The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle By Haruki Murakami Book Discussion | Low Fantasy

There is a well inside all of us. At least, that is what I think the theme of the book is telling me.
I'm on a mission to read a book in every sub-genre of every genre and I'm starting with Fantasy. This time, I will read a book from the low fantasy genre and the book representing that is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.
There are many books in the low fantasy genre, but I felt I should explore one where the fantasy elements are subtle to a point of invisible. After reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I wonder if it even is a fantasy novel. What do you think?
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle: amzn.to/3qnifjy
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[@serious6037]

My girlfriend suggested this book to me, at first i was sceptical and bit lazy to read, but later when i was done reading, i felt how this book healed me, it reaches your deepest thoughts and feelings,finds your wounds and heals. It can heal your depression and make you feel alive, for me personally this book is a key to a universe.

[@theelliotchan]

Really happy to hear you had such a profound experience reading it! Some of my best reading experiences came from books I was sceptical of as well. Thank you for the comment!

[@matthewreilly4311]

crazy! just finished this book right after reading cloud atlas, and i did see a few parallels there! i like that murakami concretely answered the questions that meant most to me (like where is Kumiko?), and left some of the other stuff up to interpretation. for example, I believe the hotel served as a metaphysical dreamworld that Noboru Wataya created out of his malevolent thoughts and sexual urges, trapping the women he desired inside. it's my belief that the man Toru beat up in the hotel room was Noboru Wataya himself, causing his stroke in the real world. i don't know any of this for sure, but it's something that we as readers can interpret and debate forever, which I love. i loved your interpretation of the main theme of the story, i never thought about it like that but it's a beautiful thought.

[@gerardorosiles8918]

What I remember more about this book is the part of the Japanese-Chinese war, in particular the part with the "skinner" and the Japanese spy. That still gives me the chills, just remembering how Murakami describes the scene.

[@helutob]

2:27 it annoys me so much that they haven't done the whole trilogy, just parted to three books in my language aghhh

[@helutob]

very cool idea of yours to read one book of each type of sub-genres, do u use/have used a specific list of the sub genres? i know this sounds dumb as shit... it would help me with organization tho!

[@theelliotchan]

Thank you! No list exist with every sub genres, it's something you get to create on your own. (you don't want to have a list created by someone else anyways... you want to have some choices) To make it easy, you can begin with one main genre: like sci fi - I started a spreadsheet and just start listing books I want to read as well as different genres and then started linking them together. Good luck, happy readings!

[@nzyyoyoy]

I listened to the book, and I just recently finished it, and i feel lost because I want there to be more story😭

[@vesaversion298]

I think "taking a crack at it" is the deep meaning of the novel, just like the number of heads that gets cracked by the baseball bat. Mr. Murakami wants us to crack our skull trying to figure it out by thinking about it hard(just like the baseball bat is hard) and die poetically, thereby life imitating art.

[@captainmax7967]

a few thoughts: you said the book is abt emasculation, although imo Toru reclaims his masculinity when he kills the man in the hotel room, against kumiko's wishes. you could also say he is no longer a NEET after his "work" as a psychic *shrugs*. my take: there are so many loose ends in this book that have no singular answer to them, that the uneasy confusion you're left w/ must be the point of the book. I like what the NYT said in their review: "he means to subvert the conventional detective story, in doing so, suggest that the world is a mysterious place, that the lines between reality and fantasy are porous, that reason and logic are useless tools in an incomprehensible world". he also spends considerable effort connecting (however tenously) most of the major characters through some kind of motif, and its worth examining why. to me, it feels like all the characters are living a their own piece of a greater collective life. many of the characters feel the historical ones, reincarnated. toru feels like nutmeg's dad reincarnated (both have the mark). noburu has parellels to boris the manslaughterer, in that they "defile" creta and mamiya, respectively. noburo and boris linked by noburos uncle, and by honda. my biggest misgiving with the book: may kasahara. found most of her bits boring and unrelated. anyway, nice vid, just finished reading it myself and fun to see an alternate opinion. cracked up at "nothing magic happens" in the middle clip. the whole book is magic!

[@theelliotchan]

Thank you for this thoughtful comment! Yes! I believe the longer you spend trying to make logical sense of it, the more confusing it gets, because it simply isn't meant to be consumed that way. It is in itself a magic trick that way.

[@dammydepolonia]

I, to the contrary, found May very engaging to read and witness. She seems to lean towards death (the boyfriend accident and the fact that she almost lets Toru die in the well), yet is strangely vivid, I don't know, she's just an emanation of the peculiarities of life. Her bits were unrelated, yes, but is life? I think she's a warm character and perhaps Toru's only friend throughout the book. Although we don't know how their lives went on, I wish Toru had found a lifelong friend in her, a relation perhaps even deeper and more meaningful than the one he had had with Kumiko.

[@rubyparchment5523]

I read THE TRIAL just before this. Now almost finished.

[@gonsonandenschinder]

I think the book is meant to be irrational and not understandable which makes it just frustrating. When there is so much room for interpretations it shows that there isnt enough explanation from the book. You could also suspect Murakami did this intentionally to make the book seem more magical

[@davidedemasi4424]

Just finished the book, great review!

[@n_kwadwo]

You should read 1Q84 really. It takes a long long time to hit but it's worth it

[@theelliotchan]

I'm about 30% through before I gave up 😅. I was reading it on my tablet and it felt endless lol I'm definitely going to give it another shot, but it will have to be a real book.

[@israfaeldari5532]

Low fantasy means; magic realism.

[@vi3889]

coming back when i finish the book! subscribed!

[@theelliotchan]

Please do! Thanks for the support :D

[@pinkieskeelo]

great video. subscribed.

[@theelliotchan]

Thank you!! 👏

[@parkerrose3590]

I loved Wind up Bird!

[@theelliotchan]

It's a great book! 📖

[@NanaHaque]

I currently read it, on page 400ish now and after watch your video I finally know that I am not alone who feel confused and kinda lost while read it 😂 i read it on paperbook while listening the audiobooks at the same time to help me get through it, it’s surely one of the most confusing plot of Murakami’s that I read 😂

[@theelliotchan]

one of the strangest second half of a story I've read in a while for sure! 😄