Well I wrote a whole big review of this book but Blogger decided to be a bitch and delete it. Thanks, Blogger!!!
ANYWAY. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami is about a guy whose cat runs away, and then he quits his job and does a lot of nothing, until weird shit starts happening and keeps on happening until the end. It's told with a pervasive feeling of dreaminess and dissociation, and the flow is about as dream-like as you can get without becoming incomprehensible or pretentious, unlike some books out there (yes I'm looking at you, Only Revolutions. Asshole).
So here's the weird thing about the cat. This guy's wife is intent on him finding it (with all his unemployed free time, which lets be real, chasing cats isn't such a bad way to spend your time if you don't have to work) because she insists the cat is a symbol of their marriage. But the guy nicknamed the cat Noburo Watanabe after his brother-in-law. Why would you nickname a cat you admittedly like (which may or may not be a symbol of your marriage) after your creepy, rapey brother-in-law who you deeply despise? Kind of freaky, dude.
My major complaint, though, is that the book builds up towards an interesting climax until two-thirds the way through when suddenly half the cast drops out for no reason and the book starts moving in a totally different direction. Apparently the book was originally published as three separate volumes, the third of which is an asshole who doesn't want to keep up the story his predecessors left him. Also there are chapters missing from the English translation? What the heck.
This sounds like I'm hating on the book, which isn't really fair. I really like the parts where people are hanging out at the bottom of wells. I like the wind-up bird. And I like all the parts where the guy is looking for his cat, because it seems very quiet and peaceful, and I really dig looking for cats. I like all of the old veterans, and I like Creta Kano, the 1960's-attired psychic prostitute. I really like May Kasahara, the delinquent teenager who spends her time sunbathing and keeping an eye out for the missing cat.
Overall I'd give this a 6/10. Murakami does an excellent job of creating the mood and tone of the novel, but it would have gotten a better rating if the overall story arc was more consistent, and if the author had refrained from sexualizing (overtly or covertly) every single one of the many female characters. I wouldn't really recommend; try reading the short story it's based on, The Wind-up Bird and Tuesday's Women--it quits while it's ahead.
I can't find info about the word count, but it was 607 pages long, so if it's 300 words per page (apparently average for trade paperback), that puts me around 182,000 words.
Kristie's total points: 305,224
WINNING.
5 comments:
Damn girl. I'm like halfway through a thousand books that I hate and my only motivation to finish them is to get points. Oop.
Ok so technically I finished this a little before I started on this blog but you got a head start with Outliers so I call it fair.
But yeah man, you gotta read to WIN, not to enjoy worthwhile literature!!!! Also maybe you should just pick better books next time?
I think I just have zero tolerance for being bored while reading, it's all the internet's fault. If I'm not engaged I'm just like NEXT. I find non-fiction much easier to get through, but unfortunately the stuff that's accessible enough to be a quick read is usually so dumbed down and lacking in actual research that I'm just rolling my eyes all the way through.
If you haven't, you should read The World Without Us or something by Oliver Sacks, both highly engaging non-fiction.
As with 99% of books I've ever tried to read, I've read about 80% of The World Without Us. My brother received an Oliver Sacks book for Christmas from me AND YET I SEE NO REVIEW OF IT.
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