Yes, I’ve also read some of his short stories and they do not leave a very strong impression. I think he is more of a ‘slow burner’, He needs time to weave his spell. He’s great at distilling the ordinary and turning it into magic. And this sits quite nicely next to the ubiquoutous magical encroachment from the other world. He is able to weave together disparate strands like no one else. The insistent and urgent coming together of these filaments builds its own momentum. It becomes totally compelling.

I’m just re-reading A Wild Sheep chase now. The others that stand out for me are, IQ84, Hard boiled wonderland, The wind up bird chronicle and Kafka on the shore. I started reading ‘Pinball 1973’ some years ago, but didn’t get very far with it.