Question about haruki murakami

[Babak Movahed]

I've heard such amazing things about him and I really want to read his works but I honestly don't know where to start. He has a fair amount of novels out so the question I have for you Murakami fans out there is, what is your favorite Murakami book (like the one you would recommend the most) and why?

Oh and try to just pick only one if you can please, thanks.

[windup_bird]

i would pick "the wind-up chronicles".
Its a mature book with lots of riddles and a lot of humour too. At the same time Murakami succeeds in maintaining the mystical darkness that always surrounds his novels and the effortless switch from the world of reality to fantasy.

[TheFifthElement]

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World because it's odd, compelling and incredibly imaginative. Because never before or since have I ever felt so sorry for a shadow. Poor shadow, how it starves.

[PhantomOther]

The first book i read of his was Norwegian Wood, which was good but definitely not the book to start with. I recently picked up Hard Boiled Wonderland which is a lot more exciting and more in line with his other stuff.

[dicer]

I was told to begin with 'Kafka on the Shore', though I haven't got round to it yet. I think it might be his most well-known (?) so it seems like a good starting point.

[Tallon]

I think Kafka is his worst novel. Wind-up is his masterpeice but quite large and his most difficult work. I started with Norwegian Wood but it's more mainstream and less strange than his others, Hard Boiled is probably a good one to start with.

[Phaedra's Love]

^Hah, I think Kafka is his best and definitely is my favourite. Very surreal but absolutely mindblowing and worth reading. If you're not used to surreal stuff it may not be the easiest one to start with though.

[Veva]

Sputnik Sweetheart was my first.
This is a book about a search and I really do recommend this one to you. :)

[Spoleto]

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the world has already been recommended so a couple of other options. A Wild Sheep Chase is a really strange but compelling book about a powerful elusive sheep, amongst other things. I have just finished reading After The Quake, a collection of short stories that give you a taste of his style and surreal qualities, may be a good place to start?