The Strange Library 107 Haruki Murakami Ted Goossen Chipp Kidd FIRST EDITION

First Edition The Strange Library (Library 107) by Haruki Murakami, translated by Ted Goossen, is a surreal and haunting novella that captures the eerie logic of dreams and childhood fears. The story follows a young boy who stops by his local library on a whim, only to be lured into a bizarre and labyrinthine underworld beneath the building. There, he’s imprisoned by a sinister old man who demands he memorize massive volumes of obscure knowledge about Ottoman tax collection—or face a horrifying fate. Alongside two mysterious companions—a silent girl who communicates with gestures and a sheep man who may or may not be an ally—the boy navigates a maze of fear, memory, and the thin line between reality and imagination. Murakami’s signature blend of the fantastical and the mundane is on full display here. Ted Goossen’s translation preserves the unsettling quietness and strangeness of the original Japanese, while the book's visual design (in most editions) amplifies its eerie tone through vintage illustrations and unconventional layouts. At once whimsical, nightmarish, and strangely moving, The Strange Library is a short, potent exploration of loneliness, curiosity, and the dangers hidden in ordinary places.