"Somehow the flow of life had gone off in the wrong direction. I needed time, I thought. I had to be patient. Make time be on my side. Do that, and I was sure to seize the right flow."

Here we have a typical character in the Murakami universe: quiet, tranquil, spent time contemplating things, listening to music (mostly opera and classical music in this novel). He has a profession of oil painting but mainly he does portrait painting as a career and having a struggle with his wife leaving him. So he winds up inside a mansion in the mountain, spends days in tranquillity, music and painting. New characters are gradually introduced and unravelled throughout the chapters. If you don't have the patience to digest the main character's inner thoughts you're going to get bored quick. The last chapters of the story are rushed, though.

It also ends with many questions and mysteries. Idea and Metaphor, good luck with deciphering that.

Overall as a lover of Murakami novels, I absolutely love the environment of the novels. It touches a little bit about the struggle with a creative career and how the character learns to accept and overcomes that. "I must make time on my side."