Reviews tagging 'War'

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

63 reviews

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

bigolarlocat's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

At face value this is an exceptionally well written book with a plot that lulls in spots and diverges in increasingly bizarre ways, but is ultimately kept interesting by the overarching mystery and the intrigue of its characters. As is ever the case, there is unc mfortable amounts of sexism and misogyny from both our narrator and murukami, as he introduces and incorporates women into the book. Not every thread of this expansive narrative is drawn together in a satisfying, clear cut conclusion, and as with other works by murukami, this is typically by design.

I've read some other of his works and what I've found is that the themes of the book precede the narrative. What matters in this book are the themes of fate vs rebirth, light vs dark etc. and how our characters grapple with them.

In finishing the book I was initially left somewhat disappointed in the lack of a conclusive plot, however I find the excitement of his novels come from how you, as the reader, deconstruct the plot based on your interpretation of his themes. You are always left guessing because there are never clear answers and the freedom to organise a plot by feeling like your solving a mystery is an experience that is rare and ultimately rewarding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, War, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt

vedaviolin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Torture, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content

shhsleepytime's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Abortion, War, and Sexual content

ekkane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Suicide, Rape, and Incest

amalia_tealeaf's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, and Rape

Moderate: Incest

itzelgmadrid's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Violence, Suicide, and Rape

letter_planet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

mery_cf's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and War

Moderate: Sexual assault

phantomeyer's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book read like a fever dream. However, the replacement of seemingly central characters half way through, as well as a few other loose ends left me feeling like the story was incomplete. If I’m going to press on through what is at times a bit of a slow hard slog, I want a bit more payoff. Will try another Murakami one day, but probably not one 600 pages long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide, War, and Abortion