Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Murakami, Haruki - Tom Hiney (review date 20 June 1998)

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Tom Hiney (review date 20 June 1998)

SOURCE: “Yearlong Paranoia Binge,” in Spectator, June 20, 1998, pp. 35–36.

[In the following mixed review, Hiney describes the postmodern method and themes of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as praiseworthy but lacking spirit.]

The themes of this big novel [The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle]—paranoia, sterility, general loss of national confidence—are clearly ones that are striking at the heart of contemporary Japan. Few developed cultures currently show such a determined lack of interest in procreating. The birth rate is at its lowest since 1899, and the population—as in several European countries—is shrinking. While this is clearly good news in the long run (population growth equalling traffic jams) it has also damaged national self-respect. Too many people live in dirty cities, where too much stress, insecurity and pollution render many of them effectively impotent—how patriotic...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Naomi Matsuoka (essay date 1993)
   2. Yoshio Iwamoto (essay date Spring 1993)
   3. David L. Ulin (review date 4 April 1993)
   4. Brooke Horvath (review date Fall 1993)
   5. Jim McCue (review date 19 November 1993)
   6. Constance Markey (review date 2 January 1994)
   7. Elizabeth Ward (review date 16 January 1994)
   8. Alan Wearne (review date February 1994)
   9. Alexander Harrison (review date 18 March 1994)
   10. Celeste Loughman (review date Spring 1994)
   11. Celeste Loughman (essay date Winter 1997)
   12. Elizabeth Ward (review date 9 November 1997)
   13. Lindsley Cameron (review date 1998)
   14. Edward Hower (review date May 1998)
   15. Matthew C. Strecher (essay date May 1998)
   16. Julian Ferraro (review date 1 May 1998)
   17. Michael Wood (review date 11 May 1998)
   18. Tom Hiney (review date 20 June 1998)
   19. Yoshiko Yokochi Samuel (review date Spring 1999)
   20. Phil Baker (review date 23 July 1999)
   21. Lorna Sage (review date 30 September 1999)
   22. Scott Reyburn (review date 15 November 1999)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright