Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

6 reviews

bella613's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

This isn't my favorite of Murakami's novels. It features his classic young protagonist who loses both job and wife, and proceeds to do nothing much but make very strange friends (acquaintances?) who either tell him their life stories or come onto him very strongly. Somehow Murakami uses this same structure often and still makes completely new stories. 

I love Murakami's writing style. He's both straightforward, and roundabout. Descriptively realistic and still wildly fantastical. But this novel didn't do as much for me as his others. I'm not exactly sure what it was (or wasn't) because the main character was definitely more likeable to me than the lead of Norwegian Wood. I liked the side stories, especially the war time ones, even if it was uncomfortable at times to read. I think the overall feeling of this book just vibed with me a little less. 

Also- just a little warning if you haven't read it yet. It's not horror but there are rather graphic descriptions of gore and violence and it feels pretty horrific at times. All of Murakami's stuff is definitely adult rated but this one is a more specific-to-horror type feeling.
If you don't like dark reading this one isn't for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

marinarc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

nochnitsa's review against another edition

I chose this book to be my first proper Murakami because, as description said, it's a collection of all the typical Murakami elements, and of course the cover is absolutely stunning. The cover is also the only thing that could make me regret not finishing or liking this book. I'm over a 100 pages in, and so far, despite lots of things happening and many many words, it feels like the book lacks real substance. What really makes me uncomfortable though (and it is the main reason for me dnf-ing this book) is the way Murakami writes women or about women. Associating a teenager with a woman who propositioned him phone sex? Talking about violent rape and forced prostitution like it's a weather forecast and then having a wet dream about the sane woman woman? Sounds a tiny bit disturbing to me, no thank you very much. I doubt I'll ever give Murakami another try after this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pedophilia

enoby's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

esmithumland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved the inter-leaving stories in this book, and the mysteries were deeply intriguing. I liked that they were simultaneously explored while remaining largely unresolved. But I didn't care for the gratuitous death and gore (although I could somewhat see that contributing to the story), the weird pedophila, or the fact that while half of the characters are women their only point is to revolve around and relate to the men. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia