Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Completed: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Dear Jenny,

I just... cannot. I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't review this book. When I first started reading it, I thought, "It's like Alice in Wonderland!" but halfway through, I thought, "No. It's like Twin Peaks."

So... could you review Twin Peaks? What would you say? I would say, "A bunch of crazy shit happens and you absolutely cannot look away." And that is my review of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

I tried reading other reviews of this book to get some inspiration to say more. Here are some of the phrases I found: "Original and bizarre." "Surreal and sprawling." "Page-turning." Yes, yes, and yes. Some people complain about not "getting it" and I don't know that I "got it," but I sure did enjoy it.

It's complex and kind of nuts and really amazingly woven together. As I rode the roller coaster, I was afraid the end wouldn't be satisfying, but... it was. Not in the way I expected it to be, but it was.

I sent you my paperback version, so I'm sure you'll burn through it at some point. Perhaps we can talk about it then and I can say more. In the meantime, I loved me some Twin Peaks, and I loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. While reading this book, I felt like I was inside of it and it was inside of me, which is my favorite way to feel about a book.

love,
kelly

5 comments:

  1. K,

    I love your last sentence. It's so perfect and beautiful. I will definitely kick that up towards the top of the list. And, of course, summer is coming, which should mean MORE reading time. Yay!

    As we reach the halfway point of our little TBR challenge, I have the following observations: 1)it's been very satisfying to read books off the pile. It's somehow gratifying to get to those "ones that got away."
    2) Somehow my TBR pile keeps getting bigger. The more reading I do, the more I want to do. This is also a good feeling.
    3) I now read way more and hardly watch any TV. However, I did make an exception this week to watch Bones, a show I'd given up on. I clearly made the right choice, because that was some bullshit right there. Do you still watch? If so, please explain.

    J

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  2. Two words: David Boreanaz.

    (Can't ever forget this.)

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  3. You silly. You don't need to explain David Boreanaz to me. What you do need to explain is when Booth knocked up Brennan. Did I blink and miss it? Or were they shitty enough to have millions of viewers waiting for them to get busy...and then have it happen off screen?

    Sookie will be mailed tomorrow!

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  4. Oh, yeah. That. Well... yeah. It happened off screen. A few episodes ago, they got into bed together after some harrowing experience but it was like, "Are they just cuddling? Or... knocking boots?"

    Cut to black, no idea.

    The day after, Brennan told Angela it was boot-knocking. So there ya have it.

    I thought the "I'm pregnant. It's yours." delivery was very strange.

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  5. Looking back on this, I realize what happened... you said, "Do you still watch? If so, please explain." By that, I thought you meant, "Explain why you still watch." So I did. With 2 words.

    But now I realize you meant what you said later -- explain the Booth/Brennan Knock Up Situation. Got it! Took me awhile, but I finally did. ;)

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