The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

I can't remember where I had Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle recommended to me (probably SomethingAwful) but I'm glad I got around to reading it. While the ending certainly veered off in a direction I wasn't expecting, it was still a very enjoyable and though provoking experience throughout. It's set in the suburbs of Tokyo in the 80's, yet has a very familiar feel to it- Murakami sprinkles some pop-culture references throughout, and for the most part there's little reason to think this couldn't have been set in any middle-class area. Unemployed narrator Toru Okada begins his day normally- fixing some spaghetti and searching for his lost cat, when he receives a call from a woman claiming to be from his past- Toru has no idea who she is. Then his wife out of the blue all but forces him to see a psychic... to talk about his cat (I realize this sounds like it could be crap, but trust me, it works). Eventually more and more odd things start happening to Toru, starting with his real life and eventually in his subconscious. I'd go into more detail, but it's pretty hard to do that without spoiling some major plot points. I've spoiled plenty of books on this blog, but one as good as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle deserves to be a surprise when you first read it. It's 600 pages, and the ending leaves plenty unresolved, but there's still plenty to do with the book after it's done- I've enjoyed reading several different interpretations in reviews online. I haven't settled on one I agree with (and I probably won't), but I can assure you that more Murakami will be posted on the Back-Blog, probably soon.