The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami, 100 Years of Solitude, by Macondo, and Inferno, by Dante Alighieri

"Magical realism," as described by Michael Woods, "is not a style of writing, just a modest fidelity to the magic of reality in places where we are not." Woods goes on to tell his audience of the allure of magical realism by explaining that reality in foreign places are more enchanting and exciting than probably anything a reader could think of. Woods sets out vague principles of what magical realism "rarely resorts to." His list includes: "dates, recognizable city streets, historical personages, diaries, gritty descriptions, invitations to look things up in the newspapers…. Late night settings, promises of much strangeness, aghast and/or terrified audience of listeners within the tale." By Woods' standards he tells what does not concretize magical realism. Instead of disavowing conclusions that no one was drawing, informing the reader about what magical realism does include would communicate the style of writing more effectively. Woods' only literary reference is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Macondo. Although it is agreeable that One Hundred Years of Solitude is a magical realistic novel, perhaps it is the only novel that completely epitomizes Woods' criteria. Notwithstanding this canon, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami does not personify exactly to Woods' articulate gauge of magical realism. On the other hand, Inferno by Dante Alighierdo does resort to more magically realistic traits that Woods describes.
 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami certainly exemplifies irrefutable qualities of magical realism, the author raises more questions than answers and certain parts the ambience of the book show magical realism. Yet the fact that The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle does take place in a real city, t...

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...sions about strangeness and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Macondo that relates more closely with Inferno and less with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Woods speech tells of how strangeness helps make one free and lets one see who they really are. Magical realism "rarely resorts to," according to Woods, "dates, recognizable city streets, historical personages, diaries, gritty descriptions, invitations to look things up in the newspapers…. Late night settings, promises of much strangeness, aghast and/or terrified audience of listeners within the tale." He sets out generalized criterion of what magical realism is (a very confusing and generalized style or genre of writing) but in truth, there are no rights or wrongs of how a book should be written. Calvino’s Polo once said, “Since we are in hell, and are hell, why not call it something else, and live happily ever after.”