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gardenvariety's review against another edition
4.0
the first murakami i ever read...engaging from the start and I had never read anything like it.
tex2flo's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. I know that to read Murakami is to expect lots of stories inside of the overall novel. I also know, now, to expect some man who seems to have little control over his life versus the women around him. In this one Toru Otaka seems to have women dropping out of the ether to take co troll of him or his mind. And, there are a lot of mind games in this story, for sure. I could have done with a bit of editing on the more brutal parts. However, my hat is off to the translator who captured subtle essences of the story beautifully. It is obvious that the original version must be lovely to hear.
joshbriggs's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes books can get an overhyped. I have to assume that's what happened here. I think there are moments (Mamiyama's letter; Room 208) that will stick with me perhaps long after today, but I found Wind-Up Bird otherwise simply "good." Its language was occasionally hypnotic (and in places, perfect), but it took a few hundred pages to suck me in. I think the Coen Brothers took a nod from this in making the Big Lebowski and some of their other films (so much of it is about what happens TO Toru, as opposed to what he does. There is an absurdity to the noir, and magic in the mundane). But it also felt wildly incongruous at parts, emotionally. And at other turns, I wish it had been more subtle (symbolism is almost always pointed out directly by the narrator, for the avoidance of any doubt). I cared more about Mackerel than Komiko. Anyway, I'm glad I read it, but if this is the top of Murakami Mountain, I think I'll heli out here.
readinruthie's review against another edition
3.0
Very weird book, didn't really get the point of the book. Jumps around a lot so can be frustrating to follow.
rubyrubay's review against another edition
1.0
The best I can say is that I finished it because I hate leaving books unfinished, but it took me a few years.
dna_heligrace's review against another edition
5.0
This book has a very personal meaning to me. I can't read it without it dredging up old feelings that I associate with it due to the circumstances that I read it under. Anyways, it is a very thought-provoking book, very unpredictable yet relatable in some aspects. The story itself starts off simple enough- a search for a missing cat. It transforms into a search for a missing wife, then a missing life, then an entire world inside the mind of the main character. It is one of my most favorite books of all times, and very special to me- which is why I've only read it twice; I don't want to spoil the feelings.
rachelc16's review against another edition
2.0
I felt like this book had no plot and no resolution to the story. I kept reading waiting for something to happen, and the most exciting thing in the book was Kumiko’s letter saying she was going to kill Noburo, but that was honestly boring because we didn’t get much into behind it.
writegeist's review against another edition
5.0
I do love Murakami. Let's get that straight from the start. So, yeah, another 5-star review, the kind that evidently isn't worth anything any more. Oh, well, so be it. Whenever you pick up a Murakami book, you have to be ready for a wild ride filled with apparent non-sequiturs. I love the whole thing: the characters who are victims at the start and yet are able to find their way as fate deals out the hands. I enjoy being immersed in Murakami's worlds, however many of them there are.
kayflew's review against another edition
4.0
My friend recommended this book to me, which I found weird when I realized that his own review only gave it 2/3 stars. But after I finished it, I understood. The novel is a wonderful, fabulous journey through strangeness. It is perfectly gripping and satisfying at every turn, full of symbols which you interpret to have deep significance. Days spent in wells, red hats, a missing cat, and through it all, this passive "alice-in-wonderland" character who moves through the strangeness with inexplicable passivity and acceptance. The historical stories also paint portraits of moments that are shocking, as well as entirely vivid.
The trouble is with the resolve. I've read enough reviews here to know that people make of it what they will, but in my view, nothing really came together. The symbols are there, curious as ever, but we don't get to really understand the magic that led to their existence in this bizarre story.
Would I recommend? Definitely. Just enjoy the journey, because it's a marvelous one. Maybe arriving at the end is not always the point.
The trouble is with the resolve. I've read enough reviews here to know that people make of it what they will, but in my view, nothing really came together. The symbols are there, curious as ever, but we don't get to really understand the magic that led to their existence in this bizarre story.
Would I recommend? Definitely. Just enjoy the journey, because it's a marvelous one. Maybe arriving at the end is not always the point.
underdog30's review against another edition
4.0
This is literature just the way I like it. A sprawling time frame; quirky characters connected in an intricate web of social, cultural, and political threads; and just bizarre and murky enough to keep the reader a little on edge. From an abandoned husband in the bottom of a well to a sadistic general flaying his prisoners to a precocious girl counting bald men in the subway, the characters and situations are always a bit off-center and never quite what you expect. A nearly brilliant piece of work.