“The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” by Haruki Murakami is perhaps my favorite book and a surprisingly deep, Kafka-esque, post-modernist romp through the world underneath our feet. If it is so great though, why do I have such a hard time describing it?
The basic plot of “Wind-up Bird” involves a man named Toru and his wife that goes missing. That’s all that can really be said without giving away too much. And really, anything else that is said out of context comes across as very...silly (yes that's the word). This is not to say the book isn't serious or lacks depth, but rather that separated out it would be very hard to enjoy some of the plots if they weren't part of the whole.
In many ways the books serves to be a critique of Japanese culture, particularly the proliferation of fads and the corporate structure prevalent in the island nation. There's plenty to take away even if you have not been able to experience Japan first-hand however.
The main draw of the book comes from the binary worlds that Murakami crafts (something he is not totally unfamiliar with: see "Hard-Boiled wonderland and the End of the World")and how they bleed together. It’s a dynamic that has been done over and over again, and yet Murakami finds a way to really make it feel like a natural extension to the waking life and in some ways completely organic. After digesting the novel one may find themselves questioning how much of the novel is fiction.
Murakami's latest work was released jsut yesterday, so why not go out and pick this novel and that as well?
10/10 but your mileage may vary.
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