I'm no literary scholar, so this review does not contain any illuminating insight on the deep, profound meaning of these short stories by Murakami, should any exist. All I can say is that each story effected me intensely, so much that I had to stop and digest each one individually, letting each story's impact slowly sink in. The oddness of these stories is that that are so ordinary. It is almost as if Murakami reached inside your brain and wrote down those random, weird thoughts that cross your mind ocassionally. The kind of thoughts that you think are interesting for about 5 minutes until you realize how uninteresting they really are. And yet, by the end of each story, you're not where you expected to be. He either leaves you gasping for breath or dangling out a window, wondering if he's going to come back and get you.

Part daydream (or nightmare as the story may be), part fairytale, each story encompasses the realness of being human. The person (whom I can't remember his name) who recommended this book said it was a good one to start with if you were new to Murakami. And I would have to agree. I'm not sure if diving straight into [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166468418s/11275.jpg|2531376] without proper guidance I'd have been able to get all that he puts into his stories without knowing his writing style.

"The Silence" is probably my favorite of the stories. It's the most "realistic" and the issues he raises are interesting to think about. "The Second Bakery Attack" was quite humorous. "Sleep," "The Little Green Monster," and "The Dancing Dwarf" I found to be disturbing in that he strips bare the cruelty of man, yet cushions you by placing them in these fantastic settings. The latter two have an almost Brothers Grimm/Aesop Fables feel to them.

I recommend this to most readers. I definitely count myself as a fan of Murakami and look forward to reading more of his works.