Dance Dance Dance

by Haruki Murakami, Rupert Degas (Narrator)

book data

5,801 ratings, 3.97 average rating, 415 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		29%
4		42%
3		22%
2		4%
1		0%

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published

November 1st 2007 by Naxos Audiobooks (first published 1988)

details

Audio CD, 11 pages

setting

Japan

isbn

9626344350 (isbn13: 9789626344354)

description

In this sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, Murakami displays his talent to brilliant effect. The unnamed narrator, a muddled freelance writer, is 34 and no…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 7,889)

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Oct 29, 2007

Ben rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in May, 2007

This book is a beautifully written social commentary, mystery novel, and of course fantasy. Set in Japan in the 1980s, at the height of the country's economic rise, it tells of a solitary magazine writer who suddenly has a strong urge to search for his old girlfriend. The only lead he has is a hotel he stayed in with her once, the Dolphin Hotel. As he tracks her down, he first finds that the hotel has changed from a tiny dump into a luxury high-rise, and yet there is a mystery within it. He ...more

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1 comment

Mar 15, 2008

Keith rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

I can't really justify my love of Murakami. As far as I'm concerned, he writes novels specifically for me to read them. It would probably save us both a lot of time and trouble if he'd skip the publishing process and just slip his finished manuscripts under my door. So I'm biased, you could say.

In short: this is early (ish) Murakami. If you dig it you'll dig it, if not you won't. I dig it.

Just make sure you've read his "Trilogy of the Rat" before reading th...more

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Jan 26, 2010

Marie sweeney rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in February, 2010

I have now read a grand total of three Murakami novels (After Dark: loved it, Norwegian Wood: did NOT love it and this) and the thing is mostly I just can't figure him out. My instinct is to not like his writing and yet the book that I liked the most, After Dark, is the most unlike genre's I usually enjoy.
Dance, Dance, Dance is sprinkled with the fantastical(?)that at first really irritated me but eventually....didn't exactly "win me over" but didn't have me rolling my eyes in ex...more

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Mar 11, 2010

Teresa rated it:

(review of isbn 0679753796)

Read in March, 2010

3 and 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this, but like its 'prequel' "A Wild Sheep Chase" (though I found it unlike its prequel in style and tone) I think it's not as accomplished as his later works. With its elements of an unaffected (though likable) unnamed narrator and a missing woman, this is a good intro to Murakami. The only 'standard' Murakami element that seems to be missing is the theme of the effects of war on individuals. But there is plenty on other kinds of personal politics, esp o...more

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2 comments

Oct 26, 2007

Rick rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: haruki lovers

in the world war of short fiction writers, he is Hiroshima

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

Feb 01, 2009

Gertrude & Victoria rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

bookshelves: japanese-library

I think that if I was lost in the never-ending sea of the Gobi desert, somewhere between Mongolia and China, had fallen into a deep narrow hole, and was unable to get out, so resigned to the darkness that surrounded me, with only a fleeting moment of sunlight and warmth each day, but armed with a flashlight and a box of batteries, a blanket and pillow, and a flask of rootbeer, and was given the choice of one book to read, while waiting for the search-and-rescue teams of the Japanese Imperial Arm...more I think that if I was lost in the never-ending sea of the Gobi desert, somewhere between Mongolia and China, had fallen into a deep narrow hole, and was unable to get out, so resigned to the darkness that surrounded me, with only a fleeting moment of sunlight and warmth each day, but armed with a flashlight and a box of batteries, a blanket and pillow, and a flask of rootbeer, and was given the choice of one book to read, while waiting for the search-and-rescue teams of the Japanese Imperial Army to locate and extract me from the bowels of this forgotten land and my hellish predicament, as my hopes were evaporating as quickly as the sweat on my brows, that book would be Dance, Dance, Dance.

It is Murakami's most entertaining and accessible novel. He brings together every ingredient from the kitchen fridge, tosses it all into one large steaming pot, stirs it up real nice, and serves it hot in the finest tupperware you can get your hands on from the best swap meets in Orange County, California.

Setting aside any pretense of seriousness by not getting into this story's deeper meaning(s), whether they be sociological or philosophical, or by trying to analyze its literary merits, and just forgetting - for one moment - ourselves and the world around us, taking this story as a work of sheer imagination, and experiencing it as it is, this book is an incredibly imaginative exploration of the not-quite-yet-grown up-child in all of us that engages the human spirit and is a pure joy to read. Murakami so deftly blends and mixes the familiar with the fantasic and the fiendish, the erotic with the exotic and the esoteric, the curious with the comical and the corrupt, all cleverly told to the exhilaration and amazement of his readers.

Like many of his novels, the protagonist is just an ordinary guy trying to make ends meets while doing his best to understand the world around him. His hero is always on a search, a search that never really ends, even by the last turn of the page. The best aspect of this story is the odd group of characters assembled for the biggest drunken orgy of the mind, which include a mysterious person or thing known only as the 'Sheepman,' a young girl with psychic powers, a fabulously rich but disillusioned movie star, a woman with the most exquisite ears around, an one-armed American seaman (who strangely reminds me of Jonas Grumby, the 'Skipper' from Gilligan's Island), and of course our seemingly disinterested middle-aged protagonist, freelance writer and shoveler of cultural snow, interminable feet-shuffler, and metaphysical hunter-and-gatherer.

Read it if you want to go on the wildest adventure of your life without leaving the safe surroundings of your living room sofa - but do not forget to take off those pretentious reading glasses. One caveat though: you may never want to leave that lonely godforsaken pit in the Gobi desert once you are in, much like Niki Jumpei who no longer felt any desire to abandon his seaside dune, in Abe Kobo's Woman in the Dunes.(less)

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May 30, 2008

Kim rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

bookshelves: contemporary

Read in June, 2008

This is my first foray (redundant much? please forgive)into Murakami. I hate to say that I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed it so much. I don't know, maybe I just assumed that since I'm not really into Asian Culture that I would write it off and just know that at least I'd given it a try.

The first person narrative approach usually doesn't work for me. I have a hard time escaping into the story, knowing that the character is just relaying it to me. But, here, the protaganist ...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

6 comments

May 27, 2008

Sally rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in May, 2008

So far, 1/8 of the way in I am mesmerized. I'm still waiting for the plot to begin, but I don't care. I feel like I've become an extension of the character's psyche.

1/2 way through. I can't stop reading. Does everyone have a Sheep Man of their own? Mine is an older lady who watches out for me and whispers in my ear if malevolent beings are in the area. There is no way that I'm reading the next book on my "to -read" list before another Murakami novel. This is to...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

5 comments

May 07, 2008

Daniel rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in June, 2008

I've read a lot of comparisons between Murakami and PKD and while I think that the two are comparable (Murakami even acknowledges this in the book), saying so is like calling them both economists. Phillip K. Dick is the macro-economist of transcendental human experience describing the sweeping changes of a landscape encompassing all technology and spirituality, while Murakami is the micro-economist looking at the subtle influences and almost non noteworty supernatural forces in our modern societ...more

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Jul 01, 2007

LordBeardsley Beardsley rated it:

(review of isbn 0679753796)

bookshelves: read2007

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: people who have already read the wind-up bird chronicle and who are somewhat forgiving

Murakami reached his top form with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and followed it with the (not as good, but still fantastic) Kafka On The Shore. That being said, this novel was written in 1988 when Murakami still had a ways to go.

The same elements of his style are all here: the main character who is somewhat a loafer and who takes pleasure in simplistic daily routines, the precocious young female character who he sort of falls in love with but is more just friends with, the elements of...more

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May 09, 2007

Kelly Franklin Robinson rated it:

(review of isbn 0679753796)

bookshelves: japanese, surrealism-and-magical-realism

Read in November, 2006

I absolutely adore Murakami's way of creating bizarre incidents that aren't necessarily explained or tied together nicely like a typical mystery novel. Mind and reality clash in his works, and Dance, Dance, Dance is one of his most fascinating journeys of this clash.

The story centers around a place: a hotel that was once charmingly seedy but has undergone a complete transformation. When the protagonist tries to figure out what happened to the hotel's former existence, people get nerv...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

Jan 30, 2008

Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

bookshelves: annoying-don-t-bother, asia

I just could not relate with the main character who was kind of a loser who becomes obsessed with finding out about an ex-girlfriend who never really liked him. His "whatever happened to her" thoughts take over his mind and he decides to live in a hotel where they once stayed in order to track her down. So if they weren't that great together, why does he change his whole life in order to find her? I don't get it.

The hotel is very surreal. It's as if he's living in a dream t...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

Mar 18, 2008

Karen rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in April, 2008

We shall see if the hype is warranted ...
It wasn't, actually. I can see why people might be fans of Murakami -- he does have gems of ideas and concepts that grab you, for example, in Dance, Dance, Dance the notion that everything that exists is somehow connected, if only we could find the connections, and that a character (the Sheep Man -- real, imaginary, past, present, future, who knows, because the lines are blurred anyway) functions as a "switchboard", making the connections....more

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Oct 26, 2007

Nathan rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in February, 2005

The mediocre sequel to A Wild Sheep chase. Our nameless protagonist once again goes off searching, this time for his perfect-eared girlfriend, Kiko, who disappeared at the end of the previous book. I think the hero hangs out with this precocious teenage girl named Yuki, goes to Hawaii, sleeps with some random women, etc. Pretty boring, actually. Who cares about Kiko? I guess she has perfect ears, but the search for her isn't nearly as interesting as the search for the sheep. This book is ok, but...more

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Jan 23, 2010

Josh rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in December, 2009

Murukami usually arouses contradictory feelings in me. I love his writing style, but I hate stories where impossible events happen. I have no problem with unlikely or improbable plot twists, (indeed many of my favourite authors depend on them) or sci-fi/fantasy books that from the start posit a different reality. But I dislike following a realistic narrative only for something extraordinary to be mixed in. And Murakami likes to do that, a great deal.

But although such elements are pre...more

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Aug 20, 2009

Juliet Wilson rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Read in August, 2009

This is a novel set in 1980s Tokyo, full of the music and rampant consumerism of the era. The narrator is obsessed with the old Dolphin Hotel and returns to the site, now a shiny new hotel L'Hotel Dauphin. His odd, surreal adventures lead him to meet various bizarre characters, who may or may not be connected to each other. His old school chum who has become a famous actor now is desperate to both rekindle their old friendship and to try to move into more interesting roles. A thirteen year old g...more

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Nov 15, 2009

Adam rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

bookshelves: reviewed

Read in November, 2009

Haruki Murakami is known for his fusion of the magical with that of everyday life. In many ways, the weirder a Murakami novel is, the better. That said, Dance Dance Dance is decidedly one of the most normal Murakami books I've read. The ending doesn't leave the reader with a feeling of "what just happened?" yet the overall message doesn't appear to be lost. One one level, Dance Dance Dance is Murakami's greatest work: it consists of his typical thought provoking prose yet doesn't f...more

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Jun 26, 2009

sahiga rated it:

(review of isbn 4770016832)

Read in June, 2009

Intense yet gentle. This is apparently a standalone sequel (do those even exist?) to the third book in a trilogy that I haven't read yet, but there are many similarities between this and Murakami's so-called magnum opus The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. That is, this book features all of the great elements in Wind-Up: mysterious hotels, not-so-coincidental encounters, and a mystery of human souls. Wind-Up is way more complex, but ultimately Dance Dance Dance is more satisfying. The nameless protagonis...more Intense yet gentle. This is apparently a standalone sequel (do those even exist?) to the third book in a trilogy that I haven't read yet, but there are many similarities between this and Murakami's so-called magnum opus The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. That is, this book features all of the great elements in Wind-Up: mysterious hotels, not-so-coincidental encounters, and a mystery of human souls. Wind-Up is way more complex, but ultimately Dance Dance Dance is more satisfying. The nameless protagonist is typical Murakami, a passive, sensitive-but-cold thirty-something bachelor/sexplorer who becomes wrapped up in a series of bizarre otherworldly events. His decisions are often arbitrary and based on some kind of weird intuition that just threw me after a while. I wanted to hit him over the head many times. The supporting characters, while well-drawn, are equally frustrating and at times very annoying. Sometimes I suspect his protagonists actually go insane from being so deadbeat that they begin to create people and interactions and connections that don't exist (oh, and it was rather redundant to be told that things were connected when they clearly, clearly were). The plot was rather thin. I wanted more introspection, analysis, and history from the unnamed narrator. That's one area in which Wind-Up bests this book. Murakami has a gift for many things, not least of which is instilling horror in the reader (or maybe just me) at the prospect of becoming like his protagonists.

Despite my qualms, I really enjoyed this book, particularly the ending. It wasn't the Wind-Up cop-out I was expecting. As in his other books, the details are abundant, humdrum but very interesting, and the dialogue isn't speech I would ever expect to hear anywhere, but somehow it sounds believable in the context.

I haven't read a really amazing book by this man yet, but I'm positive he has the talent and imagination to turn out something groundbreaking someday. Perhaps he already has. I'm already itching to read more Murakami, so I suppose I'll find out soon.(less)

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Oct 19, 2009

Shahina rated it:

(review of isbn 0099448769)

Beautiful. Can't stop admiring this remarkable author....his prose transfers you into the surreal; a fantastic world of imagination. It seems to take you into new realms of consciousness and you don't blink an eyelid or say 'uh?' it all is perfectly natural...what other world are you holding on to??
This story is about a journalist who decides he needs a break from 'shovelling snow' (his jounalism work!- somebody has to write reviews!). He follows his intution and responds to a call for he...more

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Oct 31, 2009

John rated it:

bookshelves: audiobook, library_books

Read in November, 2009

Overall, I liked it, and I'd be willing to tackle another Murakami book, though not soon.

It struck me as a hybrid of "crime noir" and "surrealism", requiring a fair amount of suspension-of-belief: what parents let their 13 year old daughter pal around with a 34 y/o guy they barely know? Here they're delighted with the idea (granted those two are dysfunctional). The narrator and his friend Gotanda are about the most sensitive new age heterosexual guys I've run acr...more