I’ve read all of Murakami’s novels, and while I definitely agree with the Kerouac comparison, I think he most reminds me of Nabokov for the enjoyment they both seem have for writing and for wordplay. Which novel is your favourite so far? I’m fascinated by The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, of course (I wrote a college admissions essay analyzing the character May Kasahara), but I also love Norwegian Wood. I’ve been on a Flannery O’Connor kick lately, and I think she’s one of the few writers, other than Murakami, who writes these incredibly subtle scenes that are imbued with so much meaning.

I remember in high school that after I lent The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to a friend, she returned it with one question: “Why does he have to describe every meal that that guy eats??”