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christineponkey's review against another edition
5.0
imo this and 1Q84 are *the* quintessential Murakami books - it just contains all the motifs that he likes to bring into all his books but here, it's the og and is done well
dilchh's review against another edition
5.0
SECOND BEST BOOK FROM HARUKI MURAKAMI, IMHO. Sorry for the caps lock, but how am I suppose to chill and relax while writing a review for a book this good, and I mean THIS FUCKING GOOD!!! Seriously, how can I not like this book? How? How? How? I mean I still prefer Kafka On The Shore, but in a certain way I find this book is a lot darker than Kafka, and more mature. This may be because of the lead character is a grown up, not a 16 year old (cmiiw) like Kafka, but still this has been a great read for me. I could never put this book down (that was a lie, I had to put down this book after the skinning the man alive part, that was insane!). You know what? I am actually considering making this book my ultimate favourite from Haruki Murakami, replacing Kafka on the shore. I really am. Okay, you know what? I hereby declare that it is a TIE between those two. I am in love with those two.
felicityhughes's review against another edition
Murakami is laughably bad at writing female characters.
flyry's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
ben11m's review against another edition
4.0
Weird book huh! Wonderful, wouldn't want it any less confusing. I just think it was a little too long, would have been better if it was 75 ish pages shorter, still a great read!
cultneophyte7's review against another edition
The cry of this bird was audible only to certain special people, who were guided by it toward inescapable ruin.
Took me like a month to finish this one, and I have things to say, but I think I'll sit on it a while, and think. Review to come.
Took me like a month to finish this one, and I have things to say, but I think I'll sit on it a while, and think. Review to come.
iswendle's review against another edition
4.0
Unwinding the story of the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is something I unfortunately failed in while reading, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it's vague and confusing story from start to end.
An ordinary man, Toru, lives his unemployed life with a sense of satisfaction in everything that's ordinary. He takes time to think about the music he hears, the chores he does and the people he meets. His life takes a turn for the worse (or the weird) soon into the book though when he meets all strangely intertwined characters. One thing's for sure, you'll never look at a well the same way again after reading the book.
Most people online put Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on the top of their "weirdest" Murakami books. Having only read A Wild Sheep Chase I agree that this book threw any notion of cohesion overboard. The story is easy to read, and to some extent follow, follow in the sense that you know which events occur when and how. Their relation, however, seems to never really resolve. One person I discussed the book with put it best when they said: "Murakami raises a lot of questions when you start reading, then resolves some od them, and ends with a couple unresolved ones extra."
All in all, Murakami's style is something I really enjoy. There really isn't one way to conclude your reading of the book: some parallels or metaphors in characters, stories, and their relations can surely be concluded by everybody. Yet there really isn't an ultimately satisfying conclusion to the story as it really leaves you hanging. That's the catch of his style, and while I cannot read 8 of his books in a row, they certainly have their unique charm.
An ordinary man, Toru, lives his unemployed life with a sense of satisfaction in everything that's ordinary. He takes time to think about the music he hears, the chores he does and the people he meets. His life takes a turn for the worse (or the weird) soon into the book though when he meets all strangely intertwined characters. One thing's for sure, you'll never look at a well the same way again after reading the book.
Most people online put Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on the top of their "weirdest" Murakami books. Having only read A Wild Sheep Chase I agree that this book threw any notion of cohesion overboard. The story is easy to read, and to some extent follow, follow in the sense that you know which events occur when and how. Their relation, however, seems to never really resolve. One person I discussed the book with put it best when they said: "Murakami raises a lot of questions when you start reading, then resolves some od them, and ends with a couple unresolved ones extra."
All in all, Murakami's style is something I really enjoy. There really isn't one way to conclude your reading of the book: some parallels or metaphors in characters, stories, and their relations can surely be concluded by everybody. Yet there really isn't an ultimately satisfying conclusion to the story as it really leaves you hanging. That's the catch of his style, and while I cannot read 8 of his books in a row, they certainly have their unique charm.