January 19, 2009

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami


Are all Japanese authors into magic realism? I've only read this guy and Banana Yoshimoto, so that's my impression. And I love magic realism. Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Tom Robbins are my homeboys. 

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle could rightfully be called a tour de force. It's about wells and zoos and dreams and faraway places. It's a big, sweeping novel that covers a lot of time and space. And there's a lot in there about the history of Japan and how it shaped their people that went right over my head. I read on Wikipedia that the English translation is actually missing two chapters, and in Japanese the characters' names are translated in katakana rather than kanji, which means nothing to me, but I wish it did. Apparently that's significant. 

This book is scary and wonderful and you should definitely read it.


2 comments:

robyn. said...

we started a mini library/bookswap at school and i am overwhelmed for choice. i cannot read books fast enough. i'm waiting for norwegian wood, i hope someone brings it back soon....

Erin Riley said...

I love Norwegian Wood a little bit more than The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. It's close though.