Paz on 25/9/2005 at 23:56
I'm not planning to use spoiler tags. If you happen to be halfway through this book, or have designs on reading it--you are forewarned!
Right, I know we have some Murakami fans about; and I just finished "Wind-up Bird" last night. I *think* I enjoyed it. Well .. no, I know I enjoyed it. He writes beautifully, with a wonderful--occasionally exceptional--turn of phrase. Despite being pretty hefty, it was never a slog (I read it fairly slowly .. this was by choice) and often delightful. Except for when people were being skinned alive and stuff, obv.
But I have questions. OH MAN, DO I HAVE QUESTIONS.
This, in itself, I see as a positive. The fact I'm still wondering about parts of the novel whilst splashing around in the bath can only be a plus, as far as I'm concerned. The ending didn't really tie much together--but I'd been expecting that and I've read my fair share of philosophical type stuff where this occurs. Leaving a few things to the imagination of the reader is fine by me. I often prefer it that way.
So I don't need explicit explanations of Mr. Okada's (i'll just call him 'Okada' from now on) weirdo astral-projection shenanigans at the bottom of wells. He can just do that ... fair doos.
What I have a harder time dealing with is characters whose plot arcs simply died, with no resolution and (seemingly) no explanation. HOWEVER, I suspect that perhaps there were hints about various things which I may have missed.
Malta and Creta Kano ... they kind of just buggered off, didn't they? There's a vague implication that Okada has got Creta pregnant--and also that Malta Kano may have died. But that's about it. Why does Malta wear a bright red vinyl hat all the time?
The singer that Okada kicks the shit out of and nicks the baseball bat from: that was all a bit bizarre. Presumably this was a set-piece which allowed him to gain the bat (important later), but I feel like I might have missed something here. I know the singer was a recurring character in Okada's life .. and this theme (of recurring characters) is itself .. um, a recurring one. Maybe there's a clue there, or something.
I picked up that the chapter about the unnamed kid was Cinnamon's backstory (fairly obviously). Yet knowing this didn't really answer all the questions raised by that segment.
What's the deal with Nutmeg's husband being murdered in an exceptionally nasty way?
So yes .. stuff like that bothered me a little. More because I felt I may be missing a thread or two somewhere--or possibly I just *think* I am, sometimes this kind of literature just goes 'ahh, but don't you see?' to cover up what are actually genuine flaws. I'm not sure in this case.
All the Japanese/Russian WW2 parts ... these didn't always seem to weave into the plot as smoothly as perhaps they were supposed to. Nonetheless, I did appreciate them. Almost as stand-alone pieces, I suppose. The mini-chapters about Boris which pop up toward the end are almost a minor political epic in themselves. I assume that, as another major theme seems to be that of responsibility, the Japan/WW2 aspect ties in to this.
God, even trying to write a coherant post about this book is tricky! Are there any sites out there with general theories/ideas about the whole thing? I think they could make rather interesting reading.
Right, anyway .. declare your love for this novel, my utter heresy, your AMAZING IDEAS and other thoughts about Murakami here.
GO!
Vivian on 26/9/2005 at 14:12
A lot of his books tend to meander. I wouldn't go looking for anything like a definite meaning to it all. Its debateable as to whether story arcs need something as artificial as a 'satisfying' ending, or as to whether they can just be allowed to fade out of the readers conciousness, as such peripheral events tend to in real life. Okada loses his cat, then his woman, goes to find both or either and has some odd but beautifully written and at times terrifying things happen to him. The end.
If you want a more conventional murakami book, try 'A Wild Sheep Chase', which is also great, and has a relatively linear narrative with a 'proper' ending.
Stitch on 29/9/2005 at 19:35
I just want to say I'm avoiding the hell out of Paz's post due to spoilers but I just bought this book so I should have an opinion on it at some point.
We need to start a TTLG book club discussion group as long as the Prachett fans and D&D nerds don't get to select entries.
Ulukai on 26/4/2006 at 19:16
Yes, this is an oldish thread.
However, this really didn't get the airing it deserved the first time around and I can't help but feel that Paz's effort went largely to waste. I'm not sure how many Murakami threads this particular forum can sustain, anyway. (Not even one, apparently).
Ok, so I didn't read "Wind-up Bird Chronicle". But recently they were doing a promotion in my local bookshop on another one of his books - "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World". So, I picked it up and now I've finished it.
Some smallish spoilers herein.
Dunno if this is the case with all his books, but every chapter alternated between two realities, one more surreal than the other and you're left to figure out how these relate to each other. (Although it becomes more obvious as time goes on but you're left to wonder deliciously for about two thirds of the novel.)
The more surreal aspects of the story (for example, a man ending up in a town where upon his arrival he is severed from his shadow and set to work in a library reading dreams from unicorn skulls) make for fascinating reading, simply because no one else I've ever read seems to have an imagination quite like it.
Even the more surreal thread arc set in a modern, urban Tokyo involves programming brains on a subliminal level and descending into a murky underground laboratory via a river, deep in the lair of evil entities we know only as INKlings.
There's all sorts of bat-shit crazy stuff going on, but I found it emminently readable. About 60% of the way through, my interest waned slightly because nothing much seemed to be happening, then I realised how the two stories related and I didn't put it down until I'd finished it.
The ending was not what I expected; let's just say the protaginist makes a surprising choice. And after I finished the book, I was left pondering over the issues raised in the book, that of tampering with peoples minds and living forever withing a finite space of time (it's hard to explain, but it involves notches on a toothpick).
At times, it was like I was reading absurd nonsense, but ultimately it's all put together in such a charming and skillful way that not only could I not help but like it, but there's powerful issues raised too.
The man knows the nature of people. The man also knows his Jazz. Reading about a professional man living alone in a Tokyo apartment, I could see aspects of myself in his life, even in the music he listened to and his casual relationships with other people, which in a way was a little scary. But in a good way.
As Paz says, "even trying to write a coherant post about this book is tricky!" and I'll be damned if it wasn't damn tricky for this one too.
At the very least I'd be interested in reading another one of his books to see how similar it is in terms of formula (if at all) to the one I read.
Looking at the usual quoted wankery on the back of the book, we see "...he captures the common ache of the contemporary heart and head". And for once I'd have to agree with the schpiel.
Stitch, did you ever finish the book?
frozenman on 26/4/2006 at 19:50
what are the odds- Just the other day I was eyeing this book in the bookstore but had no money.
i.e. I'LL READ IT EVENTUALLY. Can anyone give me a teaser? I skipped through all the posts because of the danger of horrible venerial spoilers.
Stitch on 26/4/2006 at 22:32
Froze: Just pick the book up and read the first page or so. That was enough to hook me.
I did finish the book and had a fairly similar reaction Paz. It was a dense yet enjoyable read, and in the end I wasn't quite sure what to think of it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Murakami does have a way with words, and I quite liked how all the water flow metaphors are actually mirrored by the plot, character development, and writing style.
I intended to write a lengthy reply to this thread back in October when I finished the book but I never really got around to it, and now the book isn't exactly fresh in my mind.
Low Moral Fiber on 26/4/2006 at 22:51
I tracked down "Dance, Dance, Dance" and enjoyed it a couple of years ago (after that whole thisisnotporn.com riddle stuff on here) so I'll probably check this out. Crazy Jap Phillip K Dick schizz.
