Book Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
“When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki…”
My first Murakami read was Norwegian Wood and I have read two more of his works since. When I started this book two years ago I really struggled. It took me a while to find my place into the pace of the novel. Murakami’s writing is so meditative; it’s poetry between the lines of prose. Reading his books is a profound experience and this isn’t an exaggeration by any means. I remember buying this one at a Crossword on a whim. It remained stacked up in my bookshelf for the better part of the year because I had forgotten about it and was reading other stuff. But once I read it there was no going back. Since reading this I have also read Sputnik Sweetheart, After Dark and Birthday Girl (a short story) by Murakami. He has forever changed my perspective on magical realism and the genre that I disliked mostly on principle has become one of my favourites now.
Norwegian Wood follows young Toru Watanabe through his university days in Tokyo as he tries to make sense of his indescribable love for a girl named Naoko, who was the girlfriend of his dead best friend, while juggling between strange friendships and his natural urges. While making sense of his intense longing for Naoko he befriends a fellow student at the university called Midori, who is the polar opposite of Naoko. There are themes of alienation and lonliness as is with most Murakami works, suicide, and mental health issues. I think Norwegian Wood is Murakami’s only novel that is purely based on realism. This book charmed my soul and plunged me deep into the enchanting world of Japanese literature. If you haven’t read Murakami and wish to start now, start with Norwegian Wood.
Favourite quotes-
❇”No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sorrow that comes to us without warning.”
❇”Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life”
Trivia- The title ‘Norwegian Wood’ is based on the 1965 Beatles song of the same name.
The dead flowers in the picture symbolises the dead feeling in your heart which you’ll experience when you finish this book. LOL. Just kidding. Or am I?
