Op shop gold

You know it has been a good day when you hit the op shop and see exactly what you have been looking for right in front of you.  Even better when it is only $3.00 for a newish copy.

Haruki Murakami is my find of the year after I was given "A Wild Sheep Chase" for my birthday.  What would you think if you knew that the book you were going to read included a girl with whom sex was am amazing when she uncovered her ears and a man who lived in a sheep costume?  If anyone else other than R & R had given me this book, I don't think I'd have bothered with it.  It took me two attempts to read but once I got going, I couldn't put it down.  My next Murakami, "Kafka on the Shore", was even better.  The strange thing about these books is that the weird stuff that happens during the course of the story seems completely normal.  I'm not even sure how to describe it - "magical realism" a la Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabelle Allende initally springs to mind, Murakami is in another category again. 

For the princely sum of $3.00, I'm really looking forward to my next trip into Murakami's strange and compelling world.