Haruki Murakami's new novel goes on sale in U.S.

Murakami's way of narration is very Japanese, to those infamiliar with japanese language it sounds very peculiar and interedting, while in hapanese it's super normal. I think that's partially why he's so popular

I sometimes wonder if the reason why Murakami is considered such a "great Japanese author" by lots of people in the English-speaking world is because he arranges translations of his books to be released in English more than other Japanese authors do. In other words, perhaps he is referenced because he's one of the very few Japanese authors that the West knows. There are plenty of great authors here in Japan, but until they're translated, the world would never know it. Some of Murakami's novels are pretty interesting. But some are certainly not.