Reviews with content warning for Rape - Norwegian Wood: Tokyo Blues

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.

Content Warnings

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

3.0

Why is this man (Murakami) obsessed with periods??

Content Warnings

stoneofexile's review against another edition

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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

2.0

Content Warnings

paulinalto's review against another edition

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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

0.25

Let me start with this – I LOVE literary fiction. I adore witty, well-crafted prose, and some of the writing in this book was truly beautiful. I understand why people appreciate it. However, I could not get past how Murakami describes women. You'd encounter a beautiful paragraph only for it to be spoiled by Murakami's focus on a woman's breasts.

There was an entire chapter involving pedophilia, where the child was disturbingly portrayed as "at fault."

The descriptions of sex made me feel uncomfortable.

Murakami invented the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and all his female characters fit this mold—each one "so not like the other girls." There were numerous instances where his attempts to describe female experiences were completely off-base, clichéd, and cringeworthy.

I understand that some readers are willing to overlook the misogyny and sexism, perhaps because of the book’s beautiful prose or because it was published decades ago, but I cannot. I don't think I've ever disliked a book this intensely. I feel like I need a shower to wash it off. In the process of reading this, I sold the other two Murakami books I had on my shelf.

Content Warnings

zachport06's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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