Stalemate on the Carousel

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer who became a classic even during his lifetime thanks to the novels "A Wild Sheep Chase," "Norwegian Wood," and "Kafka on the Shore." The collection "Stalemate on the Carousel" is woven from many stories that Murakami has heard. There is no fiction in them. They reflect the life of the Japanese as it is. … our life is like a carousel – we simply spin in one place at a certain speed. Our rotation is directed nowhere. There’s no way to get off or change seats. The heroine separates from her husband because of a purchase of shorts. A woman meets a man from a painting she bought several years ago. A protagonist is overtaken by nausea after a call from an unknown number. It lasts 40 days until the calls stop. A student rents an apartment opposite his beloved's house and begins to follow her, gradually losing himself. These stories want to be told.