Reviews

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

melissa_cosgrove's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Animal death, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Incest, and Abortion

thechanelmuse's review against another edition

I really don't know how to rate this book. It's one of the weirdest novels I've ever read. There are so many layers to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle that it's hard to truly describe what it's about. It primarily focuses on the protagonist's journey through self-discovery, and ties in metaphysics, the experiences of other characters, stories within stories, and much more. Some chapters are intriguing, some parts are disturbing, and others are mundane at times, which kind of made this book feel even longer than 600+ pages. In the end, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle leaves you with more questions to be asked rather than answers that are given. That's not a bad thing though.

jwproctor's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alisonlunch's review against another edition

3.0

Dreamlike and surreal, engaging from a technical standpoint but his women need work

abackman's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

gouricanread's review against another edition

3.0

Every single time I have read a Murakami book since 2022, I swear that it is my last one. For me, Murakami used to have some sort of magic when I read his work. 1Q84 and The Elephant Vanishes are still two of my favorite books of all time. It used to get me out of slumps. But now, whenever I read his male characters, I feel like giving up right away. The past couple of Murakami books have not done it for me. His male characters are insufferable and his female characters feel like they are shells of real human beings. This book did not have enough to be this long. I loved the first 400 pages of it but it progressively got worse until it got to page 900.
So far, In the order of how much I liked them, the Murakami books I have read are:

1. 1Q84
2. The Elephant Vanishes
3. After Dark
4. Wind up bird chronicle
5. After the Quake
6. Kafka on the Shore
7. Sputnik Sweetheart
8. South of the border, west of the Sun

I think I'm done with his writing. Toodles.

nbsquare's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

immaculate lynchian vibes

emselilly's review against another edition

3.0

Very dream-like. I still absolutely adore the writing of Murakami and when I read the first page it feels comforting, because it's so familiar. I've bookmarked loads of bits where I just love the thoughts that are going on and it's so imaginative. However compared to Norwegian wood and Kafka, this has been my least favourite so far perhaps as the most obscure and dream-like one. Still really enjoyed reading it, and if I wasn't comparing it to his other books it would probably be 4 or 5 stars tbh!

amyborch's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think this book was an allegory which I did not get.  It is about a family that. Is struggling with evil? It rips her marriage apart and the book is from her husbands perspective.  Very interesting parts about China Japanese war.  

emegallego's review against another edition

4.0

Es uno de esos libros metafóricos y "con capas" que merece la pena leer tomando notas o comentar con alguien. Importa lo mismo lo que se dice y lo que no se dice. Además, estuve enganchadísima desde la página 3.