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Loading... Norwegian Woodby Haruki Murakami
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  writeronwriter | Oct 25, 2009 |  Can you imagine a battle to save your mind? What about feeling responsible to save someone else's life. In this unusual coming of age story, Murkami explores the mystery of suicide and natural death and its effects on those left behind. Toru loses two friends to suicide and finds himself struggling to remain in the real world himself. Just as in his fantasy books Muarkami makes you believe in a world that isn't there; here he leads you down a path that eventually has you believing in how easily one could slip over that fine line between hope and hopelessness, between the will to live and living a life without really being in it. Most of the characters are well formed and their purpose within the story is clear, but he leaves a few lose ends. Whatever happened to Toru' s roommate Storm Trooper? And why does the story begin in Germany? Why does he say, "Gemany again." There is no later connection to Germany except that one college friend ends up moving there. Murakami is a master at expressing human passion, weakness, and depth that lies beneath the surface of most people most of the time. This one has an especiallly sweet sadness. It goes deeply into those thoughts we have but never express because in the end, we all know we will lose the ones we love and we have to somehow deal with our sorrow and go on living and try to love again. (  )1  joyharmon | Aug 24, 2009 | A beautiful book. I didn't know whether to smile or cry on the last page. Murakami creates an incredibly sensory world - I felt I was transported back to 1960's Tokyo. He creates relationships so intricately, I felt I was right beside Toru. I found the first chapter a little hard going, but I was staying up late into the night reading after that. A must read. ( ) birdsam0307 | Aug 22, 2009 | Story about two depressed individuals that become friends and their ability/inability to work it out. Post-war Japan. haunting,beautiful writing. (  ) kimoqt | Aug 14, 2009 | This is the first Murakami book that I've read, but I definitely enjoyed it. There wasn't much in the way of suspense, but the characters were well defined and colorful; not to mention twisted in their own unique ways. Although the main character is attending college, the true spice of the narrative comes from his relationships with the women in his life. Isolated in a tiny dorm room struggling with his own demons, the plot rests heavily on the darkness of an incident in his past and how it has come to shape his relationships with those who have equally sordid lives. Bittersweet to the end. ( ) dracovelli | Aug 12, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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Norwegian Wood is a simple coming-of-age tale, primarily set in 1969-70, when the author was attending university. The political upheavals and student strikes of the period form the novel's backdrop. But the focus here is the young Watanabe's love affairs, and the pain and pleasure and attendant losses of growing up. The collapse of a romance (and this is one among many!) leaves him in a metaphysical shambles:
I read Naoko's letter again and again, and each time I read it I would be filled with the same unbearable sadness I used to feel whenever Naoko stared into my eyes. I had no way to deal with it, no place I could take it to or hide it away. Like the wind passing over my body, it had neither shape nor weight, nor could I wrap myself in it.This account of a young man's sentimental education sometimes reads like a cross between Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Stephen Vizinczey's In Praise of Older Women. It is less complex and perhaps ultimately less satisfying than Murakami's other, more allegorical work. Still, Norwegian Wood captures the huge expectation of youth--and of this particular time in history--for the future and for the place of love in it. It is also a work saturated with sadness, an emotion that can sometimes cripple a novel but which here merely underscores its youthful poignancy. --Mark Thwaite
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)
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review by Gabriel
Norwegian Wood is a novel about youth, love, and death, and the pain that comes from all three. It’s unusual amongst Murakami’s work in that it is firmly grounded in reality, absent of his signature style of magic realism. Nonetheless, the author is still instantly recognisable due to his distinctive first person narration and addictive readability.
Norwegian Wood is a tragedy. The character’s flaws and fates are apparent to the reader, and the conclusion inevitable. Like all great tragedies, it draws you in despite the certain outcome. It’s a testament to Murakami’s skill as a writer that he can create such a sad story and address serious themes while maintaining a compelling narrative. I read the last hundred pages late into the night, without moving, hoping that events would not unfold as foreshadowed, sharing the character’s heartbreak when they did. Which I hope is enough of a recommendation for anyone, really.
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