It’s been some time since I wrote up a review and it’s sometimes hard to get back into the swing of things. But, just like in a previous review, I decided to take notes on the go to have things to then go into when I was writing a summary after I finish the book. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle was lent to me, and though I had all the intentions to get through it relatively quickly, that was not quite the case. Quite frankly, it took forever and I’m quite glad it’s over. This review may contain some spoilers, so be aware that before you read on.
“… the columns filled with incomprehensible codes and clues.” (Chapter 5)
This is the first quotation that I picked up on, and decided it was a good moment to look back on the story up to that point. So, after a few chapters I have a theory that the wife of the main character Toru Okada is cheating on him. Whether of not this is actually something that’s going on or something else entirely different is going on is an element I’ll reach the more I read. For now though, through her showing up home later than usual and her overall annoyance and cryptic nature seem a little suspicious. Already in the small section I’ve read there have been a few secondary characters introduced that seem rather important to the overall story but I’m interested to see what they’re all there for. And if Toru ever does find the cat … Another thing I picked up on quite early on in the reading was the character of a damaged female close to the protagonist, which was something that I’d picked up on in Norwegian Wood.
“Like I said before, I needed a place where I could be alone and concentrate on my thinking.” (Chapter 10)
So some things have happened since the last ‘update’ and all I have to say is the protagonist is kind of a mess. But that’s understandable. He’s been having some weird dreams. He’s meeting weird people that then employ him and even go as far as re-invent him, but I’m getting ahead of myself here. For a chunk of the novel, the protagonist either hears about a well, or goes into one not too far away from his house and sits there and thinks. All he takes with him is a single bottle of water and a flashlight. He wears a watch on his hand but that doesn’t offer much consolidation when being in a well. For clarification, it is a dry well, so there’s no risk of water going in. So, he sits there for a few days and thinks, and once out, with an addition of a bizarre mark on his body, he reflects on some of the things he came up below ground. Post emerging from the well, he goes in there a few times though never again stays there for such a prolonged period of time. A good thing considering the health risks. As good of a thinking place that this well is, I’m unsure how good of an idea it was for him.
There is a lot happening in this book. Characters come and go and you almost start to lose track of everyone. To me, the main character seems to be doing a lot of pointless things that don’t exactly make sense and it is almost as if he is not quite in touch with reality – he literally didn’t think anything was wrong with his marriage until the last minute when his wife literally stoped coming back home. Similarly, I don’t know how all of the things brought up in the book relate to one another.
I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and let’s just say, I’m quite glad to be done with this book and to be able to move onto something else. Initially I was planning on reading Killing Commendatore, another Murakami book, but I think I need a break from his books for a bit. Still to this day 1Q84 has been the easiest and most pleasurable to read of his novels, and it’s also the longest (if you consider the trilogy as a whole). My rating and opinion on this book is not the most popular, but that goes for every book out there, everyone will have their own individual thoughts on it and in a way there’s beauty to this mix of opinions.
Some more reasons as to my rating, I just think it’s so hard to read. It is a complex novel, not an easy read, one you really have to be ready for, mentally. It’s the kind of book that makes you think and requires you to remember some details here and there and if you’re not entirely ready for that, then this book may not be for you at this moment. Though there are elements that pass relatively quickly, there are others that drag on. Characters are picked up and dropped just like that, ones that actually fed interesting elements into the novel. And as much as I like this authors book, the damaged female character and people going away to the middle of nowhere gets a little repetitive after a while. The ending though, slightly pleasing and a good way to finish an otherwise all over the place story.
aga is reading 
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