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A review by r2wend2
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle started is an intriguing mystery. I found myself wondering what was going on in this world and how all the divergences were interconnected. It was captivating and interesting. But by the end I was disappointed. Major characters were introduced who then vanished. Their motives were completely omitted from the novel and by the second half I found myself wishing for it to just end.
I'd expected that given the length of this book there would be time for resolution. Instead the story just continued to get more and more convoluted and the final wrap-up didn't provide the reward that I was looking for in sticking with the book. The protagonist's weird journey is kind of resolved, but the side characters are just set pieces to enhance his story. They conveniently show up, offer and air of mystery and then are largely forgotten. The forays into the past are interesting, and perhaps that's why the side characters were inserted but nothing wraps up neatly. Yes, the past affects us all, but after spending hours reading about events that had previously happened as they affected side characters lives to just have the side characters discarded and not tightly couple these events back to the plot was a bit frustrating.
Don't get me wrong, the back stories were interesting and the side characters telling them were also interesting. But they way that they are conveniently inserted into the life of the protagonist leaves room for their stories to be more interconnected - or for the connections to be stronger.
I'd expected that given the length of this book there would be time for resolution. Instead the story just continued to get more and more convoluted and the final wrap-up didn't provide the reward that I was looking for in sticking with the book. The protagonist's weird journey is kind of resolved, but the side characters are just set pieces to enhance his story. They conveniently show up, offer and air of mystery and then are largely forgotten. The forays into the past are interesting, and perhaps that's why the side characters were inserted but nothing wraps up neatly. Yes, the past affects us all, but after spending hours reading about events that had previously happened as they affected side characters lives to just have the side characters discarded and not tightly couple these events back to the plot was a bit frustrating.
Don't get me wrong, the back stories were interesting and the side characters telling them were also interesting. But they way that they are conveniently inserted into the life of the protagonist leaves room for their stories to be more interconnected - or for the connections to be stronger.