Reviews

-Come i grandi massacri della storia.
[...]
-Quelli che li hanno commessi riescono a trovare delle motivazioni razionali per giustificarli e infine anche a dimenticarli. Sono bravi a distogliere lo sguardo da ciò che non vogliono vedere. Ma le persone che hanno subito non possono dimenticare. Né guardare altrove. La memoria si trasmette dai genitori ai figli. Il mondo, Aomame, è una lotta senza fine tra una memoria e un'altra che le si oppone.

jenny_hedberg's review against another edition

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5.0

Tengo and Aomame. What could these characters, seemingly worlds apart, have in common? I want to liken Murakami's storytelling to a river; he traces two small streams to where they join and manages to do so through 800 pages without losing his reader's attention (at least not mine!). In the beginning, we know almost nothing about our two protagonists, but more is revealed as the chapters alternate between telling their respective stories. Murakami provides no exposition but lets his reader explore the story and how the different characters and events connect - successfully, I might add. Magical realism features prominently in the story but does not make it silly and does not distract from the story. Rather, it encourages the reader to be openminded and look beyond the obvious.

I might add to this later.

aribarrio's review against another edition

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2.0

no me he enterado de nada, la historia me daba igual y solo quería acabarla
por no decir que la forma en la que habla de las mujeres me da tanta grima que no puedo

mrmysteryfox's review against another edition

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5.0

Re read of one of the novels that got me into Murakami.

“If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation”

The characters themselves almost summing up Murakami’s work! Surreal and entertaining read with a back and forth storyline between the two main characters. Glad I re read this as it’s reminded me how much I enjoyed this book the first time around. What’s not to like the story has; a female assassin, secretive religious cult(s), story within a story, unrequited love and the surreal “little people”…

Like
-Like the alternating main character narrative - builds good suspense and anticipation of if the two will cross
-Very different main characters and storyline which keeps the book interesting
-Challenges religions/cults and the impacts on upbringing of children
-The image of two moons and transferring to an alternate world will always haunt me (same as how I’ll always hear a magpie call and think of the bird call from wind up bird chronicle)

Dislike
-Sometimes a bit over sexualised (albeit think that is the point of breaking stereotypical norm or Japanese women)
-Clearly should just be read as a single extended book (this is how I first read it anyway)

To remember

“Once you pass a certain age, life becomes nothing more than a process of continual loss.”

On creating a meaningful bond with someone
“To think that such a close connection could only be formed through violence was almost too much for Aomame to bear.”

justkirstie's review against another edition

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i haven't picked this book up in two years because i just didn't want to read it

being brave enough to say i won't finish it

grahammcgrew's review against another edition

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3.0

I allowed myself to read the first sentence. Then the first paragraph. Then I searched up Janacek's Sinfonietta and gave it a listen. For years we wanted Dylan's next Blonde On Blonde, then for decades his next Blood On The Tracks . . . can Murakami once more scale the heights of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle?
Having finished the book . . . No, he can't. Poor man's Wind-Up Bird, but better than Kafka On The Shore.

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