Rating: 
Summary: Weird events - fine. No reason for them - not fine.
Review: I should start by saying that I usually like bizarre fiction. Well, "Wind-up Bird Chronicle" is certainly that. A "regular Joe" for the main character, surrounded by the weird and inexplicable - psychic sisters named after islands, a healer and her mute son (named after spices), a well with no water in it, and an alternative reality set in a hotel.The beginning of the book sucks you in, written in a crisp, modern style, with no high-brow literary waffle. Very quickly you realise that something strange is happening to our "normal" protagonist, Toru Okada. The events don't seem to be connected in any way, but they are portrayed as clues, and you are batting for Toru to figure them out. The random, bizarre happenings make you excited, curious, desperate to read on. So then you read on. And on. More strange characters and events get introduced. There are large forays into the Japanese occupation of Manchuria before WWII and gruesome stories of violence there. But still, you think (or rather hope, by now) that this will all be explained. Somehow. But alas, it isn't. And you begin to suspect that many of the things you thought were significant "clues", were actually just there to increase the "weird and quirky" factor. At the end, several important people and occurances had just disappeared out of the novel (Malto and Creta Kano?), or were left hanging without explanation or resolve. I don't want the meaning of everything spelled out to me, I'm happy to use my imagination to figure some things out. But this book didn't even leave me with a skeleton on which to build my thoughts at the end. Only one of the themes (good vs. evil - how original) was resolved to my satisfaction. Read Murakami's book for an introduction to his style, read it if the words "Japanese" and "bizarre" in combination sound good. But don't expect to finish it feeling contented.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't start here.
Review: If you're going to begin reading Murakami books, don't start with this one. After reading "South of the Border, West of the sun," (Which I thought was wonderful), I found this book to be a lot more laborious to get through. Around the 400 page mark, you don't really know where anything is going. You have to have a lot of faith in an author to keep reading after you begin to doubt he's going to take you somewhere special in the next 200 pages. Definitely try Murakami, but don't start here.
Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Book!
Review: I was directed to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by two friends. After hearing so much about them I picked up the novel expecting to be instantly blown away.
Instead I was lured into a captivating and engaging story. Murakami has an amazing talent of writing descriptively, and not overwhelmingly. He paints clear pictures, and introduces entertaining and interesting characters. This novel is full of unique characters and profound insights that are played off as little moments.
The novel follows a man named Toru Okada who's life becomes increasingly complicated after his wife and his cat leave him. The reason I kept reading the novel was because of these strange occurrences, but they were written in a most ordinary way. The character knew they were odd, the reader did also, but the writing gave no indication of oddities.
This is what I enjoyed, the mystical that was present in these ordinary situations, and because of or perhaps due to the ordinary surroundings the mystical seemed ordinary.
My favorite character was May Kashara, a young girl who was the neighbor of Toru who after a short introduction when Toru spoke about a bird who sounded as though he had a wind-up spring, called him "Mr. Wind-Up Bird".
My favorite scenes were the war scenes (although they are very brutal and violent, my imagination went crazy and I was appreciative of the medium of writing where I was in control, instead of a film) and the water well scenes, which were cleverly executed and described. There was a part where Toru promised himself he wouldn't look at his watch and then all he could think about was the watch and the time, and it was described to a T and I was amazed at how well Murakami described the human animal.
Murukami's characters are likeable, and each of them are different and well-developed. As the novel continues past strange phone calls to baseball bats and water wells, it became harder for me to concentrate on my life. I simply wanted to read the book until its finish.
When I reached the last hundred pages of the book, I took my time. I didn't want to say goodbye to May Kashara or Toru Okada, the characters were so vivid and sweet that I didn't want to finish the novel.
I did, however, and the end did not leave me short-changed, but instead was just as an end should be. Not too much and not too little.
I would have to say that all in all, Murakami has an incredible skill for balance. He never gives too much or too less, and the novel progresses wonderfully. I would recommend this novel to everyone. But try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!!!
Review: Perhaps one of the best books I've ever read. It grabs you from the first page and holds on until the end. The dreams are lyrical. The characters are mysterious. It's beautifully written (and translated). I would recommend this book to everyone!!
Rating:
Summary: ENIGMATIC!
Review: That's what this book is - an enigma. Don't get me wrong, I love the puzzling realm it takes you to, with some bizarre characters, whom you never really get to know. The disappearance of the cat and then Kumiko just add to it's mysterious qualities and maintains your interest. Once Murakami reels you in, (which is almost immediately)you're in for the long haul. But don't expect loose ends to be tied and all to be explained. This is something you must do for yourself. Days after you've finished reading it, some things will make sense while others will seem more odd than the first time. For example, I started thinking about the heart that was buried in the night by the tree. Was this Cinnamon's Dad's heart? If so, doesn't really tell me much. Toru, the leading character does change from an observer to someone who is willing to fight for what he wants. The stories told by Lieutenant Mamiya are graphic and disturbing, but well told.
All said and done, I love the tale Murakami weaves. Just don't expect a nice neat package with everything in its place. I think it's this quality that attracts me to it. I agree with the majority of reviewers - definitely a love/hate relationship with this work. You will keep coming back for more though. Trust me.
Rating:
Summary: Holy Mackerel...
Review: When reviewing a book, I have three criteria. First, what is the author's intention? You can't apply the same standards to say, a suspense potboiler that you would to a work of serious literary fiction. Second, how well did the author succeed, given his/her intentions? If a work presents itself as serious literature, I'm going to be a lot tougher on the writing than if it's a suspense book best enjoyed while waiting for my plane to take off. The third criterion, for me, is the most important and also the most subjective: how much did I enjoy reading the thing? What were my reactions along the way? How do I feel about the book after I've finished it?
Murakami's WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLES is a tough book to evaluate by two of these measures. I think that the author had in mind to make a statement about the nature of modern Japan, its dysfunctions, how they arose from the past, from repressed atrocities, how those even on the most intimate of terms can be complete strangers to each other...but honestly, I'm not sure if that's what he meant at all. How well did the author succeed, given his/her intentions? Who can say? As other reviewers here have commented, there are so many unanswered questions and unresolved relationships at the end of the novel that one wonders if Murakami knew his own intentions.
But third...how much did I enjoy reading the thing? A lot. I was entertained, engrossed, transported. If the ending felt a bit unsatisfying and unresolved, I was more than compensated by the richness of the journey. Sections of this book are so evocative, so affecting, that they provided enough rewards for this reader to make the trip a worthwhile one. WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLES held my attention as I read it and resonated in my head long after I closed its covers.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, But....
Review: A long, strange read that kept me wondering and reading. I had the same "love/hate" relationship that other reviewers have mentioned.
Murakami is not an easy read - but there's this odd pay off that I feel even months after having put it down.
Recommended, but not for the average bear.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed bag
Review: Imagine you're doing a jigsaw puzzle. At the beginning you're excited to see where it leads. Then you concentrate intensely on solving it. Then you get frustrated because you're making no progress. Finally, you realize that the puzzle has no solution - it's impossible to solve.
If this situation would annoy you, you probably won't enjoy this novel. If you enjoy the process of learning that the puzzle has no solution, read this novel. I'm in the former camp.
Murakami has a tremendous imagination and is a great writer. He is able to convey a sense of unease without telling the reader exactly why s/he should feel uneasy. This book is engrossing, and it kept me interested.
But there are too many unresolved questions. More accurately, there are virtually no *resolved* questions. I don't need a plot that gets wrapped up with a nice bow, but I do expect a novel to move from one place to another. Either this novel didn't, or I'm too dumb to understand it.
I don't want to be too harsh because I admire this novel's originality; I've never read anything like it. But ultimately I found it frustrating, so I can't recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I found this to be an extremely engaging, well written novel. Murakami blends the real and the unreal wonderfully, and it's a real page turner. Like most of the other reviewers here, I too felt disappointed with the ending. However, considering Murakami is a professional, I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, and didn't let myself be disapointed for too long. I think he does wrap things up, just not in the way that you might want.
Rating:
Summary: Get ready for a wild ride
Review: a confession: I do not know much (anything) about Japanese literature and I cannot speak japanese. The Wind-Up Burd Chronicle was apparently much longer in the original Japanese version, and I wish the entire thing had been translated.
After several pages of this novel, I wondered why I was reading it. I was not engaged and it seemed like the heavy book, paperback though it was, might fall from my hands. But then something happened: I entered Mr. Murakami's world and had a hard time comimg back out. It is difficult (impossible) to categorize this novel. Murakami can write about simple events in an intoxicating way. It is too earthbound to be a fantasy, and yet it is a fantastic, surreal journey. Some of the scenes in Mongolia during the war were among the best historical writing I have ever read. And there are some very powerful erotic passages also. Try fantasy, science fiction, mystery, add irony, add water and shake well. There is also something very musical about the Wind-up Bird Chronicle. Read it and you will probably agree with me. It is very powerful and evocative work and I regretted that it came to an end. Maybe I should learn Japanese...
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