Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
NORWEGIAN WOOD
Introduction: Today I am going to review some of my favorite book which is quite close to my heart. Being an avid reader it’s pretty difficult to give these fiery thoughts a voice but I’ll still try. I hope you guys give them a read and do enjoy them.
What I like about the Book: The book is kind of close to my heart as I cried with this one. How the book evolved is a really fascinating thing that I’ll never be able to understand. The book has its root in Japan that’s also one of the reasons I am very much attached to this one. The book opens with the lead character remembering his beautiful yet melancholic past as he heard a sweet orchestral cover version of THE BEATLES’ ‘’NORWEGIAN WOOD’’. Toru Watanabe a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student gets shocked by the tragic death of his best friend. After fleeing to Tokyo he gets devoted to Naoko a beautiful and introspective young woman who is also his Best Friend’s girlfriend. Toru begins to adapt to campus life with the loneliness and isolation he faces there, simultaneously Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. Toru is in love with Naoko but Naoko is broken. She harbors a million secrets and is fighting her own demons. As they all struggle to keep their individual monsters at bay, life moves on and the characters find themselves in a world that is scarred by passion, grief, casual sex, weird friendships, and death.
Winter is a natural metaphor for death. Norwegian Wood’s enduring popularity with adolescent and 20-something readers rests on the simple insights into death, loss, and grief it conveys, which so absolutely lacking from the youth culture that dominates the mass media. Death throws the characters in Murakami’s fiction into the never-ending cold and dark of perpetual winter.
What I don’t like about the book: There is nothing to dislike about this beautiful gem and this book is going to be of my top favorites forever. But somewhere I have a critic about Murakami as he always writes Depressed classics or vague stories with weird characters. It’s just that there can be a moment when you will realize that his books are so weird why is he even famous for writing? Somewhere because of way too weirdness, a person might not be able to relate to the story or might lose interest in reading him.
What Type Of People Should Read This Book: This book should be on everyone’s To Be Read List as it is worth giving a shot. But if You are starting to get into the habit of reading don’t start with Murakami as he is a little complex and reading him first might just confuse you or you can even start disliking him. Also if you are currently not happy with your life Life is not giving you back what you want, or you are a little depressed please don’t pick this one up as it might shatter you somewhere. Also, if you don’t like dark romances and dramas. You might also want to stay away if you don’t enjoy slow reads.
Also, A movie version of this book is also available but it’s in Japanese.
