Into the Forest discussion

This is the place to discuss The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami with spoilers.

I finished and gave it 4 stars. Here is my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I will share more thoughts once more of the members have read it.

I'm wondering whether anyone who has read/is reading The Wind-up Bird Chronicle has also read Killing Commendatore?

If so, did you find them similar? To me, it was almost as though Murakami wanted to improve on the earlier book.

He often returns to the theme of a man at a crossroads in his life. His writing is also known for its tropes: the cat, food, outlandish sex, and an obsession with 'niche' areas of the female anatomy. In these two books, his protagonists spend time 'finding themselves' in a well.

I love the humour and warmth of his magic realism writing, something I haven't found in his 'straight' fiction (he also writes non-fiction).

I bought the book at work yesterday.

I finished today at work. I was intrigued by the beginning, of the feeling of strangeness around every corner, of meeting the unexpected in all the eccentric characters. But about halfway through, it felt like the gig was up to me. As in, it just wasn't as interesting anymore to introduce strange characters into the protagonist's life. So what? They're weird. You're traveling to psychic dimensions through a well. Everyone and their mother tells you all the details of their life. It stopped being all that interesting.

My favorite scene was the first time the main character went into the well, and the neighbor girl closed the lid. Is it wrong of me that I thought that was funny? It was both funny and disturbing, and I like those moments in the novel best.

Did all the historical bits manage to be tied into the main narrative? I missed how the story about the Russian who skinned people and the soldier who first was thrown into a different well connected with the main narrative. And how Nutmeg's father's story connected, beyond them both having the mark. I understood how all the modern-day characters and events connected, but not the past ones. Does anyone remember?

I liked the cat. I would divorce the guy just because he didn't seem to care that much in the beginning, about the missing cat.

Margaret wrote: "I finished today at work. I was intrigued by the beginning, of the feeling of strangeness around every corner, of meeting the unexpected in all the eccentric characters. But about halfway through, ..."

Going by the 2 I've now read, Murakami's novels are very complex and dense. They seem to always have multiple themes, but they are not blatant. They are definitely thought provoking and leave me thinking. I was quite blown away by Kafka on the Shore, to the point I kept thinking about it afterwards and had a hard time starting up anything else immediately afterwards. That is not the case with this one although I did enjoy it.
My least favourite part was the historical part about the Japanese in Manchuria or Manchuko. I suspect this might be something that Japanese might appreciate more, as it deals with one of the more unsavoury aspects of their history.
I also liked May Kasahara, the teenage girl and found her funny!
It it seemed kind of strange to introduce the two characters, the sisters Malta and Kreta Kano and then just kind of abandon them.
I kept waiting for them to make more appearances, but they never did! I am not sure what the meaning of the face marks was supposed to be, that both the lead character Toru and Nutmegs husband, Cinnamon 's father had, but coincidences also seem to be a reoccurring theme in this book. There seem to be lots of themes and coincidences that are at the same time interrelated with each other. I can't claim to understand them. I am not even sure if a lot of it is even meant to be understood in a rational way, rather they are more like dreams or thoughts on had when you just wake up.

Ever since I read Kafka on the Shore I wanted to read more, but honestly felt intimidated by 1Q84. The one he wrote after Kafka.

I agree; I enjoyed Malto and Kreta Kano, but it was strange not to have them more tied into the ending.

It always took me a bit to get into, but I liked the historical parts about WWII and the Japanese in Manchuria. Maybe partly because I ended up listening to a lot of those parts at work, just by accident, but I enjoy listening to history lectures so it makes sense that I would like listening to those parts! I just didn't get the point of them?

If and when I read another, it will be Kafka on the Shore.

I started reading , it took me a while to get to it :(
By the way , since that the English edition is not complete "abridged" I wonder if this has anything to do with feeling that something is missing .

Oh, really!? I didn't know that!

Murakami is one of my favorite authors-- for me, his books are like crawling into a soft, oversized sweater, and getting completely wrapped up in it.

This book was a little harder to read because of the brutality of the WWII material, but at the same time it was interesting to see the events of the war from the Japanese PoV. I had read quite a bit about the war in Europe, mostly about the Nazis, and some about the Russian front, but here in the West the Japanese are generally massed in with the rest of the "evil Axis" power.

I much preferred the parts of the book that were not concerned with events of the war. Water seemed to be one of the themes of this book, and the strange people Okada encounters flow into and out of his life like water. He gains access to another world through a well, although I was never sure whether it was a doorway to another physical dimension or a psychic portal. Whatever happened in the Room 208 at the end of the story restored water to the dry well.

There are a lot of recurring themes in Murakami's books-- I read a list of them somewhere-- cats, music, and ears are a few of them, and the descriptions of the moon throughout the book reminded me of 1Q84. It is hard to analyze Murakami's work because of the symbolism and multiple layers of his stories, but I find them engrossing and fascinating.

Niledaughter wrote: "By the way, since that the English edition is not complete "abridged" I wonder if this has anything to do with feeling that something is missing."

I had not realized that the English version of the book was abridged. My edition of the book merely states that it was "translated and adapted from the Japanese by Jay Rubin with the participation of the author".

Suki wrote: " "translated and adapted from the Japanese by Jay Rubin with the participation of the author". ."

Mine just says "translated by Jay Rubin." I saw no reference to adapted or abridged anywhere in my copy. Here's what Wikipedia says (I know, not a great source):

"Some chapters and paragraphs of the Japanese paperback edition were not included in the English translation. Translator Jay Rubin cut about 61 of 1,379 pages, including three chapters (Book 2 Chapters 15, 18, and part of 17; and Book 3 Chapter 26).[9] Combining the original three-volumes (Japanese) would have been too long, and so the publisher requested that ~25,000 words be cut for the English translation.[10]

These chapters contain plot elements not found elsewhere in the book. For example, the two missing chapters from the second volume of the original three-volume elaborate on the relationship between Toru Okada and Creta Kano, and a "hearing" of the wind-up bird as Toru burns a box of Kumiko's belongings (Book 2 Chapter 15). In the third volume, the computer conversation between Toru and Noboru Wataya (Book 3 Chapter 26) and Toru's encounter with Ushikawa at the train station are also omitted.[11]

In addition to reducing the word count, some chapters were moved ahead of others, taking them out of the context of the original order. At the start of Book 3 the chapters have been rearranged. Rubin combined two chapters called “May Kasahara’s POV” and moved the “Hanging House” chapter to make the chronology of events consistent.[12]

Book 2 chapter 15 summary: In chapter 15 Toru awakens to Creta Kano who mysteriously appeared in his bed the night before. She tells him that she has lost her name and asks if he would like to flee Japan with her. To this request he agrees and leaves behind memorabilia of his old life with his wife. While Toru is in town gathering supplies for his flee he reads an article about Noboru Wataya, the article explains that Noboru is now trying to become a politician.[9]

Chapter 17 is not completely removed, instead the excerpt where Toru takes passport photos is removed and the very lengthy conversation Toru has with his uncle about buying real estate is condensed into one English paragraph.[9]

Book 2 Chapter 18 summary: Creta Kano returns to Japan and Toru tells her that he will not be fleeing with her. After this he meets with May Kasahara and they watch the demolition of the Miyawaki house. Later in the chapter Toru is swimming at the ward pool where he dreams in the pool about floating at the bottom of the well, presented in earlier chapters, and hearing horses dying during an eclipse. This leads him to the realization that the mysterious woman on the phone was actually his wife. Ending book 2 with this cliff hanger.[9]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Win...

I definitely think we needed all those Creta Kano parts! And so what if it's 62 pages longer? It's already 607 pages. That still keeps it under 700.

Margaret wrote: "I definitely think we needed all those Creta Kano parts! And so what if it's 62 pages longer? It's already 607 pages. That still keeps it under 700."

I completely agree with you, Margaret. If the author felt that those parts belonged in the text, I really don't appreciate the publisher deciding otherwise. If Murakami had initially decided to cut those parts before the book was published in Japanese, he would have had the opportunity to smooth out any rough edges. And I don't see why the publisher balked at an extra 60-ish pages; that's just odd. It's not as if Murakami is known for writing shorter books, especially with his later works.

I finished this book earlier this year. Just found this group today.

I loved the WBC. I've read about ten of Murakami's works and he is probably my favorite living author. He uses a lot of similar themes in his writing: music, cats, the "Murakami man", weird sex, underground/parallel worlds and time spent in wells, etc. To me WBC blends all of these very well. It seems, to me at least, this is where he solidifies his style and voice as a writer. I do wish the English text was complete but even without the 60 plus pages omitted it was one of my favorite books I have read this year.

If you haven't read much by Murakami and would like to read more I might suggest Hard-boiled Wonderland, Kafka on the Shore, or After Dark for your next adventure into his prose. I'm planning on finally starting 1Q84 soon.

Jacob wrote: "I finished this book earlier this year. Just found this group today.

I loved the WBC. I've read about ten of Murakami's works and he is probably my favorite living author. He uses a lot of simila..."

I hope you enjoy 1Q84, Jacob. It is possibly my favorite Murakami, although I love everything I have read of his fiction (some of his nonfiction can be a little dry).

Margaret wrote: "Suki wrote: " "translated and adapted from the Japanese by Jay Rubin with the participation of the author". ."

Too bad the publisher insisted on this! This explains a lot of why some parts felt incomplete, for example how the sisters Malta and especially Kreta just disappeared and were not mentioned again.
Come to think of it, there was never any mention of the telephone sex woman either!
Mine just says "translated by Jay Rubin." I saw no reference to adapted or abridged a..."

Jacob wrote: "I finished this book earlier this year. Just found this group today.

I loved the WBC. I've read about ten of Murakami's works and he is probably my favorite living author. He uses a lot of simila..."

Welcome to the group Jacob!

Suki wrote: "Murakami is one of my favorite authors-- for me, his books are like crawling into a soft, oversized sweater, and getting completely wrapped up in it.

This book was a little harder to read because ..."

That is a great description of what it's like reading Murakami's novels! I felt the same way about WW2 parts. Even though I found it harder to read, I appreciated learning more about this part of history!