2007-September: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami I'm cheating a little here, because I'm a huge fan of Haruki Murakami and Wind Up Bird is one of my favourites. This is one of his older works which I find a heavier than his current work such as Kafka on the Shore; however, I tend to enjoy his earlier novels much more so. The novel centers on the main character, Toru Okada, whose wife leaves him suddenly without a word of warning. In his quest to find her, he meets many unique and zany people which is characteristic of Murakami's style. Amongst them is an old war veteran still burdened with gruesome stories of the Manchurian occupation, a prostitute with psychic powers, and a morbid neighbourhood girl. What is so refreshing about this book is that Okada seems to be a relatively simple man, almost naive to a fault -he enjoys cooking and cleaning, doesn't seem to over think about issues very deeply, and he's content just living with his wife in the home they made together. Through what seems to be a random chance of events Okada is drawn to an old well in a vacant lot in his neighourhood, that links him to another world different from reality, yet one that affects it all the same. Murakami is a master storyteller in "Wind Up Bird" as he links what at first appears to be random facts and events, but always, as ever, hanging onto every last word.
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