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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

By: Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin - translator
Narrated by: Rupert Degas
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Toru Okada's cat has disappeared and this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.

© Haruki Murakami 1994 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism World Literature Fantasy Magic

Critic Reviews

Murakami writes of contemporary Japan, urban alienation and journeys of self-discovery, and in this book he combines recollections of the war with metaphysics, dreams and hallucinations into a powerful and impressionistic work
Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to put down
Murakami weaves these textured layers of reality into a shot-silk garment of deceptive beauty
Critics have variously likened him to Raymond Carver, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Bret Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon - a roster so ill assorted as to suggest Murakami is in fact an original
Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original
How does Murakami manage to make poetry while writing of contemporary life and emotions? I am weak-kneed with admiration
[A] mesmeric story
Visionary...a bold and generous book
All stars
Most relevant
Seems totally random and pointless but I enjoyed the narration enough to keep me in until the different storylines started to click. I don't know what it is it's just really good narration

Fantastic narration

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Extraordinary tale, unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Amazing performance really captures the different characters.

Extraordinary

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Rupert Degas’ reading and performance of this book is simply astoundingly brilliant. His character vocalisation and intonation is world building and emotive.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is Murakami at his finest with unexpected turns and revelations layered into rich story devices. An enjoyable long listen.

A convoluted tale, performed well

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Overall an excellent narration, especially considering the number of female characters.

I hit a wall reading this around 65-80% of the way through, but the story was good overall with a satisfactory (but not stellar) ending.

Excellent Narration

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brilliant, wierd and dreamy. A classic

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