I started reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle today, and when I came across the following on the second or third page, I had to stop:
“Can you write poetry?” she asked.
“Poetry!?” Poetry? Did she mean ... poetry?
I'm assuming this is the fault of Jay Rubin, the translator, because I'm sure Murakami would never write something so odious, but if that's the quality of the translation, I don't know if I can go on.
Would someone who has read the novel care to weigh in on either the quality of the translation or the prose, and whether it is worth persevering?