Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

70 reviews

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

Moderate: Suicide, Abortion, and War

celinis's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

You either love it or hate it, I spent 540 pages hating it but hate-reading until the end so I could say I finished it, but the last however so many pages I enjoyed. And when I say hating it, I mean it. I almost put the book down so SO many times. Not to mention, it gets very gory at times - if you're not into that I recommend either entirely skipping the war retelling scenes or not picking up the book.

You have to be able to look past the male gaze-iness (and boy, is it strong) and be able to accept that the plot has little to no consistency, despite the writing itself being pretty redundant a lot of the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Suicide attempt

theropfather's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Abortion

amelody'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion

dsalazar's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Really great read. There were parts where I did disconnect but that’s because it got a little too much into history or felt drawn out. Another minor hang up I had was with the sheer amount of information being thrown at you, at a very fast pace, in an intricate way. I get this was the intention and it may just be that it requires a second read. It kind of reminds me of Oppenheimer (2023) in that regard where it was fast paced and lots of details and Names are thrown out and the timeline isn’t chronological so a second or third watch helps with solidifying some details. 

This is all minor because overall I enjoyed the depth the characters had. This is my first Murakami book and it was exactly what I expected in terms of magical realism and explaining a mystery just enough that you want to know more but also would rather not know at the same time. So many unsettling scenes that were page turners. He captures complex emotions so well I had to put the book down during some of the more (literally) torturous chapters. 

100% recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Incest, Suicide, and Abortion

anemosise's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

originally rated a 3.75 directly after reading, bumped up to 4.25 after sitting on it more. i loved trying to connect a lot of murakami's dots while reading, and ended up being more satisfied than I was after initially putting it down. love his writing style, even though it was incredibly slow, i was still engaged! wish he wrote about the women characters more normally lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Incest, Infidelity, and Abortion

glorytowers05's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Abortion

blau_elmo's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

This book, to me, is Murakami at his best. Minimal weird, contrived sex scenes that are uncomfortable to sit through. Instead, there is a focus on the story line, which is filled with that magical realism mysticism, in which the quirky, memorable characters act together cohesively to drive the plot forward.

The book uses subtle occurrences, like the disappearance/reappearance of the main character's pet cat Noboru, as a catalyst for other stranger occurrences in the book. Everything is tied together in this convoluted but enthralling web, and Murakami keeps pulling his signature twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

I would describe this more as a collection of character stories bound together to form one cohesive novel. Every story, from the Lieutenant's war story to Nutmeg's disability, to Okada and May and Creta's unique personalities, creates the blend of adventure and introspection that Murakami does so well.

The comparison between the main character and

the actual Noboru Wataya

is particularly interesting; especially in the framing of "goodness" and "evil" as something shared between the two characters, their similarities driving their rivalry. 

An adventure through and through; my favourite Murakami book for sure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual content

kathleendayle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, Violence, and War

risemini's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and War