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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book Three)
By Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780679775430, 1998, 624pp.)

This post shares my thoughts on book three. If you are reading along with me and have not finished book book three, save this post for later as it may contain spoilers.

In a nutshell, what takes place in book three?

Book three was pretty exciting. Toru is determined to find his wife Kumiko even though Kumiko’s powerful brother Noboru, advises Toru against it. In his heart, Toru believes that Kumiko did not leave by choice. He is so convinced of this, that he decides to purchase the abandoned property by his home known as the hanging house. The house is considered to be bad luck for anyone who lives there, but Toru doesn’t care because that is where the dried up well is and he needs more time in the well to figure out what is going on. Toru is unemployed with little in savings so the cost of purchasing such a property, no matter how undesirable it may be, proves to be too much for him. The money becomes available when he accepts a position as Nutmeg’s replacement in the “fitting” room.

The fitting room is where Toru meets with strange women to remove whatever is bothering them. After a small test of sorts, Nutmeg has the hanging house leveled and builds a compound in its place. This allows Toru to work as a fitting room consultant without the peering eyes of neighbors, and it allows him access to the well when he needs it. A lot of strange things happen in the well and compound. He visits the “other side” when he goes down in the well and he receives communication from Kumiko by way of online chatting. Some of the characters who played prominent roles in book two come back and there is a large chunk of the book dedicated to the Manchurian Incident.

Things happen and discoveries are made. It was quite a book and I was worried when I got down to the last 45 pages that I’d be left hanging, but I did feel there was a resolution of sorts. Not one with perfectly tied bows but I did feel satisfied with how it ended. I still have a lot of questions though.

Murakami has admitted in the past that he never knows how a story will end when he begins to write it. Based on interviews, this was particularly true with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Do you feel that this technique added something to the story? Or do you feel that it had the opposite effect?

As I was reading, I enjoyed the “wild ride” and was often surprised at where Murakami’s mind took us. When I finished the book though, I spent an entire week trying to piece it together to make sense of what took place. It’s not an impossible story to piece together because in my mind. There are clues from the past that help you makes sense of the stuff going on, but there must have been about five possible outcomes and I don’t think any of them are wrong.

When I finished, I immediately wrote-up what I thought had happened and then shared it with a few others who I knew were done with the book and they came back with other possibilities that I had not considered. After spending a week trying to come-up with the one outcome that Murakami wanted us to take-away as readers, I’ve decided that since he didn’t know how it was going to end himself, that the outcomes mentioned are clearly up to us as readers.

I know this drives some people nuts because so many of you want a firm resolution to sit back on, but this is not the case with this book and I am 100% okay with it. I felt that it came together enough to give me the satisfaction I needed as a reader and the meandering nature of the plot, set my imagination on high. I’m not sure this meandering technique works with all of his books, but I do feel that it worked with this one.

What do YOU feel happened to Kumiko?

There are a lot of theories floating around about Kumiko’s disappearance and I’ll mention a couple that came to mind:

That she was always there, but transparent. I got the impression at one point that Kumiko’s self-worth was lost after she became a prostitute for her brother. Another blogger questioned this saying that she was never a prostitute but the reason why I thought this, was because of her mention of “many men” and we know Noboru’s history with Creta so I thought that this was how he was controlling her. The transparency thing was something I considered when Toru mentions that someone is always there, but not visible. In my mind, she turned within herself and vanished only to be seen in this other place on the other side of the well wall.
Another thing I considered, is that physically she was holed-up somewhere, but that she visited Toru in the form of Creta. Creta had the same body type and often reminded Toru of Kumiko. Later, when Creta’s baby is discussed, another blogger and I could not help but think that this “baby” was the baby that Kumiko aborted early in the marriage.

Crazy, huh? I had a lot of fun coming up with possibilities. Especially when I realized that no theory is really wrong, considering Murakami had no idea where he was going with the story when he wrote it.

Who was the guy without a face?

In the final hotel scene, Toru gets some assistance from a man without a face. I took this to mean that his face was not visible to Toru (for whatever reason). Many ideas ran through my mind. At first, I thought it was Ushikawa, the loser guy that was a messenger for Noboru. Then, I thought it was Toru from the other side. What I’ve settled on, is that it was Cinnamon. That Cinnamon took the bat from the well and put it in that hotel room for Toru to use later. This also fits if you think about Cinnamon leaving the computer accessible so that Toru could read the Chronicles if he chose to do so. It’s as if Nutmeg and Cinnamon were hired to help him out. I sort of liked this idea so that is what I am sticking to.

What do you think?

What part did you least enjoy in book three?

I really, really did not like the bits about World War II. I didn’t mind the mining camp too much but when it went back to discuss the 2nd massacre and we got to know Boris the Manskinner a little bit more, I really had to focus as I was tempted to skim. However, now that I am done with the book, I think if any true answers are to be found that they are to be found in those sections.

Your turn! What’s your final verdict?

Did you enjoy the experience? If this was your first experience with Murakami’s writing, will you be reading his other books at some point? Or have you decided he’s not for you?

Finally, Thank you!

Thank you for reading along with me. I know many of you went outside of your comfort zone to join me and I appreciate it! It’s been fun and I will miss the interaction. I spent the last week going through withdrawals but I think I’m good now!

And the mysterious black/blue mark that I reported having last week seems to be fading. This is my final update post but I may write-up a short review that includes all of the updates posts and a little bit more. Other than that, we are done!

Blue Black Mark - Wind-Up

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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Book Two)
By Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780679775430, 1998, 624pp.)

This post shares my thoughts on book two. If you are reading along with me and have not finished book two, save this post for later as it may contain spoilers.

In a nutshell, what takes place in book two?

A lot happens in book two. Kumiko goes missing and we find out why. Toru has a run-in with Noboru, Kumiko’s brother not the cat. Toru stands up for himself, for once. We learn more about Creta and it’s even more bizarre than what we initially thought! She’s a prostitute of the mind. I will let you ponder that one. Toru, in despair over Kumiko’s disappearance decides to spend some time in a dried up well. What he doesn’t expect though is that May will take it upon herself to see that he stays there. As Toru spends some time in the well, we learn more about the early years of his marriage. As a result of his time in the well, a mysterious black mark appears on Toru’s face. Creta tells her story of the rape and it’s not pretty. It involves the removal of organs or beings which caused a division of flesh and spirit. The end of book two does not end well for Toru and if you read between the lines, it’s clear that he’s becoming unglued.

Which part of book two did you enjoy the most?

The part that I enjoyed the most was actually the parts where Toru was in the well. This voluntary seclusion that turned into something else fascinated me. For one, I never expected May to do what she did. She’s always been a “go with the flow” kind of gal but I did not expect her to get involved in that way. Her power over Toru at that point made me very angry. I wanted to know where she was going with it, but at the same time, pulling up the ladder seemed like a bratty, childish thing to do and I wondered if she had any point at all in doing what she did.

With his hunger and extreme thirst, his time in the well is spent hallucinating but as a reader, you’re never sure of what’s imaginary and what’s real. I was riveted to the page during this part of the story. I felt as if everything meant something so I read carefully, trying to discern the meaning behind every little thing.

Each chapter has a unique title. Which title is your favorite so far?

“The Story of the Monkeys of the Shitty Island” but, I have to tell you “No Good News in This Chapter” is a close second. Some have expressed their frustration with the chapter titles but I’ve been using them to go back to parts of the book and with them being so unique, I find them a big help when trying to find something.

What if your favorite quote in book two?

I have several but this is the one I remembered to write down:

A certain kind of shittiness, a certain kind of stagnation, a certain kind of darkness, goes on propagating itself with its own power in its own self-contained cycle. And once it passes a certain point, no one can stop it–even if the person himself wants to stop it. (Wind-Up, page 202).

What is the significance of Kumiko’s abortion?

Toru explains that they weren’t ready for a baby and left the decision up to Kumiko, but I can’t help but think that the “abortion” is somehow related to Creta’s defilement by Noboru. The removal of self, the division of flesh and spirit. Perhaps this is when Kumiko became the bloodless, robot that I consider her to be??

Kumiko’s letter is an explanation of why she did what she did, but do you buy it?

Kumiko is frustrating in many ways. She’s very reserved and detached. Almost robot-like. Her letter to Toru is wrought with feeling, but it doesn’t come across as genuine to me. I think there is more going on with her disappearance than what she lets on. This part of the story remains a mystery to me.

Without commenting on book three, what do you make of the mark on Toru’s cheek?

In my mind, he’s transforming into his “other” self or his other self is coming out. This theme of re-birth seems to be rearing its head all over. May suddenly gets motivated to go back to school, Creta moves from numbness into her 3rd self and now Toru’s act of violence on the guitar guy leads to a horrible dream about skin overtaking him.

For fun, make a prediction on what happened to Noboru the cat. Where is he? What happened to him?

It’s possible that we’ll never know but another blogger did mention that she seemed to recall finding out in book three but she read it so long ago she couldn’t remember. The well seems too obvious. It’s also strange that the cat is named after Kumiko’s brother. My guess, and I am sure I am way off, is that Noboru IS the cat. That his other self is feline.

Anything else you want to add?

I found book two to be much more interesting but at the same time, it was harder to keep straight. I found myself going back to my notes quite a bit. I think we are at the point now where what happens in one book will also be mentioned in books two and three so keeping them all straight might be more difficult.

Your turn!

What do YOU think so far? If you want to comment, add a comment to this post or use the hashtag below to find us on Twitter. If you did a write-up on your blog, use Mister Linky below to add a link to it. You can also click on the Mister Linky button to view the links that everyone has posted thus far.

You do not need to comment at all if you don’t want to! Next up, book three and we have until May 12th to finish it. Thanks for reading along!

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