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: My least favourite Murakami book.
Summary: 2 Stars
After reading 'Norwegian Wood' and 'Dance, Dance, Dance' I was very disappointed with 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.. This is a convoluted story that stretches to over 600 pages. It is a distinct possibility that I just didn't read into the story all that it contained, but for me it would require too much energy to try to figure out what the book was trying to convey. Fans of 'Paulo Coelho' and the like might be suitable intrigued to get something from the jumble of side stories, and might feel mystically fulfilled. However for those who enjoy conventional stories this is a non starter. The book is readable, but 600 pages are too much for it to be only 'ok'. I recommend the two books mentioned earlier by the same author, as they are really enjoyable works and each of them is quite unique, but with this book the author seems to have gone of at a tangent and produced something close to unfathomable as an alternative to enjoyable. I recommend this book to those that can read something into nothing and who are open to suggestion.Book Review: It gets under your skin
Summary: 4 Stars
This stunning and beautifully written book was a present from a friend and it came without a note, nor explanation. I knew nothing about the book, the author or what to expect from it.I had written a long and insightful review of the book, but somehow at the end it didn't seem fitting to post it. I don't know why and I decided to delete it and leave you with this. Everything was going so well, but as with many things in life, it is best not to think about why, but just to accept that is how it is and get on with it.
This book gets under you skin and in more ways than one. Through and throughout this book, Murakami makes each person reflect on themselves and their own "demons" within. Each of Murakami's characters are flawed, as are we all, and each goes through a kind of transformation during the course of the story.
Whether this book is there just to read, or was intended to pass a message I'm not sure, but for me I have taken away a defined simple thought that is my own. I hope you find the same too.
Book Review: Thoughtful and self-reflexive
Summary: 4 Stars
Having been aware of the hype surrounding Murakami I was cautious when I began reading this novel, considered by some to be his masterpiece. I was expecting a throw-away offering from Japanese pop culture, but was impressed by how intelligent the book is.
True, if you are seeking a coherent story with a well-rounded plot you will probably be disappointed. The narrative revolves around the main character and his search for his lost cat. By way of a number of loosely-connected episodes, involving some intriguing and eccentric characters, and unexplained supernatural occurrences, this search develops into an investigation into the very nature of his own being.
There are, however, strong themes that are ever present in the fates and thoughts of the characters. At one point Murakami hints that there may, in the end, be no explanation for the supernatural events of the story. But that is entirely in keeping with the reflective passages on secrets and trust, reality and illusion, unity, doubleness and disintegration. I especially liked the chapters featuring the WWII veteran Lieutenant Mamiya - this character and his war stories are just brilliant.
This is a highly introspective and personal story that is not afraid to discuss matters that might not be suitable subjects at the dinner table. Murakami is also highly aware of his presence and role as author, and this is possibly where the main interest of the novel lies. The central questions of the novel seem to be, how far can language convey the ineffable? And what exactly constitutes reality and consciousness?
Despite being a deceptively easy read and capable of evoking highly lucid images, this novel is perhaps better suited to the reader with a slightly more serious attitude to literature, who has the time to interpret the story from the scattered hints and moments of realisation.
Book Review: Sublime
Summary: 5 Stars
A stunning book. The only book I've ever read that actually entered my dreams! Beautiful, poetic, affecting in the way the very best music is. I shall be digesting Mr Wind Up Bird's experiences for months to come. Thank you, Mr Murakami.Book Review: Not his best
Summary: 3 Stars
Norwegian Wood is a stunning world-class novel and some of Murakami's other novels are eminently readable and enjoyable. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is the one you hear about as his 'masterpiece'. It isn't. Kafka on the Shore is excellent and preferable to this. Why the hype then about Chronicle? If you see the US Amazon site, everyone is raving about Chronicle. On the English site, you begin to find readers with serious reservations. If you are thinking to read this book, believe the reviewers with reservations. I won't reiterate what they've said. The clue to why Chronicle is full of brilliant gems (some seperately published in the New Yorker) but is ultimately unsalvageable is that Murakami wrote it while Writer in Residence at an Ivy League American University. Chronicle has all the clever hallmarks of pat American University bred creativity that tends to annoy non-American English readers. It has that predigested Pyncheon Barthean feel (you know what I mean), even in the very un-Murakami size of it, which wrecks Murakami, who I believe in other respects is one of the world's greatest living novelists.