I have an INKling to reread HBW+EOW.

I think that's my favorite of his. It's got all the elements of a good Murakami story - all the usual human relations stuff in the main story and all the weird stuff in the "end of the world" part, and the constant feeling that there's lots more to understand. It's hard to put into words, but I'd say it's a much tighter story with the same effect as some of the ones that go on a lot longer.

i read kafka and 1q74, colourless tsukuru tazaki, and wind up bird chronicle but put hbw/eow down halfway thru and got too busy to finish it. maybe this is a sign to do so

Don't overlook the earlier books like Norwegian Wood, Wild Sheep Chase, and The Elephant Vanishes. Easier reading than the thick books and fun and beautiful.

A wild sheep chase is probably my second favorite after HBW+EOW.

I've not read Norwegian Wood but have watched the film adaptation of it, which I found a bit disappointing. I'm sure the read is much better.

Dance, Dance, Dance which is a “sequel” to Wild Sheep Chase is my favorite, followed by WUNC and then HBW/EOW.

Total aside but has anyone found good Murakami-esque movies or TV Shows? Parts of The Leftovers actually gave me the same feeling, especially “International Assassin” and the surrounding episodes but am happy to hear others.

There's quite a few directors who credit Murakami as an influence on their works.

Rian Johnson's film Looper was influenced by HBW+EOW.

Wong Kar-wai says he took inspiration from Murakami in Chunking Express.

David Mitchell is clearly influenced by his works (worth reading if you're a Murakami fan). His novel Cloud Atlas got a film adaptation with Tom Hanks and some other big names.

In anime, Satoshi Kon and Makoto Shinkai have said Murakami was a big influence on them. There's also Haibane Renmei which was influenced by HBW+EOW (IMO not worth watching). Probably plenty more anime with similar styles because it's a more suitable medium for the kind of surrealism in Murakami's novels. GITS, Serial Experiments Lain and .hack//Roots might be worth a watch (although the theme in latter has since been done 100x over).

A Wild Sheep Chase was the first present I bought my wife when we were dating. Great book.

A fun bit of trivia about Norwegian Wood: for some unfathomable reason, the French translator decided to translate it as "La Ballade de l'Impossible" (The Ballad of the Impossible). The one Murakami novel named after a universally famous song was translated to... That.

In Spain it became "Tokyo Blues". I think probably the reason was that Norwegian Wood was not a so so so popular song over here for the mainstream public (excluding Beatles fans). It was not "Yellow Submarine" or "Hey Jude" level. I am pretty sure if the song from the novel was "Hey Jude" or even "Eleanor Rigby" they would have kept it.

Sure, it's not their biggest song. But from what I've seen, most of his novels have been translated with a relatively faithful title (say, "Kafka sur le rivage" for Kafka on the shore). It's only this one which gets a completely new title.

And I don't think it's even some bizarre copyright issue, as it could easily be translated in Spanish as "Bosque noruego", while the original song title, if translated, would be closer to "Madera de Noruga". It's not like he titled directly after the song in Japanese either...

May Kasahara was entertaining but that Manchukuo story is absolutely something else. Probably one of the most striking stories I ever read in the world literature. "Wind Up Bird Chronicles" is such an excellent book.

If I ever read the book again I’m skipping that part entirely. Far too vivid and horrific for me.

I recently saw "Woman in the Dunes" ("Suna no Onna", 1964) and it felt like a close cousin of "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle". Weird movie.

You can find the whole thing on YouTube (U.S. region anyway).

Trailer: https://youtu.be/7kX4h_sEBiI