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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel (Vintage International)

by Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin

Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking... (more)

Top tags: fictionjapanmurakamijapanesemagical realism (all tags)

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mmolino54
  • Rated 5 stars

I'm pretty picky about which books I give 5 stars to, but this was my first Murakami and he kept me glued through 600+ pages (which is something even my favorite books can't always manage). The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a complicated and fascinating ride through Japanese history, mysticism, and relationships. It's not a book that can easily be summarized, but it's certainly one that left this reader feeling changed as if the reading of it somehow transformed me...

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Community:
  • Rated 4.334216 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • Angelika

    angelika said:

    Is this appropriate for a 13 year old? Why?

    posted 4 days ago ( | view 1 reply )
  • Daniel Roy

    daniel roy said:

    Murakami's books are travel books for me... I read "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" in Japan, and the whimsical, surreal nature of the novel worked perfectly. Last year, I went to the Balkans, and I tried "Wind-Up Bird Chronicle". Wow, it worked beautifully. I remember reading about the Russian skinner while on a night train between Bucarest and Belgrade, rushing through the Transylvanian countryside under a blood-red moon. This novel left a permanent mark on my psyche as a result.

    posted Tuesday, August 5 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • rory a

    rory a said:

    so where did may kasahara's letters go if mr. okada weren't able to receive them?

    posted Monday, August 4 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Sam S

    sam s said:

    I've read everything that is available in the US as far as Murakami goes, and I've read both Wind Up and Kafka On The Shore four times each. They both are masterpieces that deliver every time! I can also add that Wind Up Bird was truly a life changing book for me.

    posted Friday, May 16 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • chris w

    chris w said:

    I wish I'd read reviews from the Murakami fan club. Now I want to re-read Wind-up Bird. Sigh, too linerar in my thinking sometimes.

    posted Saturday, January 12 2008 ( | view 1 reply )

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