongly associated with any concept. The first thing I think of is that sheep are typical examples of herd mentality. Maybe Murakami is trying to connect sheep with the Zen idea of community, the way Buddhists believe that there is no distinction between Self and Others.
If it wasn't already obvious, I am really liking the symbols in this book. I haven't finished the book yet, but I think a second Murakami book is definitely in my future.
If the first ten chapters didn't hook me, these chapters definitely did. The book started out full of these quirky little sub-stories which were amusing, but it was getting to the point where I felt Murakami was just throwing in weird things into the pot for the hell of it. Chapters 11-28 really fleshed out the story, though! Now it's a full-fledged mystery, and I have to admit it wasn't easy to stop reading after Chapter 28.
Because the characters act so Western, I forget sometimes that the story is set in Japan... and then I come across bits that are so Zen and I remember. I'm thinking about that bit in the first part of Chapter 12 where the main character talks about worm universes and his hypothetical conversation with a cow who was looking for pliers. What do you think that was about? I feel like there's something more there, but I still haven't figured it all out.
And then there's that whole bit about the sheep entering the Sheep Professor. What was that about? I'm trying to find the meaning of the symbol, but sheep are just not very strongly associated with any concept. The first thing I think of is that sheep are typical examples of herd mentality. Maybe Murakami is trying to connect sheep with the Zen idea of community, the way Buddhists believe that there is no distinction between Self and Others.
If it wasn't already obvious, I am really liking the symbols in this book. I haven't finished the book yet, but I think a second Murakami book is definitely in my future.
2ginger_dame
I'm a bit slow with the chapters since I've only recently gotten home, but I agree how you tend to forget that the setting is Japan -- I actually prefer it that way. I easily liked Memoirs of A Geisha because it was written by a Westerner, therefore a Western perspective (despite its pretensions at being from a Japanese point-of-view), but I worried that THIS book would be too lofty with a Japanese writer, a Japanese point-of-view, and a Japanese setting that I wouldn't be able to relate to it at all.
Haha, you know that part about the worm universes? I just ceased trying to understand it and have moved on. I figured it would clarify itself somehow the more I read.
The only sheep symbolism I am aware of (apart from the Zodiac) is from the bible. LOL! The Good Shepherd and all that? With the mention of God and Christians, it's possible, but at this point in time, I still have no clue.
With the Boss in a coma and soon to pass away, I wonder to whom his money shall go to?
Haha, you know that part about the worm universes? I just ceased trying to understand it and have moved on. I figured it would clarify itself somehow the more I read.
The only sheep symbolism I am aware of (apart from the Zodiac) is from the bible. LOL! The Good Shepherd and all that? With the mention of God and Christians, it's possible, but at this point in time, I still have no clue.
With the Boss in a coma and soon to pass away, I wonder to whom his money shall go to?
3shewhowearsred
Maybe the main character, by some twist of fate, will turn out to be the Boss' long-lost heir or something. Ha, I don't know. What chapter are you on?
4ginger_dame
I haven't gotten to the 28th yet, but feel free to talk about it! I'll get to it soon. Besides, even if you made a comment about it, all I'd do is not reply until I have something to say about it. LOL!
Right now, I'm at the part wherein the main character (let's call him the "Guy") had decided to pursue the sheep in question that he telephoned the Boss' second-in-command to tell him so. I'll have to stop reading again though --- I'm off to watch a circus! Hehehe.
Right now, I'm at the part wherein the main character (let's call him the "Guy") had decided to pursue the sheep in question that he telephoned the Boss' second-in-command to tell him so. I'll have to stop reading again though --- I'm off to watch a circus! Hehehe.
