Second-hand book, *A Wild Sheep Chase* [80% new]

"I love my weakness. I also love pain and sadness. I love the summer light, the scent of the wind, and the sound of cicadas. I love these things. I can't help but love them. Like the beer we drank together..."
♦ To escape a failed life, one must find the sheep with a star-shaped pattern on its back.
♦ Winner of Japan's 4th "Noma Literary Prize"
♦ Translated by the renowned Taiwanese translator Lai Ming-chu 🔑 Another key to unlocking Haruki Murakami's literary world
My wife's sudden demand for a divorce shattered my previously peaceful life. Then, a mysterious man in black appeared, pushing events in an even stranger direction. The man in black was the secretary of a well-known right-wing leader, and he demanded that I immediately travel to Hokkaido to find a sheep with a star-shaped pattern on its back. Under his coercion, I embarked on a convoluted adventure to find the sheep, taking with me my girlfriend—a woman whose ears were so perfectly shaped they were almost magical. From the dilapidated Dolphin Hotel, we journeyed north to Junitaki Town, where, in a cold mountain villa, I met a long-missed friend who revealed a shocking conspiracy about the "sheep" to me...
【Editor's Recommendation】
A Wild Sheep Chase is Haruki Murakami's third novel and the concluding part of the "Trilogy of the Rat," written in 1980. Unlike the previous two novellas, this work expanded to 150,000 words, significantly increasing the narrative scope. Compared to the previous short and quick writing style, the sentence length also increased. Although the content ventured further into the realm of fantasy literature, the "sheep with a star-shaped pattern on its back" is clearly an allegory for "evil," ensuring that the work retained the realistic value of a serious subject. This novel marked a new beginning, with the themes and motifs being repeatedly explored and developed in different forms throughout the author's subsequent career.

Author Biography
Haruki Murakami
Renowned Japanese writer and translator.
Born in Kyoto in 1949. Graduated from Waseda University, Faculty of Letters. In 1979, he won the Gunzo New Writers' Award for his debut novel, Hear the Wind Sing. His major novels include A Wild Sheep Chase (Noma Literary New Face Award), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Tanizaki Junichiro Prize), Norwegian Wood, South of the Border, West of the Sun, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Yomiuri Literary Prize), Kafka on the Shore (World Fantasy Award, The New York Times Top 10 Best Books of 2005), 1Q84 (Mainichi Art Award), and Killing Commendatore. His short story collections include Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, After the Quake, Tokyo Stories, and Men Without Women. His essay collections include Murakami Radio, the "Murakami Asahi-do" series, and Portrait in Jazz. His travelogues include The Scorpio Races, Rainy Days, Sunny Days, and Border, Near Border. He has translated works by many prominent American and British literary writers, including Carver, Salinger, Capote, Fitzgerald, and McCullers. He has received numerous international literary awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in 2006, the Jerusalem Prize and the Order of Arts and Letters (Spain) in 2009, the International Catalonia Prize in 2011, the World Literary Award in 2014, the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in 2016, and the Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca in 2022.

Translator Biography
Lai Ming-chu
Born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1947. Graduated from National Chung Hsing University with a degree in Agricultural Economics, and pursued further studies at Chiba University in Japan. Upon returning to Taiwan, she worked in advertising planning and copywriting. She enjoys literature, art, film appreciation, and travel, and selectively translates Japanese works, including many by Haruki Murakami.