I don't know if it was very wise for this to be my 'first Murakami'. Very beautiful metaphors in delicate language in juxtaposition with very harsh and unromantic description of women (except for Eri) and sexual relationships confused me a lot and I couldn't ignore it. Also he describes so precisely what the people look like, even the color of their nailpolish, which probably is supposed to paint you an image of the person but it just makes Tsukuru sound superficial to me. I don't know if this author is my cup of tea. 
 Things I enjoyed though: 
 - his metaphors and this really asian kind of thinking - putting so much importance in something like a name 
 - the way he described swimming (because I swim as well and it's exactly like that) 
 - Ao, for being such a calming and ensuring appearance in the book 
 "He sat down again and, for a time, pressed the fingers of his right hand against his temple. No, he thought, I'm not cool and collected, and I'm not always doing things at my own pace. It's a question of balance. I'm good at habitually shifting the weight I carry around from one side of the fulcrum to the other, distributing it. Maybe this strikes others as cool. But it isn't an easy operation. It takes more time than it seems. And even if I do find the right balance, that doesn't lessen the total weight one bit. "