The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel
Book Review: yes
Summary: 5 Stars
the best book i have read in a long, long time... i read "the elephant vanishes" a few years ago, and adored it, but never picked up anything else by mr murakami. for some reason, when i heard that this one was a hefty 600 pages, i ran out and bought it... and basically inhaled it. exactly what i wanted to read... complex, but very straightforward too... when i read the stories in "the elephant vanishes", i felt like i was reading the thoughts of the smartest 5 year old in the world... "the wind-up bird chronicle" gave me the same sort of feeling, but in a more expanded sort of way... not a page of the book seems to be wasted... he has thoroughly explained an incredibly complex worldview in a very, very clear way... it seems like he must have drawn many charts and graphs before actually beginning writing... he has done with this novel what it seems like peter greenaway would like to be doing with film (and mr murakami isn't a bastard! [i am guessing]) yes... like mr greenaway's "the falls", but NICE. in conclusion, I LIKE THIS BOOK... I AM MAKING MANY PEOPLE READ IT... byeBook Review: Finally, something new under the sun!
Summary: 5 Stars
I stumbled across this at the library, vaguely recognizing the title and remembering that I'd been meaning to read A Wild Sheep Chase since it came out. What luck! The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is one of those rare events--the kind of book that makes you want to put everything else in your life on hold and be carried away by it. It's an amazing combination: a plain old good read, page-turner, yet also a densely packed novel of ideas--all propelled by a manic, wild humor. Echoes of Kafka. One of the best books I've ever read. Took my breath away.Book Review: Extraordinary - one of my top 10 reads ever
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle I bought everything Murakami has written to date. I'm working my way through those books now - slowly and carefully and in the hope that by the time I'm done he'll have finished a new novel. The narrator is one the most beguiling, earnest, endearing trudgers-through-life I've ever come across in literature and I was absorbed by his every move, by his every encounter (real and surreal). A friend had been recommending Murakami's fiction to me for years, but I resisted, thinking he sounded too deliberately oddball for my tastes. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. He's a wonderful, engaging, touching, hilarious writer and I'll buy anything he publishes from now on. And what a beautifully presented book, the cover design and the interior pages with the page numbers circling round the edges. Fantastic.Book Review: Very Good, But...
Summary: 4 Stars
An Alfred Birnbuarm transalation would have made it great. After reading both the English and Nahonga prints, the openess and directness of the transalation is wanting.Book Review: Don't pick this up if you have to get up early.
Summary: 4 Stars
Wind-Up Bird is the first time I've encountered Mr. Murakami though it most certainly won't be the last. I'm buying a copy now for a niece and I very much look forward to reading everything he has written. It's been a long time since I so enjoyed a novel and it's been even longer since I've encountered such an imagination. Looking for a good time? Start here.