A Wild Sheep Chase..?

I have discovered that I am an avid fan of the "hard boiled" detective phenomenon. I cannot help but think of this type of narrative as having a vague relationship with the "stream of consciousness" style found in the works of author's such as Virginia Wolfe. It reads as if the reader is inside of the narrator's head, nonsensical comments and all. Although we are reading "Non-Western" literature, I must admit that I am a little bit disappointed at the seemingly common hybridity with Western-culture that arises in these works. I agree with Jim when he said in class that as he was reading, he couldn't even tell that the story was set in Japan. As I look at the picture of the author on the back of the book, I find myself having trouble linking the face to the writing style. So what does this say about generalizing? For some reason, my brain seems to want everything to fit in it's own place. I am a prisoner of my socialization, education, and over-analyzation. This story challenges that part of me. I'm up for it.