The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

A Novel

By: Haruki Murakami

Narrated by: Rupert Degas

Length: 26 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

"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)

Wanted to like it, was put off by narration.

What didn’t you like about Rupert Degas’s performance?

I started out really enjoying this book and wanted to keep listening, but within an hour I had to return it because of the way Rupert Degas voiced the female characters. I normally don't mind a slight change in tone to indicate different characters, but the young girl especially unfortunately reminded me of every stereotypical "man trying to sound like a girl" that just comes off annoying and a little bit creepy. Quite a shame.

Hated it my first try; give it a second chance! Worth the ride!

This was my first murakami, and it was too slow to read in book form so I tried the audiobook. My first go-round I hated the narrator’s girl voices so much I had to stop. I even returned it to audible! Two years later, on a second try, I LOVED it. This is a long ride, you just gotta get on and stay on. This was an incredible journey and even though I still didn’t love the narrator’s girl voices, he overall did an incredible job with all the voices, really adding to my overall experience of the journey, so much so that he earned bonus points that made up for the points deducted early-on. Five stars on all counts for this book. Now, what do I read next of his?!

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

First off, the narrator: in this production, Rupert Degas is more of a voice actor than a narrator and a great one at that. Some people critiqued this; only once was the voice noticeably odd (the character, Nutmeg). It was astounding! I hope to listen to another by him!

The story was compelling. For a 26 hour listen, there were two, 1-hr sessions that seemed too tedious fir me. But that, to me, is a gold standard. Very little of this book was not compelling and engrossing. I'd recommend it, but be warned: it's odd, really dark, (sexually) dark in places (without getting voyeuristic), and viscerally violent. But wow! Would listen to again!

Amazing book and stellar performance!

I was completely taken by the book and performance, i never wanted it to end.

Though talented, now isn’t the time.

Like it or not the Reader inserts himself dead center, with a bizarre performance making the final product come off more like a comedy or satire rather then the strange, absurd, atmospheric novel it is. The voice actor does a decent enough job for the main character and Main Narrator, but it started to really anger me and get on my nerves when he began seemingly interpreting lines and throwing his voice, making the lines trail off, whispering Ect Ect. Like I said, the guy is pretty talented but I wanted to hear someone read the lines of the book while I drive, not hear a play. 2/5

difficult listening to Rupert Degas

just outright bad reading. I would like to enjoy this book but I just can't get over Degas' character voices.

Good story

Story was intriguing enough. My biggest issue was with the narrator reading the girls parts. It made cringe at times.

Not my favorite but that's just me

Overall my interest in this book peaked about midway and then steadily declined from there. By the end I was almost bored and apathetic about how it would conclude.

The performance is solid for the male characters but not so for the female characters. I'm not sure if this is a Murukami thing or a vocal performance thing, but all the female characters seemed stupid, obnoxious, and vapid. I wonder what my experience of the book would have been like without these choices of female voices by the performer.

Brilliant

Convoluted and complicated - Muraksmi’s characters are spell- binding, magical, human and the narrator was stellar !! I can’t recommend this book more highly than to say if you don’t read it - something will be lost - it is sheer genius exposed in the written word.

A defense of the narrator

So I actually delayed getting this audiobook because I was so put off by the negative reviews about the narration. I have to say after listening to the audiobook that I found the criticism largely unfounded. In fact, I have to say the narration was expertly done and I enjoyed almost all of the different voices Mr. Degas gives to the many characters in the book. I will admit that the acting for the teenage girl could have been dialed down a bit, but other than that, it was all done wonderfully.

As to the story itself, this is classic Murakami, and if you liked Kafka, End of the World, and the others, you will love this.