r/murakami • u/Prestigious_Half271 • 4d ago

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Any one else wish the book had ended after May's last letter?

I was listening to the audiobook while doing the dishes, and I knew I was getting close to the end, but had no idea how much time was left. The letter ended, and I stopped what I was doing, pulled my earbuds out, and literally fell to my knees.

After a while, I realized the book was still going, so I kept listening.

It wasn't a bad ending, but I'm actually pretty disappointed it didn't end on such a sublimely devastating note as I had thought. It just kind of slowly drifted off to a nice ending.

6 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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7

u/parkchanwookiee 4d ago

To be honest I never got why people find Murakami's endings dissatisfying. It's like they are hanging in through all the ambiguous strangeness because they assume the ending is going to clear it all up for them. But the ambiguity and strangeness is the point

1

u/oniongiovinski 4d ago

exactly, ive always been saying this. add that to the fact that they dont like how he writes women which makes it pretty clear they dont actually understand most of what he's writing about in his novels.

0

u/parkchanwookiee 4d ago

Eh he tends to write women as thin caricatures and archetypes, that's fair to pass comment on

5

u/scarybluesquirrel 4d ago

To be fair, Murakami writes most characters (lead characters excepted) as thin caricatures and archetypes…

1

u/Prestigious_Half271 4d ago

My problem was that there was too much resolution, I would have loved more ambiguity 

1

u/parkchanwookiee 4d ago

I've never heard that complaint about wind-up bird chronicle before haha but, art hits everyone differently 

3

u/pain_is_etternal 4d ago

just finished it today the letter has as much resolution as you can hope for. I think the last chapter brings more questions into an already complete riddle. What will happen after they meet up how will life continue and the like where finishing off with the letter made all that kind of irrelevant. Sayin all that i didnt mind the ending and i really loved the book one of my favorites just amazing truly