THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE by Haruki Murakami

Reviewed by Francisca Hu

Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an ominously dreamlike and contemplative look at the powerful reach of evil and those who are scarred by its effects. The story begins with the seemingly ordinary disappearance of a household cat. Toru Okada, an unemployed man uncertain of his purpose in life, is given the task of finding the cat by his malcontented and distant wife, who also takes off without any explanation shortly after the novel starts.

In his search for his cat and reasons behind his wife’s departure, he encounters adventures that bring him closer to his purpose as well as many people who each bring to light their various encounters with evil and how they have molded them into the people they are. Through these tales from those who have been “defiled” and his own introspection, Okada gains the power to purify the “defiled” and ultimately overcome the evil in his own story.

Murakami skillfully weaves present-day stories and tales from Japanese-controlled China during World War II into several unified themes. However, these threads can be rather difficult to understand as one. Murakami never gives any overt explanations to the tales or how they link together, and he masks his meanings in surrealist visions. Like Okada, the reader feels as if he or she were wandering in a maze, uncertain of the purpose of everything that is occurring. Despite all this, the story is undeniably compelling and gripping all the way through because of Murakami’s beautiful language and the mysteriousness of its surrealism.

Still, the story becomes truly rewarding if the reader is willing to find his or her own interpretation and piece the puzzle together. Otherwise, it is an arresting but confusing jumble. Murakami’s brilliance is not only in forcing the reader to contemplate the meaning of the story through his use of symbolism and surrealism but he masters the pulpy novel language in his descriptions of violence. While some readers may argue that it is completely unnecessary, the language is so powerfully descriptive and horrifying that it puts the reader straight into the shoes of Okada and those who directly witnessed evil and are ultimately unable to recover from it or erase it from their memory. Similarly, anyone who reads the book will not be able to erase those descriptions from his or her mind, especially if you were one of those people who nearly lost their lunch over one particularly memorable scene.

All in all, a book very much worth your time.