So I'll start off by saying this is a Japanese book, translated into English (obviously). From what I understand, the translation is supposed to be very good. It's about a guy, Toru, who has a number of things go wrong- cat runs away, quits his job, marital issues, etc. He meets a bunch of... shall we say quirky?...characters who do and say some really strange things.
At first, I liked the style of writing and the storyline- simple, a little eccentric and unexpected. Toru is kind of an everyday guy, doing everyday things...I mean, he's cooking spaghetti and shopping for groceries and looking for the runaway cat. Pretty straightforward, right? No. Not really. The story quickly got weirder and weirder, but I liked a few of the characters and wanted to see where the story was going, so I hung in there. The female characters were more dynamic than the male characters, but they could also be quite weak and often sexually-motivated... I'm not sure that's exactly the way I want to describe them, but it'll have to do for now. The men were basically devoid of emotion, except for one guy, Cinnamon, and he was mute!
By the end of the book... all 604 pages of it... I was thinking, "What the %$*&!!! Who picked this book?! Why is it 'influential'?!" The best way I can describe it is like a surrealist painting, but in book format. At first glance, or in this case read, you think you know what's going on... then upon closer inspection, you realize you really don't. 
I kept thinking that the book was loaded with dream sequences, because the plot made about as much sense as one of those crazy dreams, the kind where you're walking along talking to someone one minute and it's someone else the next minute and instead of carrying a loaf of bread you're carrying a cat. But as far as I can tell, these aren't dream sequences.
Seriously. Who picked this book and why is it "influential"?
And does anyone really know what's going on? I've read a number of reviews and comments and "analyses" of this book online... everyone seems to have more questions than answers. I also know that Murakami has some die-hard fans out there that say this work is brilliant, that all of his stuff is brilliant and that if you don't "get it", you're basically an idiot. I beg to differ! I don't think I'm an idiot!
Ahem. After more thought, I've further revised MY version of this list (i.e., I nixed more books). I'd like to read books that make me think, or impact me in some way, but "had an innovative and unique marketing strategy," in my humble opinion, isn't really a good enough reason for me to consider them worthy of a "most influential books of the past 25 years" list. But then again, maybe I'm just an idiot.
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