The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: Haruki Murakami

This is my second Haruki Murakami novel. The first being norwegian wood, which I found a little bit dissapointing and strange. It probably needs another read through. I decided to give Haruki another chance and read his masterpiece The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. The book started off quite slowly. It has some really surreal and bazaar parts which kept me interested, but also some more dragging parts. The book was simpl introducing you to the characters and showing you Toru Watanabe's "normal life" so that the effect of his life going crazy is stronger. Which it does. I found the book started to really hook me in at the part where we hear Lutenant Mamiya's long story. From then on the book is hard to put down! The book is very surreal and interesting. Not all answers are answered, the world in this book is very confusing, just like the main characters life. It's really gripping and mind boggling. Great book but it's very demanding and requires patience. I found it started to get really interesting after around 200 pages, so stick with it! The beginning isnt bad by any means, it's just not very exciting, but that makes the later part stronger!

Full disclosure: this was my first experience of Murakami’s writing, and I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a 640-page long, phantasmagorical fever dream, in which the line between fantasy and reality was so blurred, I couldn’t distinguish one from the other. Right up until the end of the book, I hadn’t a scooby what was going on. Five days after finishing it, I still don’t, but I never once considered giving up. The story centers around Toru Okada, a young, unemployed man in his early thirties, living a very ordinary suburban life, when his wife leaves for work one morning and doesn’t come home. She’s apparently run off with another man. Meanwhile, their cat has also gone missing. Abandoned and alone, Toru quickly finds his thoughts spiraling, as he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided by a succession of weird and wonderful characters, all with a story to tell. What follows is a mind-bending concoction of magical realism, fantasy, historical reimagining, and existential angst. There are sexual encounters, long periods of reflection at the foot of a disused well, and forays into Japanese World War II history, as well as numerous stories within stories that repeatedly take the narrative off into dislocating tangents. It’s as weird as heck but somehow oddly compelling. It certainly helps that Murakami writes with superb flow and flair. Indeed, his prose is perhaps the only aspect of the book that feels tangible and real. What you won’t get, though, is a story, at least in the traditional sense. And this, perhaps, was the only real letdown for me. The carrot that kept me reading was the anticipation of some kind of resolution at the end. Be warned: there’s none. It would take someone with a far greater intellect than I to interpret Murakami’s intentions in writing this novel. For me, the most obvious themes were loneliness, isolation, and identity. I especially enjoyed the WWII passages, which seemed to speak to the issue of national identity as well. At the end of the day, though, while on balance I can honestly say that I enjoyed the novelty of this book and have nothing but admiration for Murakami’s skill as a writer, it did leave me feeling frustrated. My advice? Be prepared for something very different and approach it in short bursts of reading. And don’t expect a pretty, pink bow at the end.

If you have ever been (un)fortunate enough to find yourself at an art college's graduate show then you will perfectly understand my forthcoming analogy. When those who do not possess either spiritual or mental fibre try to make Art - especially visual arts and more specefically abstract art, they invariably fail miserably. What they present may 'appear' to have form, structure and substance, and indeed, it may do so in the physical sense; but in the intellectual, spiritual, philosophical, ontological sense it is really a shell, a superficial expresion - an allusion to a world they have seen in other's Art, in galleries and in books. It is an echo of Art, but not Art itself, it is fake, a copy. When writers too, try to engage with subject matter that is clearly beyond them, they invariably fail. It is a truism that that which we are able to render (both visually and linguistically) is a direct reflection of our inner-self. What Mura-kami has given us in this work is by no means a small thing for it is the real thing, the crown jewels and not costume jewellery. It is 1990s Coca-Cola with acid and bite and not your local supermarket cola. He has struck a firm sign-post on the literary path and has created something of true worth and value, a rock on the collective pile of literary consciousness. Like so many of his other great works (Dance, Norwegian, Hard-Boiled) he openly displays his creative and intellectual greatness, frugality and fragility, brutality and his capacity for creative story-telling that defines and re-defines boundaries. 'Wind-up' is a surreal and yet very realistic journey that shows maturity and growth. I can't think of may novels that are accomplished as this. One of Mura-kami's strengths in this particular work is the interplay of the narratives (a mode he used time-and-time-again) and also the time-frame of the piece. Mirroring real-life, he introduces characters and then lets them go. This alone is worthy of praise. Quite why film-makers and writers feel they have to 'keep' the same characters from beginning to end (unless they get killed off), is quite beyond my comprehension. It seems such an artificial construct and altogether too manufactured and contrived to give any air of authenticity to the narrative. This work will not entertain nor interest all (which is no bad thing), but if you liked Mura-kami's 'Hard-boiled' or you are a fan of Salman Rushdie, then I wholeheartedly recommend this.

Previous to reading this I read my first Murakami novel, Kafka on the Shore, which really blew me away. I felt surprised and captivated by the characters every decision, and I felt the every chapter was building to something really magical, for lack of a better word. I was hooked! But here, in Wind up Bird, I felt my interest slipping as the narrative opened up wider and wider. This is non-linear, to the extreme. Still beautifully written with wonderfully vivid and challenging characters that left a great impression on me. But as for the plot - it was just a little too surreal. I found myself spending too much time wondering to myself about what was happening, rather than being carried along by the narrative. In a way, it was worth reading for the historical "flashbacks". But then, this really needed a hugely satisfying climax to actually bring all the random threads together - and that just doesn't happen. I will continue to read more Murakami, but had this been my first read of the author, I might not have been so desperate to read any more.

There are lots of reviews already for this book but having just finished what I immediately consider to be one of the greatest novels I have ever read I feel compelled to add my own brief review, because this book is a genuine masterpiece. Murakami's prose (and by inference the translation by Jay Rubin) seems effortless and envelops the reader from the very start, and the story grips ever tighter as it unfolds. And it's not just a story - Murakami takes us to some deep dark places within the human psyche and confronts what he sees there. This is the sort of book that makes you feel you are on the brink of some profound revelation about the very nature of humanity. Ultimately it's a tale of good vs evil in men's (and women's) souls, with no easy solutions, but the conclusion is full and satisfying. I raced through the 600+ pages here in a few days and it really did transport me to a more complex and heightened state of mind, leaving me a bit disorientated and not quite in the real world for a few days afterwards. I desperately wanted to continue reading and finish it, but also never wanted it to end, and there's not many books I've ever been able to say that about. You should read it.

Whether you are new to Murakami, or already a fan, this book should be able to enthrall you from the very start. Murakami writes in a weird but distinctive way, and I very much love the style of his writing. The story was capturing and interesting, and of course really, really bizarre. I would rate this higher than 1Q84 (which sadly left me feeling there was too much to still want an answer too, plus the not-so-good third book..) but below or on par with Kafka on the Shore. There was something intangible towards the end that made me deduct one star. Not because the book isn't good -it most certainly is, but there was just a little something that left me wanting for more, and not necessarily in the best possible way. This, however, is just something I have grown to get used to when it comes to Murakami, so it doesn't have to mean much. Cats, mysterious teenage girls, preparing food, thinking and listening to the sounds around oneself, more cats, a dried-up well (two, in fact), and grim war-flashbacks. Yep, got it all. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who has an eye out for the bizarre and fleeting, fantastic and weird. And people who really appreciate good narratives.

This was the first book I read by Murakami, probably around 2006/2007. I've just reread it now, Having read pretty much everything else he has written, not to mention loads of other books by other authors, too. I could remember little about it other than it captivated me with its quirky story telling style and host of unusual characters. I seem to remember feeling that I hadn't read anything like it after its first reading. Well after reading it for the second time I can confirm it's up there with the best stuff he has written. The themes, subjects, oddballs, cats, wells, whiskey, beer, isolation, introspection, parallel universes/timelines etc, etc, etc...it's all there. It's a tableau painted by one of the most energetic imaginations I've ever encountered. Get entrenched, get entranced. Get yourself comfortably seated and prepare to be taken away on a kaleidoscopic journey.

A friend of mine borrowed me this book saying: "I won't tell you anything in advance, just start reading it." Without knowing what to expect I started reading it. Sceptic as I am, I thought it will be a case where I have to give time to the writer, the story to make an impact on me - I was so wrong. From the first page, I was completely drawn into Murakami's creation. Murakami's style and choice of words are absolutely fascinating. He keeps descriptions and dialogues totally simple almost bleak still he manages to get you on a 'hook' and pull you into an absurd second reality that merges with the everyday life. It amazed me that bizarre and surreal events filter into the main characters life so subtly. The reader has no option - just go along with it and believe it, with head spinning, eyes popped. All characters are well formed, credible and authentic. So as the story unfolding on a grand scale. It take me 4 days to finish the whole book. Impossible to put down! If you are thinking to purchase only one book, buy this one. You won't regret it, indeed this is going to be one of your books you will borrow to friends saying: "Just read it..."