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A review by muksreads
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
5.0
A terrifying tale of a man's journey to deal with grief and find meaning, fighting to exert as much control over his life as possible and deal with trauma handed down over the generations.
A mysterious disappearance of a cat sets the wheels in motion for this story. The setting itself is suburban Japan but the setting slowly feels like you're slowly slipping into a fantasy world. Murakami beautifully weaves multiple stories together. As you read you can slowly connect the pieces together as the tales from the past sheds light on a series of seemingly unconnected occurrences.
As the story moves you can feel incredible amounts for the main character. His loss, his struggles to forget his loss and his want to move back to a reality which no longer feels like the one he left, is immediately understandable. The way Murakami portrays all of these emotions and explains so perfectly what it is to lose someone you care for and the dissociation he feels with reality -- taken many steps further than most stories -- is harrowing.
Murakami obviously has a strong interest in history, this book itself concentrates on parts of the war in Nomonhan. He displays the vulgarity and hopelessness of war. Nothing is held back and the story grows as a result. A central theme to this book is the fight between free will and determinism. Placing this argument against the backdrop of a war and the decisions people have made was a stroke of genius. Further placing this against a main story of loss and a struggle to find their place in the world was masterful. Combining these two in a fantastical and somehow relatable way was genius.
A stunning book.
A mysterious disappearance of a cat sets the wheels in motion for this story. The setting itself is suburban Japan but the setting slowly feels like you're slowly slipping into a fantasy world. Murakami beautifully weaves multiple stories together. As you read you can slowly connect the pieces together as the tales from the past sheds light on a series of seemingly unconnected occurrences.
As the story moves you can feel incredible amounts for the main character. His loss, his struggles to forget his loss and his want to move back to a reality which no longer feels like the one he left, is immediately understandable. The way Murakami portrays all of these emotions and explains so perfectly what it is to lose someone you care for and the dissociation he feels with reality -- taken many steps further than most stories -- is harrowing.
Murakami obviously has a strong interest in history, this book itself concentrates on parts of the war in Nomonhan. He displays the vulgarity and hopelessness of war. Nothing is held back and the story grows as a result. A central theme to this book is the fight between free will and determinism. Placing this argument against the backdrop of a war and the decisions people have made was a stroke of genius. Further placing this against a main story of loss and a struggle to find their place in the world was masterful. Combining these two in a fantastical and somehow relatable way was genius.
A stunning book.