If appreciating Murakami's books is an acquired taste, something you develop by exploring his work book by book rather than something that can happen with any of his books, then it was a mistake for me to request this. I was interested in the premise and I've never read a book by the author, so it seemed like the perfect way to start, but maybe I was wrong. 

I like magical realism and absurdity, I do, but not when it's meandering and doesn't seem to have a point. And if I have to drag myself through the rest of this book to understand the point of all this nonsense, like it's a chore, then I'm not interested. There are many things in life that I do simply because I have to, even if they're unpleasant, but I refuse to let reading become one of those things. That's why I DNF as soon as thinking about reading a book makes my eyes roll, and that's what happened with this one. Maybe I'll give any other of his books a try at some other point in life, but this was not it for me.