Add BookmarkThe Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel
Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these search... (show more)
Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.
Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon. (show less)
Related Media
Photo Gallery
Similar Books
You might like these
Reviews (See all 2,812) Write a reviewfor this
-
I'm so utterly confused by this book! I have kept silent for over an hour now, trying to reconstruct the puzzle with the pieces I have. I feel that pieces are missing! But that might well be the power of it all. The fact that the irreality has suffused with the reality, obliterating certain pieces and giving you others that would never fit into the puzzle before you.
May Kasahara has to be one of the best characters ever written and I have thoroughly enjoyed her letters - wherever they di... (show more)
I'm so utterly confused by this book! I have kept silent for over an hour now, trying to reconstruct the puzzle with the pieces I have. I feel that pieces are missing! But that might well be the power of it all. The fact that the irreality has suffused with the reality, obliterating certain pieces and giving you others that would never fit into the puzzle before you.
May Kasahara has to be one of the best characters ever written and I have thoroughly enjoyed her letters - wherever they did end up. The gruesome stories hailing from the Asian continent left me cringing and covering my eyes - of course, this did not stop the images in my head from going away; all it did was stopping me from reading, which I did NOT want to do.
The many, many characters in this book make the story come alive. I think I've felt myself draw into seclusion the last couple of days, climbing down my own ladder, reading and fitting into Okada's mind. I felt from the beginning the mysterious woman had to be Kimoko herself, and/but even though the novel's end seems to reinforce this thought, I am left puzzled.
This book will have me thinking for many a day or even week to come. I just try to get the meaning of it all, even the superficial facts. I loved it, though, and it has opened up a new form of reality. This book was paired with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by publisher Vintage and I see the striking similarities - what is real and what is not? - as well as the obvious differences, set in such different worlds with such different people.
Amazing. (show less)
Already read
-
Actually, I'm going to out on a limb and say this is one of Murakami's weaker novels. Sure, everything he is known for is thrown together in this smorgasbord, but in all it's too much and key parts seemed too rushed. The emotion just seems too apathetic and that's saying a lot when it comes to Murakami characters. Toru is a loser and that fact is laden on and on and on through out so that there's no question or even any sympathy for him. The only intriguing characters are the Kano sisters... (show more)
Actually, I'm going to out on a limb and say this is one of Murakami's weaker novels. Sure, everything he is known for is thrown together in this smorgasbord, but in all it's too much and key parts seemed too rushed. The emotion just seems too apathetic and that's saying a lot when it comes to Murakami characters. Toru is a loser and that fact is laden on and on and on through out so that there's no question or even any sympathy for him. The only intriguing characters are the Kano sisters and May Kasahara, as the other characters seem too bland or are never explained very well (Cinnamon I'm looking at you). Don't get me wrong, the book is dreamy and surreal and at times, occasionally philosophical. And the scenes do stay with you (poor elephants!). But in Murakami style the plot is substituted for a lot of subterfuge and the climax never feels like a true victory for anyone (including the reader). Skip this one and go to Kafka on the Shore if you want emotion or A Wild Sheep Chase if you want plottyness, but if you want true Murakami you better pick this up and hopefully just enjoy the ride. (show less)
Already read
- See all reviews
Conversations
Please log in to join the conversation
-
(Spoiler) So... Who was that... (Spoiler toward end of book, warning)
So, I'm curious everyone... In the last part of the book, where Okada takes the life of another in the darkness... Who could that be?
My opinion that it was possibly Okada as he had already "bashed" Noboru earlier on, further the movements and the fact that the man was carrying a similar penlight also gets me thinking... Further "Kumiko" screamed out for him not to turn the light to the battered/killed individual.
With that in mind, I believe that she in turn was protecting him, what would he have done if he had seen that this "someone" was himself? If anything I feel strongly that this would have to be indeed another self of Toru Okada, perhaps himself within "the other world".
Just my opinion, what do you guys think?
Dana M Weise 8 months ago -
Imagine this book as a piece of music. Something abstract and yet it has recurring themes - leit motifs. Could anyone listen to the Magic Flute once and get the whole picture? I think you have to read this book more than once and feel the flow before some of the pieces fall into place. There are always unresolved mysteries in his books and instead of finishing on a tonic chord, it breaks off in the middle of a phrase..
Mary Johnston 20 days ago -
-
Malta Kano in the end (spoiler: please don't read if you haven't finished)
Does anybody have any idea what happened to Malta Kano in the end? Creta's sad silence makes me think she suffered an unpleasant end.
Facebook User about 1 year ago -
Too many questions!
I just finished reading this book and i loved it.. but i have too many questions.. maybe u could help me to understand a little bit more..
Why was Honda's gift an empty box..?
How did Mamiya meet Creta? Who is the real father of her son?
Whats the relation between Mamiy and Toru?
Whose heart was buried in Cinnamon's garden?
Why was Cinnamon's father murdered?
What was the relation between the Veterinarian story and the rest of the book..?
Is there any relationship between the hotel where the room 208 was and the hotel where cinnamon's father was murdered??If u can help me to understand i would really appreciate it! thank u
Ahtziri González about 1 year ago
Lists
This book has been added to these lists:
More Stuff
About Us
LivingSocial.com is a social discovery and cataloging network that allows people to review and share their favorite movies, books, games, music, restaurants and beer
