Akira & Birna: thank you for explaining your impression. For my feel the picture shows the theatrical performance of everyday life in the city, I often feel people are not living their lives but performing a role in a play instead.
Concerning Murakami: You, Akira, are fortunate enough to read the originals you will probably find in any public library and I am fortunate to have a German genious translator for Murakami meaning the German translation appears long before the English version. In the past the German translator used the English version instead of the Japanese original. I feel the result is now much better without being able to really judge; I do know zil about Japanish language.