The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami (2005)

During a visit to the library, a boy is imprisoned in a labyrinth beneath the building.

This was very much a "what the heck?" moment for me. The Strange Library is a short story (can be read at a sitting) dressed up in a fancy package with odd flaps, interesting pictures, and creative art. A scary book (brains may be eaten), which I assume was written for kids. But if I was a kid reading this, I'd never go to another library. It's still Murakami: a frightening old man (ageism rears its ugly head), a beautiful mute girl, bizarre events, a maze, alternate dimensions, and the Sheep Man from A Wild Sheep Chase even makes an appearance (tho his speech pattern has changed since that book -- why?). I can forgive Haruki Murakami anything, and perhaps kids will understand The Strange Library better than I did. I kept waiting for the more, that never arrived. The ending was quick and easy (deus ex machina), but with unexplained elements, and a quite sad epilogue, in smaller print, that readers might easily miss. It's all straight forward and linear, but it seems I missed something that Murakami was trying to tell. The translation by Ted Goossen was adequate, but there were still a couple "is that the right word?" moments. In the end, The Strange Library, (his 14th novel) is a simple, abbreviated adventure story, that won't take up too much of your time, and you'll get a wee taste of Haruki Murakami at the same time. [2.5 Stars]