Reviews tagging 'Death'

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

300 reviews

kathleendayle's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Has none of the magical realism I go to Murakami for. The story itself was okay, but dreary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, and Alcohol

xsamwise's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Honestly, this book would've been 4 stars if not for the ending.

The ending completely ruined my opinion of Watanabe and the book overall. Loss and grief are a key component of the story, and I found it very relatable. I was really glad I chose to read this book at this point in time in my life because it brought up thoughts and emotions that were challenging for me to work through.

I was already considering reading it again because so many of Watanabe's feelings mirrored my own (especially the "winding my spring" portion), but the ending was honestly.... disgusting. I found it so gross that

Watanabe and Reiko sleep together, multiple times, following Reiko's suicide and Watanabe's realization that he loves Midori. I lost all respect for both characters. It felt like a complete betrayal. Especially how right after, he reaches out to Midori to profess his love? Like, you just slept with someone else the night before.

I get he's young and grief effects people differently, but this is completely inexcusable to me. It's giving "boys will be boys".... ick.

There were so many important sections, especially near the end, that I bookmarked but it's so hard for me to overlook the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Mental illness

ur_moms_fav_child's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

klaralyle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

unbearably indescribably sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sinfell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It’s extremely difficult to understate how well this book approaches topics of grief and death, as well as how well Murakami grounds each character to reality, so much so that I feel as though I have not connected so much with another main character as I have with Toru. While this book, much like Murakami, does have dated and problematic cultural views, I think the sheer quality alone is enough to excuse it, if only to keep reading until completion. 
I have read several of Murakami’s stories, but I feel his more realistic works have their own sort of surrealism to it that any fantastical plot points feels completely unnecessary. 
Plus Midori is in this book, so that should be reason enough to give it 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

bella613's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I like the way Murakami writes, as if he must tell a story that really happened and not as if he's creating one. 
I didn't love this book the way I loved Killing Commendatore. It was not quite what I expected, especially after hearing it was this book that exploded Murakami into fame. But I did connect with it. As it is with Murakami, there are some uncomfortable sections of the book. But there are some uncomfortable moments in life, so... it's sort of beautiful that he captures it so intensely? 

I found myself most drawn to Naoko in this story. Midori as a character is someone I would probably not enjoy spending time with in real life, but added to the story in a mostly positive way. I didn't like Toru much in the same way that one might not like oneself. Listening from his pov felt like looking back on one's own life and seeing all the flaws and mistakes and self-centered choices that were made. But he was very real. That's one thing I also love about Murakami: his main characters feel undeniably real. He's not great at writing women, but since he usually writes from a male ego perspective, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as it seems to bother others. Read any contemporary romance and you'll see that most women are terrible at writing men, too. 

My favorite part of the book was probably the long letter describing the sanatorium and the following visit to the sanatorium.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

abril6's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

countdraculahimself's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

disgusting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief

disgusting

meg_reads83's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

soniaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

heartbreakingly good, the characters felt like real people and how murakami is able to explore grief and loss was really effective. 

i would also check the trigger warnings before reading, some stuff i read i didnt expect and it was quite disturbing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia