This is his only good one. Don't read any others. Savor this OP.

I'm a big fan of Murakami. I read Hard-Boiled Wonderland but I didn't enjoy it as much.
If you want something surreal and thought provoking then read either the Wind Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore, if you want something realistic and emotinal then read Norwegian Wood

>>7375595
It probably says a lot about me, but I thought it was the other way around. I liked the cyberpunk part and found it hard to stay focused on the dream-like EOTW.

>tfw pleb who doesn't read enough

>HBW
>EOTW
can you not fucking write

>>7375654

It really didn't come across as cyberpunk to me. The idea of a calcutec is, yeah, but the setting just seemed like modern day (at the time) tokyo. I don't remember any other future tech discussed (appliances, games, transportation).

>>7375660

can you not fucking nitpick

>>7375595
if you want more surreal try kafka on the shore or wind up bird...

less surreal try Norwegian wood

I've read his short story collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, and Norwegian Wood and was going to read one more book by him. If I didn't like it - I wasn't very fond of either of the two I have read - I was going to stop with Murakami. I wanted to try one of his weirder stories just so I have a reasonable range from him. Is this book the best one to choose?

READ A WILD SHEEP CHASE

DON'T LISTEN TO FAGGOTS THAT RECCOMEND NORWEGIAN WOOD

>>7375595
What is this book about exactly? Wikipedia's description doesn't say much and I want to know because I've seen it referenced as inspiration for some chinese cartoons.

>>7376299
OH SHIT I'M TYPING IN CAPS SO SERIOUS AND LOUD

dumb faggot.

>>7376280
I'd recommend Dance Dance Dance, it's somewhat weird but probably not his weirdest creation (haven't read more than 5 books from him). Solid story though

>>7376568
Wiki says that the novel is a sequel. So it's the sort of sequel that doesn't matter if I read the first one?

>>7377627
Dance dance dance is the book murakami enjoyed most writting. It doesn't matter in what order you read the rat trilogy but you should read at least a wild sheep chase before

>>7376414
It's two non-related stories of which the relation is revealed at the end -

one is a cyberpunk-noir-ish story, the other is more of a fantasy story

>>7375595
I just read adventure with a sheep. Do I have to wait so long for the surreal stuff in all of his books? It was practically just in the last 50 oe so pages, besides maybe the ear lady.

>>7375595
Wind up bird and anything written after it are terrible. Anything written before that is worth reading. I forget when norwegian wood came out but if you are under the age of 24 you will enjoy it, otherwise dont bother.

Hardboiled Wonderland was my first as well OP.
I, like you, enjoyed it a lot.
I ream Norwegian Wood next, and enjoyed that probably a bit more so than HW, if only because it felt more together. But the thing is once you begin to read more than 1 Murakami book, you realize he sort of just writes the same shit in different settings and scenarios. Even in those two books, I began to notice similarities.
I read Wind Up Bird next and thats when I realized he was a fucking hack writer with 1 trick. I read Kafka on the Shore just out of curiosity and honestly it was one of the worst books I ever read. I should have stopped at Norwegian Wood.

>>7377627
Dance Dance Dance was the first Murakami book I ever read. It is a sequel but there's nothing that gets lost.