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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

A Novel

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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Written by: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Rupert Degas
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About this listen

A "dreamlike and compelling” tour de force (Chicago Tribune)—an astonishingly imaginative detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets from Japan’s forgotten campaign in Manchuria during World War II.

In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.

©1997 Haruki Murakami (P)2013 Random House Audio
Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Marriage Mind-Bending
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What the critics say

"Dreamlike and compelling.... Murakami is a genius." (Chicago Tribune)

“Mesmerizing.... Murakami’s most ambitious attempt yet to stuff all of modern Japan into a single fictional edifice.” (The Washington Post Book World)

“A significant advance in Murakami’s art ... a bold and generous book.” (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Performance ruined it for me

Regret so much my decision to persist through this narrative torture... ‘Acting’, obnoxious voicing of female characters... Murakami did not deserve this. Rupert.... never again

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Haruki is Great

A while back I read 1Q84, and was intrigued, so I decided to see if the quality of the writing was still good in his early career. It definitely is. I particularly enjoy the narration in this recording. The VO is distinct and I think adds a lot to each of the characters voice lines. I would recommend for anyone interested in Japanese literature. #Audible1

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One woman narrator more would be better

I don't like he plays the women’s voice, especially the little girl’s. That makes me feel wired all the time.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings

I am not sure what to think about this book. Some of the stories inside were extremely powerful and interesting. Some seamed weird. I might just not be able to see the bigger picture. I definitely learnt some stuff from it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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My first Murakami

My first Murakami did not disappoint. Thank you Patti Smith. Not my usual literary genre but it was engaging, if at times disturbing. Fortunately funny too. Enjoyed the narration— especially Okada and May Kisahara.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Voice Actor takes you out of it

The voice Actor makes some pretty bold choices in character voices. The voices for basically every female character are extremely over the top and lack the gravity of other murakami works. Great novel, but probably best enjoyed in a physical book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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It's good. Read it.

I've read several Murakami books, but not all yet. So far, this is definitely my favorite. Highly recommend. Interesting and weird as usual. The narrator is bad at female voices, but it's not a big deal - kind of funny.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Many story lines that come together. May Kasahara’s voice is fine!

First of all a comment on the narrator’s voicing of May Kasahara’s. Her voice is strange but so is May. She’s an irreverent 17 year old, who asks lots of annoying questions and has hair brained ideas. She’d flakey but endearing. It took me awhile to get used to her voice, but as her personality becomes familiar, the tone of her voice seems exactly right for her character. Now for the story. Like most of Murakami’s work, the story develops through multiple story lines that seem unrelated at first. Gradually, the connections emerge and everything begins to make sense, sort of. There isn’t’ enough space here to map out the story but it ‘s heartbreaking, funny, historically complex, shockingly violent and somewhat erotic. As in many of Murakami’s novels his female characters are very striking and interesting. He’s clearly fond of women and gives them great authority and influence. As usual, there’s a cat mixed up in the story line. Unfortunately, he ‘s not a talking cat. Darn! His talking cats are priceless.
To sum up, I enjoyed this book, the narration, in my opinion, is first rate.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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Unfortunate voicing

The story is one of my favourites. It’s a Lynchian drift into a dream-influenced real/surreal world. I bought the audiobook after reading it twice.
The narrator’s voice is generally excellent in non-dialogue sections, relatively good with male voices, but dreadful with female voices, of whom there are many. The dreadfulness, especially with May, almost ruins it. I think books like this need a secondary female narrator for female dialogue. It’s not really the reader’s fault.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
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So good!

Rupert Degas was brilliant and the wetting breathtaking. Mystical, otherworldly and deep! I highly recommend it.

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