What writing styles does Murukami apply?

Overall, the language used in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is spare and economical. There are no long, drawn out passages, and Murikami uses descriptive passages mostly in the service of individual characters' letters or memories. One must also consider that this novel was originally written in Japanese. Reading a text in translation presents its own set of challenges. Since word-for-word translation is never possible, the English-language version becomes a kind of "representation" of the novel in Japanese. That being said, the translated version does maintain the novel's fluid pacing and moves smoothly from chapter to chapter. Murakami's use of poetry is also an interesting phenomenon. More than once, Mr. Honda will speak in haiku-like verse. An example of this can be found on page 51. The old man says, "I am me and / He is him: / Autumn eve," and "I am he and / He is me: / Spring nightfall." The reader will notice that Mr. Honda's words are formatted like poetry, with quotes and slashes separating the lines. This arrangement on the page also helps the reader to hear Mr. Honda's voice as it pauses between thoughts. Also, the dialogue throughout the novel is pared-down. Characters' conversations do not continue for pages and pages. The characters' remembrances and memories occupy a good portion of the novel. In these passages, descriptions take precedence over conversation.

The word choices seem appropriate depending on which character happens to be narrating. May Kasahara, like any teenager, uses words like "weird" and phrases like "ya know?" Lieutenant Mamiya, however, uses language that is much more formal, more reminiscent of a Japan that no longer exists for many. In writing, his phrasing is deliberate and the lieutenant shows a familiarity with social niceties belong to a past preceding Toru's parents. Kumiko's language, however, is always clipped generally shorter sentences. The conversation she types to Toru on the computer uses the same kind of terse language.

The language of the novel is also decidedly uncomplicated. None of the characters use jargon of any sort. One exception to this is Noboru Wataya's use of "sexual economics" and "excretory economics." These two phrases reveal a certain amount of cynicism on the author's part. The phrases also serve to inform the reader of academia's infamously elitist tendency to invent its own exclusive and excluding, vocabulary. Spinning straw out of gold, Noboru Wataya invents two terms that have meaning only for a select few.