Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

34 reviews

bexdot's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

3.5 ⭐️

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

tuni's review against another edition

dark slow-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

0.5

What the fuck did I just read. From the completely unlikable characters to this weird layer of misogyny covering the whole story, I hated all of it. Constant oversexualization of women, infantilization of them during sex, a ridiculously long lesbian rape scene evolving a minor, holy shit...

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction

artsyfartsybooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was so deeply moving in the most exquisitely beautiful way. Murakami has an incredible talent for weaving the pain, grief and loss we face in our ordinary, everyday lives as humans into such a profound, lyrical story that it makes you reconsider the "banality" of normal life - there is so much depth to us, even when nothing seems to be happening (I don't know if this makes any sense, but it struck me quite deeply). There was a great sense of melancholy running throughout this book, which is to be expected given the subject matter (suicide and mental illness). What I found most striking, however, was the grief faced by the loved ones of those suffering from mental illness, and how they struggle to cope not only with the loss of those close to them but with confronting the "sickness" themselves. I really can't do this book justice in a short little review, I feel like there is just so much more to explore and uncover, but that could take me ages! This is the sort of book that really teaches you something about life and encourages you to reflect, pause and reconsider. Anyway, Murakami's writing is simply exquisite, it is beautifully descriptive and captures the emotional experiences of the characters with such profound subtlety. Also, I just love all the characters, especially Midori and Reiko, they were so much fun! I would really recommend this book to anyone and I know that I myself will be revisiting it for many years to come. '

NB the one criticism I had of this book was all the graphic sex scenes. It doesn't necessarily take away from the quality of the novel, but it is quite confronting and I believe it didn't add much to the story. I'm fine with authors discussing sex in their novels, but it doesn't need to be done in such detail every time (I think perhaps I understand it in the scene with Naoko, but none of the others, especially the one with Reiko at the end). Anyway, this isn't to dissuade anyone from reading the book because it's still brilliant, but just be on guard for graphic sex scenes if this is something you are sensitive to.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent

mostpeoplecallmemilo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

manel_'s review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

2hermione4's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed the symbolism that was used, especially regarding the 4 basic elements of nature, but the sexism and the uncomfortable sex scenes made me consider not finishing the book.
*Check trigger warnings*

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail

sando's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Ummm…..that ending really threw me lol. I found the first half really slow but I eventually got invested after Reiko’s story. She was definitely my favorite character. The characters did feel pretty real for the most part. The book can be quite sad and shocking at times so I recommend reading the list of triggers before reading.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Torture

fatima_'s review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

jessiejessj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

I am undecided on how I feel about this book for a variety of reasons. The main character is one that I enjoyed and I found his view and his takes on life to be refreshing. He was a flawed human, but he acknowledged that fully, and there was something inherently likeable in his own measure of himself that I connected to. But I hated the women and I think that was likely a measure of my own shortcomings and my own experiences with men that made me want to shake my fist at them going “What are you doing!!! Can’t you see how depraved these men are making you? Don’t you know you deserve better?!” Maybe I am just not accustomed to Japanese literature and the themes inherent in them, but gah, this book mainly just made me mad, confused, or sad.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

hapalyn's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual harassment