The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle vs. South of the Border, West of the Sun

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

www.amazon.com/Wind-Up-Bird...

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.

South of the Border, West of the Sun

www.amazon.com/South-Border...

Hajime has arrived at middle age with a loving family and an enviable career, yet he feels incomplete. When a childhood friend, now a beautiful woman, shows up with a secret from which she is unable to escape, the fault lines of doubt in Hajime’s quotidian existence begin to give way. Rich, mysterious, and quietly dazzling, in South of the Border, West of the Sun the simple arc of one man’s life becomes the exquisite literary terrain of Murakami’s remarkable genius.

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The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Image for South of the Border, West of the Sun
South of the Border, West of the Sun
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Pros

  • Murakami at his best
    × 1
  • Long, captivating read
    × 1

Cons

  • They cut out some chapters in the English translation
    × 1

Pros

  • Thoughtful exploration of memory and desire
    × 1
  • Engaging, well-developed characters
    × 1

Cons

  • Slow-paced narrative
    × 1
  • Ambiguous ending
    × 1
  • Limited action, heavy on introspection
    × 1

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