Wednesday, July 16, 2008

THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE- by haruki murakami

I finished this right under the gun- about 10 mins before needing to leave for bookclub. While i liked it (as i do most of murakami's books), at 600+ pages, it was just a little longer than my normal read. While reading it, several people asked me how i was enjoying it.
"It's good. I like it a lot," was my typical response.
The next question- what's it about?- wasn't so easy to answer.
"Um, well, this guy loses his cat, then his wife disappears and this virtual prostitute and her sister help him out. He doesn't get along with his brother-in-law who's running for political office, but has a dark side. He meets an older man who spent time in a well, and then he also sits at the bottom of a well for a few days. He's friends with the 16 year old neighborhood girl (though he's 30 or so), he surveys and categorizes levels of baldness in men around japan, meets an older ocd woman he calls nutmeg, and joins her healing business with her mute son cinnamon."
This description leaves much to be desired, and wouldn't convince anyone to read this book that i liked so much. Yet, there's not a good way to sum up the events of this story without sounding insane. If you've read any of his other books (including one of my favorites- kafka on the shore) and enjoyed them, you'll also love this. If you can't buy into surrealism, don't even bother!
Netflix rating? 4.5/5 stars.

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