Dave's review
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel
by Haruki Murakami
What did you think of May Kasahara? This book was amazing, but made me feel horrible and despairing. The only thing I really LOVED about the book was May.
Sure, I would say the book left me feeling the same as well. What's confusing is why it makes you feel that way? Given how scattered it is (in it's way), it's hard to see emotion in a cause and effect sort of way.
May, to me, was Toru's connection to anything resembling "real", though towards the end, you sort of see that May isn't normal (or rather, happy), really, but still somewhat "real" in more of a sense than what the other characters had to offer.
I'm going to go back to this after I read something else from Murakami. I may have gone too far in before I knew what he was about.
I read "After Dark," but that's all that I've read other than Wind-Up Bird. I'm going to try "Norwegian Wood" next.
POW subplot: Awesome.
The extended "In the Well" sequence: Not so much.
Dave's review
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
Dave's review
rating:
So before long, you find yourself 340 pages into this book, and you have no idea what's happening.. Rather, you understand all you have read to this point, but still can't determine the direction Murakami is taking you in.
Still, the book is compelling. You can't seem to put it down. Meanwhile it begins to invade your dreams.. in much the same manner that Toru's (the main character) dreams are invaded. You start having dreams about strange women and empty wells.
So cracking into "Book Three", I'm still uncertain of what will happen next, or if there is even a point to this work. Having reviews that state "dream-like" and "surreal", I wonder if anything will come of it. I know what I would like to happen, but Murakami tends to avoid my expectations.
So I'll read on.. and maybe in a day or two, I'll have closure.
9/18 Update:
No closure.
Expectations avoided, though I was working on satisfying conclusions all throughout Book 3, just ...more
Still, the book is compelling. You can't seem to put it down. Meanwhile it begins to invade your dreams.. in much the same manner that Toru's (the main character) dreams are invaded. You start having dreams about strange women and empty wells.
So cracking into "Book Three", I'm still uncertain of what will happen next, or if there is even a point to this work. Having reviews that state "dream-like" and "surreal", I wonder if anything will come of it. I know what I would like to happen, but Murakami tends to avoid my expectations.
So I'll read on.. and maybe in a day or two, I'll have closure.
9/18 Update:
No closure.
Expectations avoided, though I was working on satisfying conclusions all throughout Book 3, just ...more
What did you think of May Kasahara? This book was amazing, but made me feel horrible and despairing. The only thing I really LOVED about the book was May.
Sure, I would say the book left me feeling the same as well. What's confusing is why it makes you feel that way? Given how scattered it is (in it's way), it's hard to see emotion in a cause and effect sort of way.May, to me, was Toru's connection to anything resembling "real", though towards the end, you sort of see that May isn't normal (or rather, happy), really, but still somewhat "real" in more of a sense than what the other characters had to offer.
I'm going to go back to this after I read something else from Murakami. I may have gone too far in before I knew what he was about.
I read "After Dark," but that's all that I've read other than Wind-Up Bird. I'm going to try "Norwegian Wood" next.
POW subplot: Awesome.The extended "In the Well" sequence: Not so much.