The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

"The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami was another book on my classical literature list. In reading these works of classical literature, I have been really impressed with the writing capabilities of the authors. In the case of this book, Murakami was able to write a 600 page book based on the simple plot of a man whose wife mysteriously leaves him. Even though the plot was simple, it was still really interesting.

Murakami is a Japanese author and the setting of the book is in Tokyo. I was surprised at how similar the characters were culturally to Americans. In fact, I do not recall at all ever being confused about something that could only be understood in a certain cultural context.

I am not sure whether or not I liked the book. It kept me interested the whole time and I really enjoyed the writing style. However, the book ended with too many loose ends. A lot of mystery was created and nothing much was resolved in the end. The more I recall parts of the book, the more I realize that Murakami never gave any resolution to the story lines he developed. Overall, it was a solid piece of fiction and certainly worth reading.