I felt a sort of low-key curiosity, as if I were channeling a house cat, throughout the entire length of the novel. The characters I found to be easy to keep track of and compelling. In traditional Murakami style, the motives were, naturally, deeply mysterious and impossible to ascertain; but I felt that this just added to the supernatural, magical realist feel of the story. I deeply enjoyed the different connections between the characters, to the point that it's easy to imagine the same character being represented by two different people. As impossible it is, logically, for the same person to exist in two different places at the same time, Murakami makes you question such basic laws of physics and makes you think anything is possible, as long as you're hanging out at the bottom of a time-altering well.
I also felt very positively about the characterization of the female characters. Usually people reading Murakami find themselves feeling conflicted about the portrayal of female characters and whether or not the main male characters in his novels are advocating sexism. I personally found the majority of this book's characters to refreshingly advocate the decisions women make, even sexual ones regarding their bodies, even despite the inevitable inexplicable natures of these decisions and the inevitable confusion caused by our protagonist. I also really liked the fact that one of the climaxes and central goals of the novel was bringing justice to a (supernatural) rapist. The most confusing character to me was high schooler Mei Kasahara, but I feel that her character development and awakening was more of her developing an attuning to the supernatural rather than a sexual attraction to the main character.
All in all, I felt an interest in the actions and goals of all of the main characters; I liked the historical Manchukuo referenced; I loved the connections between each character; the main character was a familiar, very chill "everyman;" I loved the more surreal aspects of the novel; and I loved the resolution of the main plot, which felt personally satisfying despite the plentiful loose ends. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is now one of my favourite Murakami novels. If you are looking for a Murakami starting point, or if you loved Wind-Up Bird and would like to read something similar, I recommend the shorter, but just as surreal Wild Sheep Chase. For those who love surreal, character-driven plots and don't mind a hefty page-count, I'd highly recommend Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
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