»Dance Dance Dance

Billed as the sequel to Murakami's "A Wild Sheep Chase", "Dance Dance Dance" follows the same, nameless, virtuous character through an exploration of mortality, individual responsibility, and contemporary Japan. As new buildings replace old overnight, and money buys almost anything, the protagonist meets character after character who have almost oracular presence in his life. He needs to interpret their messages and fit each into his life, while avoiding the supernatural world he discovered towards the end of A Wild Sheep Chase.
The actors and their conversations are pensive, yet not plodding; the narrative is plot-, rather than character-driven. Murakami strikes an amazing balance between the eccentric characters and the haunting images that accomany their quotidian activities. I found that the conclusion arrived unexpectedly, and I needed to trace back to falling action, which was itself fraught with anxiety and the promise of more convolutions in the story.
Dance Dance Dance is more frenetic than its predecessor, and also less beautiful; the plot is joyful and captivating, and makes the book a pleasure to read. It is a very different pleasure from A Wild Sheep Chase, however.