Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly captivating
Review: Having never read any of Murakami's work, and not knowing anything about the author, I am delighted to have "discovered" a writer who, from page one, could reel me into his (bizarre)world. Be it a real world or a dream world, I'm still unsure. The story is at once completely believable and utterly unbelievable. This tension was thought provoking foor me. I enjoyed the humor, the tightly woven drama, the unexpected turns at every page. If anyone knows more about the author, do fill me in. This is a wonderful novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece of setting and mood
Review: Haruki Murakami's voice, world-weary and full of references to sixties American pop culture, works it peculiar magic in "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" better than ever. The hapless Toru Okada, searching for his missing wife, chases what seem to be false leads into what can only be described as alternate realities that impress upon the reader their own alien kind of logic. We are led to witness wartime atrocities in China, we are dropped into the bottom of wells, we enter mysterious hotels that may or may not be accessible via the physical world. We meet mute computer geniuses and people who make love only in dreams. If it sounds fantastic and otherworldy, it is, but the feelings of longing behind it are real. While I was reading "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," I had a number of dreams where my life was intermingled with the plot and I had a hard time distinguishing the two. It touches you that deeply.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: I was amazed at reading the author's own comment in Amazon.com that this was "the best book I have ever written and possibly the best book in the history of Japan." That audacity (and arrogance?) alone would have convinced me to buy the book even without reading exceptional reviews. The book is fascinating and different and fun as well as moving and sad and disturbing. I'm certainly not qualified to say that the author's self-estimate of his book's place in Japanese literature is true, but if it is, Japan certainly has nothing to be ashamed of. Murakami is right up there with Pynchon and DeLillo, both of whom he resembles in some ways. The books weaves seamlessly through completely mundane daily life, horrifying events from the 2nd World War, and David Lynchian supernatural, inexplicable events. It is intimidatingly large (though beautifully bound, for the bibliophile) but reads quickly; even though a lot is left for the reader to try and figure out, it's a very satisfying book. The best I've read in a while, by anyone.
Rating:
Summary: yes
Review: the best book i have read in a long, long time... i read "the elephant vanishes" a few years ago, and adored it, but never picked up anything else by mr murakami. for some reason, when i heard that this one was a hefty 600 pages, i ran out and bought it... and basically inhaled it. exactly what i wanted to read... complex, but very straightforward too... when i read the stories in "the elephant vanishes", i felt like i was reading the thoughts of the smartest 5 year old in the world... "the wind-up bird chronicle" gave me the same sort of feeling, but in a more expanded sort of way... not a page of the book seems to be wasted... he has thoroughly explained an incredibly complex worldview in a very, very clear way... it seems like he must have drawn many charts and graphs before actually beginning writing... he has done with this novel what it seems like peter greenaway would like to be doing with film (and mr murakami isn't a bastard! [i am guessing]) yes... like mr greenaway's "the falls", but NICE. in conclusion, I LIKE THIS BOOK... I AM MAKING MANY PEOPLE READ IT... bye
Rating:
Summary: Finally, something new under the sun!
Review: I stumbled across this at the library, vaguely recognizing the title and remembering that I'd been meaning to read A Wild Sheep Chase since it came out. What luck! The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is one of those rare events--the kind of book that makes you want to put everything else in your life on hold and be carried away by it. It's an amazing combination: a plain old good read, page-turner, yet also a densely packed novel of ideas--all propelled by a manic, wild humor. Echoes of Kafka. One of the best books I've ever read. Took my breath away.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary - one of my top 10 reads ever
Review: After reading The Wind Up Bird Chronicle I bought everything Murakami has written to date. I'm working my way through those books now - slowly and carefully and in the hope that by the time I'm done he'll have finished a new novel. The narrator is one the most beguiling, earnest, endearing trudgers-through-life I've ever come across in literature and I was absorbed by his every move, by his every encounter (real and surreal). A friend had been recommending Murakami's fiction to me for years, but I resisted, thinking he sounded too deliberately oddball for my tastes. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. He's a wonderful, engaging, touching, hilarious writer and I'll buy anything he publishes from now on. And what a beautifully presented book, the cover design and the interior pages with the page numbers circling round the edges. Fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, But...
Review: An Alfred Birnbuarm transalation would have made it great. After reading both the English and Nahonga prints, the openess and directness of the transalation is wanting.
Rating:
Summary: Don't pick this up if you have to get up early.
Review: Wind-Up Bird is the first time I've encountered Mr. Murakami though it most certainly won't be the last. I'm buying a copy now for a niece and I very much look forward to reading everything he has written. It's been a long time since I so enjoyed a novel and it's been even longer since I've encountered such an imagination. Looking for a good time? Start here.
Rating:
Summary: Winding Up the Wind-Up Bird
Review: The best part of Murakami's "Wind-Up Bird Chrnoicles" is that at its core, it's a love story. Boy loses girl; boy wants girl back; boy goes after girl. It's the last part that's the doozy: Can you imagine going down a well to get your wife back? Or sitting on a bench day after day because your uncle thought it was a good idea and would sort of "clear your head"? Or dealing with mediums named Malta and Creta, Cinnamon and Nutmeg? Don't let me fool you, though. The book holds up remarkably, thanks to Murakami's powerhouse storytelling and and that we never lose the protagonist's main reason for doing it all: for the love of his life. It's delightfully simple and complicated at once, a paradoxical condition that should be very familiar for previous readers of Murakami. I was reminded of "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" as I read this book. Both works are about lost love and a split between reality and imagination. "Chronicle," though, has a much darker side; the Manchurian passages are harrowing accounts of humanity gone badly wrong. If you are a New Yorker reader, you may have already seen parts of the book ("The Zoo Attack" and "Another Way to Die"). In short, you can't go wrong reading "Chronicle" -- it's a fine addition to the growing list of Murakami's literary triumphs.
Rating:
Summary: bewitching and bemusing
Review: This was my introduction to the author's work, but I just adored it. It strikes me much like Pynchon, but an easily accessible, not "work so hard at it" Pynchon. I laughed out loud, read long into the night, and just knew he'd go down that well. Yet, other anticipations were dashed, making the book constantly the master of the union. This book hangs on to you long after you've finished.... J. MacDonald
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