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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami,

Jay Rubin (Translator)

Start date: July 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: New School Classics- 1915-2005

Why we're reading this: July 2021 New School Classic Group Read
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New School Classics- 1915-2005

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What Members Thought

Nov 06, 2013 Franky rated it it was amazing

Shelves: the-hard-challenge, magical-realism

“For heaven’s sake, Mr. Wind Up Bird, why can’t you ever get involved with people who are a little more normal?”

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle centers around the story of Toru Okada (Mr. Wind Up Bird), a thirty-something everyman who has decided to give up his job. Satisfied with waiting for the right job opportunity, Okada has settled in to staying at home and doing chores, and looking for his lost cat. When Okada’s wife Kumiko suddenly leaves him, he goes on a quest to discover her whereabouts an “For heaven’s sake, Mr. Wind Up Bird, why can’t you ever get involved with people who are a little more normal?”

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle centers around the story of Toru Okada (Mr. Wind Up Bird), a thirty-something everyman who has decided to give up his job. Satisfied with waiting for the right job opportunity, Okada has settled in to staying at home and doing chores, and looking for his lost cat. When Okada’s wife Kumiko suddenly leaves him, he goes on a quest to discover her whereabouts and try to understand why she has gone. Believing Kumiko’s corrupt politician brother may be responsible, he searches for answers. Along the way he meets a sixteen year old girl, May, who is obsessed with death, and shows him a mysterious well in a neighboring yard. When he decides to go to the bottom of the well to think, Okada discovers that he may have opened a portal to another realm. Through Okada’s search for meaning, through a series of odd episodes and events, he comes in contact with several eccentric types: psychic sisters (Malta and Creta), a former military man (Torkutaro Mamiya), a fashion designer (Nutmeg) and her mute son (Cinnamon).

One amazing aspect to this novel is simply the narrative and level of storytelling. There are so many moments and events that take on symbolic meaning. There’s a mystical, dream-like quality to much of the novel, but these moments serve to be the basis for powerful revelations. On the surface, Okada has a physical search for his wife and cat, but there is a deeper level of philosophy and also a spiritual search for life’s answers. Within the novel, there are elements of good and evil, both coming in the form of characters and events.

The author also uses correspondence as a way of moving the plot forward or filling in key moments. In particular, Mr. Mamiya’s account of the terrible events in the war was powerful, yet brutal and awful, yet it serves to give Okada some insight into the past. Kumiko’s letters have an ambiguous feel to them, but attempt to fill in the gaps. Even with rather violent and bizarre moments, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle comes back to a humanistic approach that reveals a moral or significance.

Haruki Murakami’s The Wind Up Bird Chronicle compels you think about life, existence, meaning, love, and the human element. As with Hard Boiled Wonderland, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle has a fragmented way about it: miscellaneous parts, eccentric characters moving in and out, and a distorted picture of time and place. All these create a system of meaning. Deeply symbolic elements are within the plot structure. Out of so much chaos and confusion comes understanding. Many authors that attempt this sort of fantasy/reality structure fail miserably, or may have their novels come across as gimmicky, but Murakami handles the bizarre, the philosophical, dream-like aspects so aptly that you are pulled in.

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5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2021 Katy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish

Just meh - no hate, no love, just couldn't find any reason that I would want to pick this one up again. I really tried, but couldn't quite make it to the 100 page mark. Not for me. ...more

1 like · Like · see review