Norwegian Wood in Pick-a-Shelf

Feb 18, 2020 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library-has-a-copy, favorites, rm-namjoon-book-club

Literary comfort zones. We all have them. We all have our go to genres that we don’t venture out of much if ever at all. But we’d all be wise to do so. Because one can find something wonderful when one dares to do so. But sometimes it takes the unlikeliest motivation to push one out of one’s comfort zone. Like with me. I have become a huge fan of the K-pop group BTS in the past several months. One of the members, RM aka Kim Namjoon, is very well known for his love of reading. Being such a huge f Literary comfort zones. We all have them. We all have our go to genres that we don’t venture out of much if ever at all. But we’d all be wise to do so. Because one can find something wonderful when one dares to do so. But sometimes it takes the unlikeliest motivation to push one out of one’s comfort zone. Like with me. I have become a huge fan of the K-pop group BTS in the past several months. One of the members, RM aka Kim Namjoon, is very well known for his love of reading. Being such a huge fan, I quickly found several articles which gathered together all of his recommendations. Being Korean, he does read a lot of works by Korean authors which haven’t had the foreign rights sold and therefore haven’t been translated into English. So I immediately discarded those. Which is a shame as some do sound interesting and I’d like to read them. But I digress. Haruki Murakami has been on my literary radar for a long time. But I always shied away from his books because I know he’s known for being very out there and strange in his writing. And even his more normal books are far outside of my literary comfort zone. Namjoon has recommended several Murakami books. I looked into them all and chose Norwegian Wood because it seemed the most accessible and contains none of Murakami’s later trademark weirdness. I have nothing against weird. But I figured I’d test the Murakami waters first with something grounded. And. Well. I am deeply thankful to Namjoon for pushing me so far outside of my literary comfort zone. Because? Put simply? I loved this book! Even though this is so far outside of my comfort zone, I found myself completely captivated by it and I had a very hard time putting it down. Something about Murakami’s writing is really compelling and he just sucks you in. He’s a marvelously descriptive writer and really brings 1969-1970 Tokyo to life. And even though this is nothing fantastical at all, in fact it’s all rather mundane, something about his characters and overall writing style just draws one in. This book is overall pretty simple. But that’s okay. There’s beauty in simplicity. But at the same time, this is also pretty deep and thought provoking with much to say about death and grief. As well as mental illness. I tried to go into this book with as open a mind as is possible and I didn’t read any reviews beforehand. All I knew of it was the fact that it’s not weird and what the description said. That’s it. So I was surprised that this turned out to be as romantic as it is. Really surprised. But I liked it a lot. I didn’t really figure on a happy ending and I called Naoko’s suicide long before it happened. So, the ending didn’t entirely surprise me. But, ha, the eternal optimist in me chooses to imagine that Toru got together with Midori. I’m not totally happy with the ending. But given that this isn’t a romance novel, it does make sense. And there is something to be said for an open ending that’s left to the reader’s imagination as to what happens next. I was also surprised by just how much sex is in this book. Now, I am a long time romance reader, so it didn’t shock or upset me. I just wasn’t expecting it based on the kind of novel this is. Because there is quite a lot of sex in this book. And I realized that this is the first time I have ever read sex in this way. Meaning that I am quite used to sex scenes being in the context of a romance novel. But not in context of what is more just general fiction. I am well aware of the long, ignominious tradition of male authors writing some truly terrible sex scenes and descriptions of women’s bodies. Thankfully, there is none of that here. I found Murakami’s sex scenes to mostly be rather clinical and a tad bit awkward in a way. And his descriptions of women’s bodies are just normal guy stuff. But nothing terrible.
And speaking of women... He writes female characters really well and I quite liked what he did with Naoko, Reiko and Midori. Toru is a good narrator and though this book opens in 1987 and he then flashes back to 69-70, there is no navel gazing midlife crisis crap. Toru is a likable and interesting character with much to say. And I enjoyed spending 293 pages in his mind.
My only criticism remains the ending. I would have liked something more concrete. But otherwise? I loved this book and highly recommend it. And I will definitely read the other Murakami books Namjoon has recommended. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2007 Jade17 rated it liked it

Shelves: contemporaryliterature, japan

my very first foray into the murakami world. i bought the special edition in a wood box and i was entranced. the first time i read it, i really liked the story. however, i read it again a few years later and the story didn't really seem to resonate that much. it's still a beautiful book though and also a beautiful story. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 30, 2010 Tien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japan, literature

The thing I love most in this book is the characters especially Midori and Daeko. The story opens with a man remembering his past especially in relation to a girl he once loved. It traced back to when he, Toru Watanabe, was in his late teens.

Toru Watanabe was a third wheel. He hangs out with his best friend, Kizuki, and his best friend's girlfriend, Naoko. But really he and Naoko did not have much to say to each other. He feels that they are there because Kizuki was the glue in this triangle of ...more

Like · see review

Oct 17, 2009 Lindsay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z2009, fiction, bookcrossing, japan

These books draw you in, you connect with the characters, and then end up with a lost empty feeling when you get to the end. But the writing is rich and deep and a pleasure to read.

Like · see review