Week 1: Character

The main character of this book is very different from any character I have read about before. This character seems to have no purpose and doesn’t care about anything. The only thing I have seen him care about so far is girls. The only time I have seen him show effort in any task is when he finds the funeral of “the girl who’d sleep with anyone” and to find “the ear girl” again, and although he doesn’t seem concerned when his ex-wife is at his house, he later obsesses about finding a slip of hers. I also think that the author’s use of “the girl who’d sleep with anyone” and “the ear girl” as prophets is intriguing. Surprisingly, I find this character very relatable. I think that the author might be trying to make a point about how people are becoming increasingly apathetic and instead of doing “work we believed in”. He never mentions anything of family, besides his ex-wife, and he is now distant from his business partner, which leads me to believe that they do not influence him. I think the sheep chase will be the turning point for this character where he will find a form of purpose. This book has captured my attention and I can’t wait to read more.

Week 1: Character

The main character in this book reminds me of a stereotypical young man, who just isn't sure what he wants to do or where he is going in life. To reference "Avenue Q", he reminds of the song 'Purpose'. He has a job, but nothing in his life seems to fulfill him. He just continues on in his monotonous life. He also seems to be introverted, and frankly just bored. With his job, his life, everything. This is especially true up until the appearance of his girlfriend (the girl with the nice ears). She seems to be the only source of excitement in his life. Even that doesn't make him that excited, although that could just be because of his introverted personality. He is also very calm, even when dealing with difficult times such as his divorce. I'm guessing that his 'Wild Sheep Chase' that is coming will bring out more of his personality, but as of now he seems quiet, calm, and bored. That said, I'm really enjoying this book.

week 1: character

In short, the main character in this novel reminds me of a young college kid who has no idea where they’re going in life. He’s the kind of person who stays out until 3am only to find out they have to go to a dead-end job (a pointless thing created by man to pass time) at 8 am on a Saturday. The way he doesn’t tell the reader his name during his narrating of the story does imply he is possibly either too apathetic to bother with important details—or maybe names aren’t important. However, he does seem as though he has plenty relationship stories to tell. Through the divorce and now his ‘ear girl’, women have an effect on him, so much so that he talks about them for the first part of the book. Who knows. Either it’s all that’s going on in his life or that’s all he cares enough about to explain to people. The fact of the matter is if he is only focusing on love, it just reinforces his nonchalant ways of coasting through life in his un-planned state.
Then again maybe he is not just a waste of effort. Firstly, he did go to college, right? Yes, a lot of lazy people go to college too, but some of his rants do come out to be fairly philosophical. Secondly, why would a book be written about some guy with a crummy job who has a girlfriend with interesting ears? Maybe this whole sheep mystery will reveal his true meaning of life.

week 1: character

The main character in this book is very interesting. He describes himself as a very boring person, but it seems to me that he is just using that as an excuse to be depressed and lazy. He acts as though his body is on earth, but his mind is continually wandering off to other places. He seems very mentally caught up in his past relationship and he is having trouble moving on. Though he may initially come off as mundane, there is a glimmer of creativity in him that keeps his character very intriguing and I think that once he can move on with his life he will finally be able to harness his talents and live life to its fullest. Just the fact that he has a head-over-heels obsession with a woman’s ears shows that he has a very unique mind and a thriving passion for certain things in life. I hope that he will eventually figure out what he truly loves (other than women) and become successful because he has the potential, just not the drive. Now that “the wild sheep chase” is finally beginning, the plot could take us down some interesting paths of character development. I find it funny that even though the main character is so “boring”, his life story is so intriguing. This man has potential…I just hope it will be unleashed.

Character. Week 1.

The main character of this book is almost a blur to me. He seems like he lacks passion for life. His job is a bore, and he has no motivation whatsoever. I feel bad for him in a sense… his wife just left him- probably for his newly taken boring lifestyle- and she left nothing behind for him. (No, not even a slip.) Not to mention the part of his personality where he takes an obsession with an average girl's "holy" ears. I really want to be creeped out by his obsession, but I also find it mildly sweet.
This nameless man is taken aback that this girl he’s taken out to dinner is actually interested in his life. I think that something told him for so long he wasn’t going to do anything in his lifetime, and that nothing was going to change. Because of this, he can’t help but have that drilled into his mind. Poor guy.

I have the feeling that this sheep chase, known to him seconds before thanks to his girlfriend, is going to really change how he sees life and himself. He's going to see that he really isn't a boring guy, and his uniqueness will define him all the more.

Week 1-Character

The main character of A Wild Sheep Chase has no name and credits himself with being "utterly ordinary". It seems obvious that throughout this story he will discover what it is about himself that makes him strong and unique, which may seem corny for a moment, but somehow in this book, it works for me. Already there are certain things about him which make him special. One is that he is a copywriter, which means he must have some small amounts of creativity. Another is that he becomes totally enamored of the "ear girl" because of the perfect beauty of those protruding structures of cartilage. I think that his ability to recognize and embrace beauty is a great step towards becoming a fully-living human being. And finally and most importantly, he recognizes his own boringness. He realizes with a melancholy hopelessness that it was perhaps his utterly ordinary life that drove his wife away. His mentions of drinking heavily, his familiarity with whisky point towards a dissatisfaction in his life, and if this book makes any progress at all, hopefully he will take steps towards living the kind of life that he can be proud of. A bit later in the book, someone describes him as a "mediocre dreamer" which does sum him up quite perfectly. (Darn it, I wish I had Murakami's eloquence with words, and don't get me started on those similes. They're pretty hilarious and quite creative.) Our protagonist has interesting thoughts that are shared with us through this first-person narrative, but he does not break any especially revolutionary ground with them. They are quirky and amusing and that is all.

He is incredibly relatable because he basically sums up the modern man/woman. We are over-informed, we are smart, we think interesting things, but somehow we can't make our lives anything other than mundane.

I don't know what exactly he's supposed to learn. If I knew the secret to realizing the true importance in every seemingly-insignificant little life, I'd not need to keep a diary.

He's not influenced very much by family a friends. They're too ordinary to have much of an effect on him.

Very enjoyable book, though. I look forward to discussing it with all of you.

Week One!

Welcome to Week 1 of our Discussion. This discussion will last from Monday, February 23rd to Sunday, March 1.

This week's discussion is on Character. Please POST a 10 sentence comment on character. Don't forget to comment on 5 other posts on this blog. You have all week to complete this assignment, but don't wait until the last minute!!!