This is my third Murakami and I am getting used to his style. There’s a lot of blunt descriptions of sex and sex organs (particularly breasts), talk about food, weird dreams, discussion of music and literature and of course the compulsory cats. As always there is no tying up of all the loose ends in the conclusions, this is left to you.

Like all Murakamis it is full of the practicalities of life. For example, there is a discussion of hiding out and the food you would need and how your personal taste and cooking ability would affect your food requirements. How would the food waste be disposed of? Etc. etc.

For me this book was an exploration of fiction and what would happen if a story you wrote became reality. Would you as author be moulding this new world or would the actions and decisions of your characters ultimately be the biggest effect on this new world?

It is also a story of lost love (romantic and family) and regret.

At over a thousand pages it’s a very long book and as it was on audio I “read” it over the course of six to seven weeks. It’s a great book for that as it repeats the action from another character’s perspective again and again. This repetitiveness is something you are going to love or hate. I found it fascinating. The story changes somewhat when someone else is narrating and I was quite happy to relive these characters stories again and again.

Recommended to anyone who already likes Murakami but at over a thousand pages maybe not suitable for a novice?