I love Murakami's writing style - his descriptions, symbolism, the philosophical dialogs, the way he handles serious themes (existence, innocence, love, death) and his jazz and literary references. There was only one character in the book that annoyed me somewhat. I want to blame it on Murakami's lack of first-hand experience with the sort of problems the character had, but maybe its my own. All his other characters were perfect in their imperfections and totally relatable. The story itself was hauntingly beautiful.