Dance Dance Dance

Good to read

“Wild Sheep Chase” must be read before starting this sequel, because Murakami does not give the new reader adequate background about the characters or plot of the previous novel. The story kicks off with the narrator forming a friendship with former classmate Gotunda, who is now a matinee idol. Gotunda has also slept with Kiki, the narrator’s one-time girlfriend, ear model and call girl, but she has vanished from both their lives. Hoping to find her, our narrator returns to the Dolphin Hotel, only to find that the old hotel has been replaced by a modern hotel high-rise. The new hotel is inhabited by the spirit of the old hotel, which occasionally reappears on different floors, somewhat like “Brigadoon” meets “The Shining.” He becomes enamored of the very proper desk clerk, Yumiyoshi, and it is she who brings sassy, clairvoyant, 13-year old Yuki into his life. From here the story a delightful human drama, with the two of them guiding and transforming each other’s lives. Murakami then engages us in a murder mystery, which involves Kiki and takes a rather bizarre turn. For those of us who did not want “Wild Sheep Chase” to end, Murakami has given us a satisfying and surreal second half. Though not as exciting as “Wild Sheep Chase,” it is filled with memorable characters. If you are new to Murakami, your might gauge your reading pleasure by how much you liked or disliked the tv classic “Twin Peaks.”

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.

"Dance Dance Dance", by Haruki Murakami. Four years after the conclusion of " A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel " our still un-named protagonist is still trying to move on with his life though he often dreams of the Dolphin Hotel. The dreams are vivid and in them he feels like he is part of an ongoing circumstance. He can hear crying in these dreams as well. He suspects it is the crying of his former girlfriend who accompanied him on a wild sheep chase only to vanish mysteriously before the chase was complete. It looks like another trip to the Dolphin Hotel may be in order for our protagonist as he seeks his missing girlfriend but a resolution may not be what he finds... "Dance Dance Dance" is one of my favorite Murakami books and ranks right up there with " Kafka on the Shore " in my opinion. A sequel or follow up doesn't usually equal its predecessor but in this case I would have to say it surpasses "A Wild Sheep Chase". The Good: Murakami's prose always sucks me in. His characters always feel very real and their internal musings add great depth to the characters themselves and to the story. There is great exotic flavor in all of Murakami's work as they all tend to take place for the most part in Japan and through his descriptions and his characters thoughts on their surroundings the Japanese landscape comes alive. The Bad: Nothing memorable. Overall: "Dance Dance Dance" is one of Murakami's best. If you are a fan of Murakami and have already finished "A Wild Sheep Chase" then this is a must read.

I continue to read Haruki Murakami with absolute delight. This is heralded as a sequel of his "Chasing wild sheep" It is helpful to read "Sheep", but it is not necessary as Murakami provides enough details to give you a solid background to read the story. I had finishing reading "Sheep" and was looking for another one of his stories (I have read six so far) to read. I researched some of the book reviews and "Dance, Dance, Dance" was recommended. One of the reason people were recommending the book is Murakami provides some biographically facts through his character and story. I thought "Sheep" was a good read. "Dance" was one of those books that not only do you relate to, but it become a friend and you are sad when it ends. The narrator is a lost soul at thirty four. By using character foils the narrator goes through a metamorphosis. The metaphysical world continues through the book with his lost girl "Kiki" leading the way. I also felt the author biographical part of the story, to the point I could relate to not only the narrator's metamorphous but some of the characters he meets. The only downside I found is you read a lot of Murakami, he seems to use stero type characters. To me it was a great book and one of the reasons I gave it five stars is there enough material in the philosophy and thought the major of the readers will enjoy it.

This rating isn't for the book itself, which is fine -- pretty standard Murakami. Having read all of his books except What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, I would say it's one of his better books, but I'm in the "disliked Norwegian Wood but liked Wind Up Bird/1Q84 camp" so depending on what you like you may think otherwise. The low rating is for the Amazon listing itself. Even though Amazon still shows the older John Gall book cover (with the girl's eyes and the building), the cover Amazon sends is the newer minimalist John Gall cover with the sheep on it. I even asked Amazon customer service which edition they were going to send and they incorrectly told me the product information was correct, so if you care about that sort of thing just know what you're getting.

A few short points 1. My paperback copy is not the one with the woman’s eyes looming over a building. This seems to matter to some reviewers 2. The Sheep man is not one of my favorite Murakami inventions. I became a fan of Haruki Murakami after reading IQ84. Since then I have been reading his books in order limited to what has been published in English. I am enjoying the process of the introduction of various signature Murakami constructs and conventions. Dance, Dance, Dance is not my favorite or closer to my favorite Murakami books. Of the things I like about it, is about the return of the Sheep Man, and more I cannot say at the risk of a spoiler. For me it is fun to note the advent of what will become staple characters and conventions. Otherwise I am not sure if this is a good starting point for someone with no previous experience of opinion about Murakami. Recommendation: a definite yes for Murakami fans and yes for newcomers but not an enthusiastic yes. Once again Murakami speaks to us via a nameless protagonist. He is pretty much the same character in his first three books and is not that different from the central male character we will find in some later books. He is slightly disaffected and alienated and speaks more for post Woodstock, Pre Yuppie generation. He is Japanese but as before heavily influenced by Western, especially American culture. He Drinks, constantly and is fairly ready to bed any woman who shares his interest in a one night stand. He is reflexively anti-establishment and takes unlikely to join a support the local police movement. This last part seems to be his only motivation for failing to cooperate with the police in a murder investigation. A failure that may seem heroic given how hard he works at it, but to me it seemed at best pointless and at worst a huge character flaw. This aspect of the novel seriously aggravated me. No doubt it might have read as a populist position at the time the book was published. Our un-named narrator for reason never clear is drawn to return to a sleazy, run down hotel as part of finding a previous girlfriend. He motives seems to be between a Spirit Walk and a rescue mission. It may be that the narrator is unsure which and not overly driven to completed either mission. Along the way he will reconnect with the Sheep man who will make his usual jumbled remarks. He will also interact in ways generally positive with several women; a teen ager, he mother and a Hotel employee and a fourth woman a skilled high price call girl. So yes there is some sex and I guess some violence but neither is graphic or involving many pages of exposition. The language is not likely to offend most readers, but if immorality, drinking, smoking, casual sex (discretely narrated) offend you Dance, Dance, Dance is not for you.

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.