The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

ByHaruki Murakami

Release Date: 1997-10-21
Genre: Literary Fiction

Score: 4.5

4.5

From 736 Ratings

Description

A "dreamlike and compelling” tour de force (Chicago Tribune)—an astonishingly imaginative detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets from Japan’s forgotten campaign in Manchuria during World War II.

Now with a new introduction by the author.

In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.

Reviews

Mr Murakami did it again
5
By 濱畑は
Like a lot of his books this one also has a lot of dream like surrealism happening, All the characters have somesort of a connection. It’s hard to differentiate reality from dreams, although dreams are sort of a different reality. I enjoyed this book, a lot to unpack after reading it through.
Parallel Realities
5
By Whirlywheel
A perfect book for our times, a modern Through the Looking Glass in many ways. Better than any counseling to allow me to accept that nothing may be as it first seems again.
Being and Nothingness
3
By Richard Bakare
The plot, through line, and character arcs in this book amount to one giant existentialist dream. Every page is dripping with phenomenological explorations of contemporary existence and relationships. The reader is not just an observer but a layer on which some of the exploits play out. You have to resist being pulled into the drama.

At every point Murakami blurs the line between dreams and reality. This duality is best captured in a line later in the book where a character states that “…truth was not necessarily fact and fact not necessarily truth.” Likewise in this book life is observed in its essence and not in the literal play by play experience.

Add in the perspectives of many untrustworthy narratives and the oddly inserted perspectives from newspapers and other characters, and you end up with chaos swirling in the mind. I felt like I was sitting on the ground in a field, wind swirling everything around me, trying to navigate calmly through this maze of wonder. I see now why Murakami is so celebrated, even if you need a way finder to navigate the plot.
Incredable
5
By jggggggggggggggg
Layers and layers of amazing storytelling.
I’ll Have to Think About This
3
By d8th
A well in which to think.
I skipped over the vivid description of being flayed alive.
Still thinking…..
Brother-in-law gets what’s coming.
I think.
Well,well,well.
Literally my favorite book!
5
By brunaalice
This book is beautifully written. I love how this book allows you to connect emotionally to the characters and story as you read along. It’s such a great book! I couldn’t put it down. It has become my all time favorite book. I recommend to literally everyone.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
5
By kjarte
I felt like I inhabited this book, I was sad when it came to an end. It had so much texture, color and emotion. The characters are so well formed that I knew them as individuals with all their quirks and idiosyncrasies. It’s a book that transports you to another place and allows the reader an individual interpretation.
wow
5
By Synergy789
I just finished this book. It 's difficult to describe. Take the ride! Wow
Best book I've ever read!!
5
By mianhe
Everything about this book is just absolutely amazing.
A surreal masterpiece
5
By Gryok
This has to be the best book I have ever read. So much is going on in this book and it always keeps you on your toes. Murakami is a great writer that can turn any topic into something surreal and out of this world. I couldn't wait to finish reading just so that I could start it all over again. This is an adventure no reader should miss!