欧宝娱乐

Kelly's Reviews > The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Rate this book
Clear rating

by
94602
's review

liked it
bookshelves: fiction, owned, 20th-century-postwar-to-late

I absolutely adored the book upon starting out. It is exquisitely crafted, with each seemingly casual word chosen to illustrate the world into which we have entered. It is a lonely world full of half finished stories, abrupt departures, missed connections and deep silences. "Poor Mr. Wind-Up Bird," lives on an alley with no exits, in a borrowed life that he could never afford to live without the kindness of his uncle. He's just quit his job, as he has no idea of where to go with his life, but is dissatisfied with its current course. He lives with a wife that he never seems to really speak to, in a routine existence in which she is often late or absent, or spends her time repressing everything she chooses to say to him. Murakami meticulously illustrates this quietly painful existence in all of Mr. Wind-Up Bird's movements, whether it is missed phone calls, a wasted dinner, or a frozen statue of a bird never able to take flight. This sort of language kept me going throughout the book even when I lost my patience with other things.

Mr. Wind-Up Bird's relationship with May Kashara was my favorite part of the book. She is something of a wise child character, able to distill what Murakami is only hinting at into a more obvious, if odd and seemingly quaint statement. She is a wonderful character who brings light and movement to the pages, and pushes the plot along, if only in Mr. Wind-Up Bird's head. I kept looking ahead, if only to find out how long it was until she appeared again.

What I did not like? The endless repetition of the spiritual mumbo-jumbo, of the prophets who "just know," when something is going to happen, of the endless discussion of the "flow," and various other points of odd zen claptrap that really pushed me out of the story, and the reader entirely out of the reality. I think a part of the book's charm is that it hovers so close around the edges of reality, and gradually, this book just seemed to leave that behind. I appreciated the message of a bundle of stories all being woven together, stories that stop and start as people pass through them, are read and discarded as they are of use. But this went far beyond the borders of surreality into quite a confusing fog. Perhaps I missed something, but it became very difficult to push myself through this seemingly unrelated part. That entire middle section with the extended stories of Cinammon and Nutmeg, and the increasing weirdness of Creta Kano, the side stories of Lieutenant Mamiya, etc... I lost patience with the book and almost gave up several times, because that's how I thought the rest of the book would be. The introduction of random characters and tales that are really not material to the plot or necessary to the points that Murakami is making.

Thankfully, the tale wound back down into a more manageable area towards the end. I'm glad I finished it, if only to see the end of May Kashara.

I wish I had loved this more consistently that it turned out that I did. I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. I'm sticking with the definition of the stars in terms of "liked it," or "loved it." I was somewhere changeably in between between depending on the section of the book. (review originally written in 2008, edited since).
276 likes ·  鈭� flag

Sign into 欧宝娱乐 to see if any of your friends have read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Sign In 禄

Reading Progress

Finished Reading
February 22, 2008 – Shelved
July 14, 2008 – Shelved as: fiction
September 11, 2009 – Shelved as: owned
March 26, 2010 – Shelved as: 20th-century-postwar-to-late

Comments Showing 1-50 of 61 (61 new)


brian tanabe Hard to argue with that. His short stories are quite incredible also.


Kelly Thank you, you two. I am glad to have my decision backed up by two quality opinions I trust.


brian tanabe You're more than welcome, Kelly. You'll have to excuse Robert and I as we continue on our way, blessing others with their To-Read decisions...


Kelly You are truly saints of goodreads.


brian tanabe I completely agree. And for the record, we prefer the more formal, capitalized version, Saints of 欧宝娱乐.


Kelly Of course! Mortified to have given offense, of course. I shall show proper capitalized Respect next time. Like Aretha would want me to do.


message 7: by Taylor (new) - added it

Taylor Norwegian Wood is actually a pretty good place to start, as well. Shorter, so it's not as intimidating, and definitely the kind of thing that will tear at your heartstrings enough to keep you going even if his writing doesn't end up being your thing.

And yes, his short stories are fabulous, as well.


Kelly Is it? Thanks for that. Perhaps I shouldn't tackle it all at once then and try something smaller like that.


message 9: by Taylor (new) - added it

Taylor I don't think you have to read Wind Up to be hypnotized by him, though. I started with some short stories (he came to my University and read two of them, actually), then read Norwegian Wood, and still found him positively enchanting. Actually, it was one of my friends who is a Murakami devotee - having read most of his works - who recommended Norwegian Wood as a starter. To each their own, I suppose.


RandomAnthony How you liking this, hon?


Kelly I honestly haven't gotten far enough to say yet. I try to get to at least 100 pages before I make any judgement calls. I will say that when I first opened the book I ripped through 50 pages very quickly. I haven't gotten to open it much since due to Life, but that's not from lack of desire.


brian tanabe This is not good ...


Kelly Its interesting to suddenly see this split opinion appear. I've never heard anything but rapturous praise for this book. Glad to see Murakami doesn't dispel powerful thought. :)


message 14: by Martine (new)

Martine My favourite Murakami so far is Norwegian Wood. Hardcore Murakami fans and snobs look down on it as it is the most mainstream, least original of his books, but I loved it to bits, even if it's sentimental and relatively unspectacular by Murakami standards. It moved me, and that means a lot to me. Few books move me these days.


Kelly Martine, you are an impressive intellect to have moved and for that alone I am willing to look at the book. Also, I think the labels 'sentimental' can be thrown around very easily at books that are simply honest in their emotions. Honesty about our deepest, core feelings almost always has some 'sentimentality' to it in that cliches are cliches for a reason. At the core, no matter what poetry we wrap around a thing to make it more complicated, there are very few reasons that are /true/. If you found that in Norweigan Wood, then it is a book worth reading, I think.

Thanks for sharing that experience. :)


message 16: by Taylor (new) - added it

Taylor Based on Norwegian Wood and the romantic short stories of his that I've read, I think that Murakami's love stories are great partly because they're sentimental, actually. I think it's hard to write about love, or at least to write about love well, without being sentimental to a certain degree. I think that word gets an unnecessarily bad rap.


message 17: by Martine (new)

Martine Good point, Taylor. Yes, I think one of the reasons why I like Murakami (apart from him having a crazy imagination and a real talent for drawing likeable oddbals) is precisely because he has the guts to be sentimental -- genuinely sentimental, as opposed to syrupy sentimental. His sentiment has a lyrical quality that I really appreciate. I suppose it's an Asian thing. I watch a lot of Asian films, and I've noticed that many of them are much more overtly sentimental/lyrical than Western ones. Sometimes the sentiment/lyricism goes a little over the top, but even when it's overcooked, there's an earnestness to it that appeals to me. I found that quality in Norwegian Wood, as well, and yes, the more I think about it, the more I believe it's why I like the book so much.

Out of curiosity, what were the romantic short stories you were referring to? I think I should read those, too...


message 18: by Rebecca (new)

Rebecca Slow Boat to China's my favourite Murakami short.


message 19: by Taylor (new) - added it

Taylor If you liked his writing but had troubles with the lack of realism, I still recommend Norwegian Wood. There are a few magical elements to it, but nothing distracting.

Oh, and sorry I didn't respond to your question about the short stories, Martine. I don't remember the name of one of them, but the other is something like "the 100% perfect girl for me" - it's in "The Elephant Vanishes." I believe the other one was in "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman."


Kelly Thanks, Tay. I really did appreciate his talent, so I'm not completely put off the idea of reading him again. I'll give Norweigan Wood a try.


message 21: by Martine (new)

Martine Thanks, Taylor. I actually have Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman sitting on a shelf. I'll see if I can find time for it at some point...

Kelly, I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as much as you were hoping. I haven't read the book myself, so I can't judge. I really hope you will try Norwegian Wood, though -- it's the same style but largely without the spiritual stuff (lots of psychobabble instead). As I said, I loved it, though I know quite a few people who think it's among Murakami's weakest efforts.


message 22: by Jude (new)

Jude one of my favorite reviews ever. love that you shared as you went. respect the integrity of your star use. props we could lobby for a range of 7 instead of 5.


Kelly Thanks, Jude! I wish that we could have more stars as well. You'd think that enough people have made the 3.5/4.5 stars remark that they would at least expand the stars to have the ability to do that.


message 24: by Taylor (new) - added it

Taylor YES - I'd love half stars. Netflix used to have half stars and then took them away :(


RandomAnthony I like Norwegian Wood a lot, too. Martine's right in that it's a lot different. Good call, Martine.


message 27: by Lori (new) - rated it 5 stars

Lori Great link, Paul, I thank you for that. Another vote for Norwegian Wood which I absolutely loved. It's got his wonderful writing, puts you in that Murakami dream-state, but is wholly based in reality with none of his fantastical elements. Even tho I love his other books as well, it's the one I remember that best. And whenever I do remember, for the first moment I have to stand still as the feelings wash over me. I don't consider it weaker at all, just different.


message 28: by [deleted user] (new)

+1


Kelly Thank you kindly. :)


Katie i so agree with your review. I to was told that this was his masterpiece, but i am absolutely positive that place is held by kafka on the shore. im not sure why that one is not ever mentioned as his greatest, but it should be.


Amanda Fiona Great review. This sums up pretty much exactly how I felt about this book, only a 1000 times more eloquently than I could have said it :)
I like his writing style and I enjoy the surrealism, but the long detours into secondary characters' backstories (i.e. a big chunk of the middle) almost made me abandon it. I was glad I pushed through, though, and have every intention of reading more of his work.


message 32: by Ram (new) - rated it 3 stars

Ram Kumar Incredible review, Kelly :)


Kelly Thank you! I appreciate the kind comment!


Nicole Miles I completely agree with everything in your "What I did not like?" paragraph. Unfortunately those problems all stuck with me and I wasn't fond of May Kasahara so my impression of the book became very negative. It's a shame because I also was really into the book at the start, but it all just petered out into a muddy jumble for me.
This is a great review, though - much more merciful than mine to be sure.. ;) hah


Kelly Thanks! It's been awhile since I read it, but the sense of disappointment has stuck with me about the end. It's a shame because it was such a strong start.

I haven't tried any other books of his yet. I probably owe him another try!


message 36: by Nicole (last edited Apr 02, 2014 09:45AM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Nicole Miles Kelly wrote: "Thanks! It's been awhile since I read it, but the sense of disappointment has stuck with me about the end. It's a shame because it was such a strong start.

I haven't tried any other books of his ..."


I really enjoyed Norwegian Wood which was the first book I read by him. It made me want to try this one in fact. And I think I will definitely look for more books by him in future too... Maybe not any more of his chunksters, though... haha


Kelly Norweigan Wood has come up a lot as one a lot of people I know have read. That's on my list to maybe try next.


Maria Kelly, you summed up my feelings towards the book exactly. I'm glad I didn't give up on it but I expected to love this book so much more.


Kelly It's been awhile since I read this, but I think there's a reason I keep not getting around to another Murakami. I should, though! I know.


Nicole Miles Honestly, if this had been my first Murakami, I don't think I'd have bothered with him any more so I don't blame you at all.


Kelly I would like to read a better one though. I would. I just can't seem to quite get inspired to try.


message 42: by Nicole (last edited Nov 08, 2014 12:23PM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Nicole Miles He's written a few New Yorker articles/short stories which feel more non-committal if you'd like to try those? I've only read (which I enjoyed the first part of but didn't care for the second half) and I just started reading yesterday (hah). So far Yesterday feels very...well, very like a typical Murakami novel but is void (so far?) of magic realism.


Maria This was my 2nd attempt, 1Q84 being the first. I was supposed to like this one better (according to a friend whose a fan of his), but I didn't. I'm still willing to try Hard Boiled Wonderland.


Maria This was my 2nd attempt, 1Q84 being the first. I was supposed to like this one better (according to a friend whose a fan of his), but I didn't. I'm still willing to try Hard Boiled Wonderland.


Christopher Diffley Agreed with your description of the middle section. I really enjoyed the first and last thirds more. I should go back and check if it's a clean break between the 3 volumes this was supposedly published as?


Kelly ? Not sure where you're getting the atheist thing, dude- I just don't like bad writing. That's the only higher gods I'm on about here. :)


Kelly Oh, cool. I see which argument this is. The "You found flaws in a book I loved, so I shall lash out at you irrationally, because I perceive that this somehow affects me" discussion. Let's cut to the chase and let me just say I'm glad that you loved the book and I liked a lot of it too. It's always good when people find a book they love, and I support that. Enjoy your future reads!


Kelly You sure told me! You can walk away knowing you've insulted a random stranger on the internet multiple times in defense of the book you like. Hope that's what you wanted. Have a great one!


Kelly Ugh, you are blocked, troll. Byebye.


message 50: by Jan (new) - rated it 3 stars

Jan I couldn't have summed up my feelings about this book any better. Thank you!


芦 previous 1
back to top