Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Norwegian Wood: Tokyo Blues by Haruki Murakami

18 reviews

kandisebrown's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

Mediocre man has sex with every (deeply damaged) woman he encounters. 🙄

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

whoischels's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Reread this for a book club. I had forgotten what it was about. I recently read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, a surreal and fun fantasy, and expected something similar. Wrong. I had an overwhelming sense of foreboding while reading Norwegian Wood and couldn't quite figure out why until I got to the Reiko part.
 
Good bits: This book is beautifully written. I always hear people complaining that Murakami writes women terribly and I actually disagree with that in this case. The women in this book feel like people, and are like-able people, even filtered through the eyes of the narrator Watanabe and through the romanticized distance of the memories he is recounting. The story really beautifully demonstrates how a young person can focus on fixing the suffering of others in order to avoid thinking about their own grief. It shows how a typically male-leaning stoic handling emotions can fail. It has incredibly vivid imagery and the aesthetic of Murakami's stories is always really engrossing.

Bad bits: Unfortunately, all of this is overshadowed by the

child rape committed by Reiko.

Rereading this now as an adult with an english degree and I think a generally good understanding of how to read fiction that has traumatic themes...Murakami does not handle the

child rape

well. Like Lolita handles this well and very firmly establishes the unreliability of its narrator. Norwegian Wood does not. Reiko's story is presented with her as the 31-year-old victim

of a 13 year old girl who is somehow a sex predator

. Her story is told sympathetically, and one could argue this is because of either a) Watanabe being 20 years old and naive or b) Watanabe viewing things through the rosy and kind lens of nostalgia. I genuinely don't believe there is enough textual evidence to argue for either of these explanations though. We're left with this random recounting from a

sexual predator about how it wasn't her fault

.

Watanabe then goes on to sleep with Reiko, who is twice his age, which one must imagine can't do his mental health any good, and yet the narrative presents their sexual experience together as freeing and fun.

Is the takeaway here that Watanabe, even 20 years on from these events, is still unwell and just sort of stuck as a damaged person because he never really came to terms with any of the shit that happened to him? I guess it is, which really bums me out. The handling of all this is very vibesy and jumbled for something attempting to tackle this subject matter. I would be okay with a story this viscerally upsetting if the plot weren't so clumsy and directionless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

lexiphanicluke'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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse

lagaialettrice's review against another edition

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? No

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Lesbophobia

claukv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Lesbophobia

nelsonlala's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? Yes

Wtf va detta. Triggering som fan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

ragingpages's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

biomass_specimen's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

1.0

Murakami should stop writing novels that include how hot underage girls are. Gratuitous and pornographic pornographic depiction of sexual assault involving a minor. Naoko is so sad and that’s such a shame because she is so hot. Manic pixie dream girls all want my penis self insert fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

sweetpotatoes's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicide attempt

matiisanchez's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment