Book Notes, Summary and Review: A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Upon a cursory examination, Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase appears like an archetypal detective novel. A run-of-the-mill story where the unnamed protagonist goes on an adventure, in an attempt to locate a mysterious and peculiar-looking sheep.

But as you continue to read the book, you begin to contemplate on philosophical issues present in the book, like free-will and justice.

In particular, I was drawn to the mysterious sheep, and what it represents on a symbolic and thematic level. A character analysis of the mysterious sheep will thus form the core of this book review.

Meaning of life

An interesting interpretation of the mysterious sheep is that it represents purpose. Purpose in the life of whoever's mind it's inhabiting.

Take, for instance, The Boss. After the mysterious sheep occupied his body, he emerged as a new man. He became driven, charismatic and unstoppable. Similarly, when the sheep entered the Sheep Professor, he maintained his unusual passion for agricultural administration.

But once the mysterious sheep left their bodies, they were left worse off, both suffering either a physical or mental decline. The Boss became ill and was teetering on the brink of death; the Sheep Professor became an old, embittered shut-in who was madly obsessed with the mysterious sheep.

The Boss and the Sheep Professor weren't the only ones affected by the departure of the mysterious sheep. Even the unnamed protagonist was affected, although the sheep didn't enter his body.

Think about it: before the wild sheep chase, the protagonist had no real anchors in his life – his wife divorced him, his best friend The Rat left him, his time at work was dreary. Now after the sheep entered his life, he gained a renewed sense of purpose in life. But of course, once the mysterious sheep was found and exited his life, he lost his purpose in life again, and needed to find a new one.

A final point, that we can draw from the symbolism of the mysterious sheep too, is that even if you've all the wealth and influence in the world, you may still not find your purpose in life by yourself. As evident in how The Boss' secretary had to use the protagonist to lure out the mysterious sheep. He could not accomplish this feat by himself, even with all the material advantages that he had.

Concluding message

How I came across A Wild Sheep Chase was bizarre.

I was roaming around Singapore, in search of "Little Libraries" where you can exchange your own books with someone else's books.

It was around evening when I arrived at my final destination, under a secluded housing estate. Shelves and boxes of old books occupied an entire wall section of this unfrequented void deck.

I was keen to exchange my two remaining books for non-fiction books, if possible books either on philosophy or on writing. But as you've guessed, there wasn't any. Hence, I just exchanged my leftover books with Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase and his Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki.

Looking back now, doesn't this experience remind you of what Murakami tries to tell us in this novel — that our life is very much like a wild goose chase, or "a wild sheep chase" if you may?

We may have goals that we aspire towards. But sometimes life gets in the way, and these goals become unattainable. Instead we're brought along on an unanticipated journey, heading elsewhere instead. We're, as Murakami describes, a rootless winged seed blown about on a serendipitous spring breeze.

Yet isn't this exactly what life is like? An unexpected yet eventful adventure.