Congratulations! That's one of my favorite books of all time, and you mirror most of my opinions. If you haven't read the rest of Murakami, I envy the adventure ahead of you.

That said, I put The Windup Bird Chronicle into a category something like a mix of magic realism, scifi, and phantasmagoria. I'd put Jonathan Carroll roughly in the same niche.

As to Noboru Wataya.... I tend to think that he was so corrupt, power mad and poisonous that in that other world of the hotel he became monstrous.

My two cents. I'm open to other interpretations myself. I'm still somewhat puzzled about the windup bird itself.

Damn, now I want to reread the book. :)

I'm thinking of doing Hardboiled Wonderland next.

Back to Windup Bird though, I'm a bit confused about what those guys were burying beneath the tree in the yard. I remember the boy finding a heart, but I can't recall what that linked to in the rest of the story line. I can't help but think of the "things" that Noboru Wataya drew out of other people's bodies, but the boy also evokes a young Cinnamon, around the time he stopped talking.

I don't know what genre to put this in, in more general terms. There seems to be an emerging body of modernist fiction which uses the best and most coherent elements of surrealism and manages to make metastatements about narrative generally (Grahm Swift comes to mind), without resorting to the sort of cheeky, PoMo fourth wall breakage that guys like Kundera seem fond of.

On second thought, whatever "power" Noboru Wataya had, it must have been with him since an early age - afterall he somehow destroyed Kumiko's sister with it.

There seems to be an emerging body of modernist fiction which uses the best and most coherent elements of surrealism and manages to make metastatements about narrative generally (Grahm Swift comes to mind), without resorting to the sort of cheeky, PoMo fourth wall breakage that guys like Kundera seem fond of.

Damn, I love that! I was also thinking of recommending Hardboiled Wonderland as the next in your queue. I haven't read Graham Swift, but perhaps I should check him out.

It was on my second reading of TWBC that I realized that Cinnamon was the boy who lost his voice. That's why I think if I read it a third time I might tease out some more understanding.

am reading this now so I'm skipping this thread to avoid spoilers..

However I wanted to say you MUST read Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, also by Murakami. Amazing book.

I just got a copy of this at a book sale. Probably shouldn't be reading this thread. I liked other Murakami, especially Norwegian Wood, After The Quake, and Underground. Sputnik Lover and Kafka On The Shore not so much.

Haven't read any Pynchon yet, but I've got a copy of The Crying Of Lot 49 bumping around. I should get that out and try it.

Haven't read any Pynchon yet, but I've got a copy of The Crying Of Lot 49 bumping around. I should get that out and try it.

I picked up a copy last summer, at mudpuppie's suggestion. It was a terrific read, sort of like a more light-hearted Paul Auster.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland is my all-time favorite Murakami book. Read it. You should also read After the Quake, which is a book of short stories by Murakami that were written in response to the earthquake in Kobe in 1995.

I have a lot of love for Wind-Up Bird, too; but it occupies a weird place in my head. I read it several years ago during a weird week where I briefly thought I'd been infected with rabies, so I always associate this surreal, unfounded panic with it. Which actually kind of heightens the effect of the book for me.

I also love Wind-Up Bird, but I loved Kafka by the Shore even more. I haven't read After the Quake, yet, it's on my list. The Crying of Lot 49 is a good place to start with Pynchon, otherwise I would suggest holding off reading him until you have a fever. Somehow, feverish states make him more manageable to the someone new to him. As for what Noburu really was, or Cinnamon for that matter, I think is best left to one's own imagination.

i liked Kafka on the Shore more, too. There's something so well formed about that book. i bought a copy even though i had already read it and i almost never do that anymore. i've been nibbling on After Dark but it hasn't particularly grabbed me yet.

On a side note, there is an anime series named Haibane Renmei, which, according to its creator, is partially derived from Hardboiled Wonderland, as well as elements of Windup Bird. If you're even slightly curious, I highly recommend it. I consider it by far the best work in that medium.

Hard Boiled Wonderland is like an epic motion picture that BLOWS YOUR MIND.

What's probably my favorite piece of his is "The Kangaroo Communique" out of The Elephant Vanishes short story collection... "I merely want to exist in two places simultaneously. Got it? Not three, not four, only two. I want to be roller-skating while I'm listening to an orchestra at a concert hall. I want to be a McDonald's Quarter Pounder and still be a clerk in the product-control section of the department store. i want to sleep with you and be sleeping with my girlfriend all the while. I want to lead a general existence and yet be a distinct, separate entity."

I think Wind Up Bird is the only translated Murakami I don't have sitting on my bookshelf.

Also. I think I prefer Alred Birnbaum over other translators.

(First MetaChat post for me, as well... couldn't resist geeking it up over Haruki Murakami. Sorry to be long and scattered.)