Murakami still surprises me regardless of how many of his novels I read. Sure there are elements of his work that are trademark Murakami, but the format and composition of this one had me so puzzled at the beginning - I had no idea how the two stories tied together. Two thirds of the way through it all made sense - typically weird, but it tied together and was understandable.

I didn't love the ending - it wasn't how I wanted it to finish, but I still highly enjoyed it. At the beginning I actually had no clue what on earth it was I was reading, but true to form Murakami somehow makes you keep reading however weird or bizarre the world he is slowly depicting.