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aeroles's review against another edition
5.0
When I finished reading the book, it just blown me away and made me blanked until I was not able to sleep. It is just so sad, so pensive that it just hit me stunned and I really wanted to cry. I can't. I don't have somebody to cry with, somebody's shoulder to wet with my tears, somebody to hug me and comfort me, somebody to give me assurance that it is okey. I felt so sad, very sad. I realised how alone I am. I realised how lonely I am. I realised that I felt friendless. I wanted to talk to somebody, to my old friends, but they have their own lives now. I got envied how they feel happy. I thought that it is unfair.
I want to write a better review but my hands froze whenever I try to write. I just can't put it into words. Then I read Ranee's review. I tried to make connection with the song but I can't like Ranee put it.
I want to write a better review but my hands froze whenever I try to write. I just can't put it into words. Then I read Ranee's review. I tried to make connection with the song but I can't like Ranee put it.
beckytat's review against another edition
1.0
This book almost made me question my love for Murakami, which is saying a lot for me. I was bored out of my mind - basically forced myself to finish it. This book more than any others of his that I've read highlights his serious shortcomings when trying to write women.
rybann's review against another edition
2.0
Really hated this for the most part but there were A FEW valuable takeaways.
batrock's review against another edition
4.0
When people see that you're reading Norwegian Wood, there are two possible responses: "What's that?" and, of course, "Isn't it good?"
While this is my first foray into reading Japanese literature, it is exceedingly clear that Murakami's work has been influential in the now common cinematic genre of "sixties student romance". While a lot of those films have more of the melodrama about them than anything else, they have been touched in some small way by Murakami's words.
Upon hearing the Beatles tune "Norwegian Wood", Toru Watanabe remembers his student days and the women he knew, how they affected his life. One in particular, Naoko, may well have been the woman for him ... But we know from the first page that it was not to be.
Murakami's voice, in the translation at least, comes across as strongly evocative of the era it describes. Large swathes of Japan look the same today as they did in the sixties and one could likely do a Norwegian Wood tour of Japan if they so desired, but they don't need to; Murakami's is skilled enough to make the reader believe that they're remembering their own late teens, albeit at a cold remove.
For all his lyricism, Toru is undoubtedly a blank cypher of a character. Not particularly talented in any field, he's defined by his relationships with the women around him: he is a sponge with no self-esteem, equipped to absorb stories and carry on without an idea of his own self worth. He has no stories of his own to tell people, so he either discusses The Great Gatsby (to minimal success) or his hard-done-by roommate (whose departure he mourns because he now lacks the inspiration to generate new funny stories).
So Toru is at his best when the women in his life are relating their own journeys to him. They have done things, they feel things, that Toru has never allowed himself to engage with. It is with them he is able to relax, but also with them he gets too uptight to manage. He's not as functioning a member of society as he would have you believe.
Where the book deals sensitively with mental illness, it is merciless on the subject of narcissism. We realise that we don't have to like Toru because, despite his self-loathing, he is completely oblivious to anything that doesn't directly involve him. Midori, one of the book's four women, has a different brand of self-regard that both complements and conflicts with Toru's own.
Were it not for the constantly looming spectre of suicide, Norwegian Wood could likely represent the sixties student life of just about anywhere. There is a unique Japanese nature to the experience but, despite some very specific situations, it does feel that it contains a universality, albeit one that took 14 years to be dispersed universally.
Murakami has ultimately produced an artfully rendered work of slightly broken humanity. Isn't it good?
While this is my first foray into reading Japanese literature, it is exceedingly clear that Murakami's work has been influential in the now common cinematic genre of "sixties student romance". While a lot of those films have more of the melodrama about them than anything else, they have been touched in some small way by Murakami's words.
Upon hearing the Beatles tune "Norwegian Wood", Toru Watanabe remembers his student days and the women he knew, how they affected his life. One in particular, Naoko, may well have been the woman for him ... But we know from the first page that it was not to be.
Murakami's voice, in the translation at least, comes across as strongly evocative of the era it describes. Large swathes of Japan look the same today as they did in the sixties and one could likely do a Norwegian Wood tour of Japan if they so desired, but they don't need to; Murakami's is skilled enough to make the reader believe that they're remembering their own late teens, albeit at a cold remove.
For all his lyricism, Toru is undoubtedly a blank cypher of a character. Not particularly talented in any field, he's defined by his relationships with the women around him: he is a sponge with no self-esteem, equipped to absorb stories and carry on without an idea of his own self worth. He has no stories of his own to tell people, so he either discusses The Great Gatsby (to minimal success) or his hard-done-by roommate (whose departure he mourns because he now lacks the inspiration to generate new funny stories).
So Toru is at his best when the women in his life are relating their own journeys to him. They have done things, they feel things, that Toru has never allowed himself to engage with. It is with them he is able to relax, but also with them he gets too uptight to manage. He's not as functioning a member of society as he would have you believe.
Where the book deals sensitively with mental illness, it is merciless on the subject of narcissism. We realise that we don't have to like Toru because, despite his self-loathing, he is completely oblivious to anything that doesn't directly involve him. Midori, one of the book's four women, has a different brand of self-regard that both complements and conflicts with Toru's own.
Were it not for the constantly looming spectre of suicide, Norwegian Wood could likely represent the sixties student life of just about anywhere. There is a unique Japanese nature to the experience but, despite some very specific situations, it does feel that it contains a universality, albeit one that took 14 years to be dispersed universally.
Murakami has ultimately produced an artfully rendered work of slightly broken humanity. Isn't it good?
marenkae's review against another edition
2.0
I'm renaming this book Fantasy of a Fuckboi.
Apparently Haruki Murakami has stated that he doesn't understand or particularly like that this is his most well-read book. (I'm not entirely sure if this is true because I couldn't find a source but I'm going to hope that it is so I can try to read another one of his books in good conscience.)
Do I even have the energy or will to go into the things that bothered me about this book...? I'll try. It genuinely felt like it was written by a self-proclaimed "Nice Guy." All women in this book were either overtly or subconsciously falling over themselves to sleep with the protagonist, Watanabe, as he was apparently some sort of sex god. One girl literally begs him to think of her while he masturbates. Another tells him that she tried to sleep with her boyfriend for years and couldn't enjoy sex until the day Watanabe slept with her and gave her the best experience of her life. Another one sleeps with him and then announces that she's never going to have sex again because that night couldn't ever be matched by another man. I feel gross just typing all that out. But it just goes on and on like that.
In addition to this, everyone around him is practically worshiping his every move, telling him what a wonderful sweet human he is. But he's not actually that great? A girl literally thanks him as she is in awe of the fact that he didn't rape her after she passed out in front of him. I was not aware men deserve gold stars for that?!? He's also constantly making off-hand remarks that seem like they're designed to make you think he's this deep, sensitive soul. (i.e. the scene where he and a friend both hook up with girls. Watanabe gets the "ugly" one first. Then his friend suggests they switch and Watanabe agrees but tells his audience that he didn't even feel like sleeping with the hot one THAT much because he was actually having a good conversation with the ugly one! Woooww. What a great guy. I'm fucking swooning.)
There's also a scene in this book where an adult rapes a 13 year old and it's literally framed as if the adult was the poor victim of a child seductress. Nope. I was so close to DNF-ing after that.
In terms of the writing, I really felt like this was missing the breathtaking moments of prose that I've read in other Murakami works. On the whole, I found that it was well-written--it had a really solid flow to it and it was easy to become immersed in. But there were very few lines that stood out to me or truly made me think. Suicide and death are huge themes within this novel and I was expecting to come away with a new perspective but I didn't. However, I did really enjoy the positive depiction of a mental health rehabilitation center. I wasn't always on-board with the messages about depression but there was a lot of good stuff there.
Apparently Haruki Murakami has stated that he doesn't understand or particularly like that this is his most well-read book. (I'm not entirely sure if this is true because I couldn't find a source but I'm going to hope that it is so I can try to read another one of his books in good conscience.)
Do I even have the energy or will to go into the things that bothered me about this book...? I'll try. It genuinely felt like it was written by a self-proclaimed "Nice Guy." All women in this book were either overtly or subconsciously falling over themselves to sleep with the protagonist, Watanabe, as he was apparently some sort of sex god. One girl literally begs him to think of her while he masturbates. Another tells him that she tried to sleep with her boyfriend for years and couldn't enjoy sex until the day Watanabe slept with her and gave her the best experience of her life. Another one sleeps with him and then announces that she's never going to have sex again because that night couldn't ever be matched by another man. I feel gross just typing all that out. But it just goes on and on like that.
In addition to this, everyone around him is practically worshiping his every move, telling him what a wonderful sweet human he is. But he's not actually that great? A girl literally thanks him as she is in awe of the fact that he didn't rape her after she passed out in front of him. I was not aware men deserve gold stars for that?!?
Spoiler
There's also the point after the girl he supposedly was in love with has died. He reminisces about her..............giving him a blowjob. Yeah, that's right. His only memory of her worth mentioning to the readers after she dies is when she sucked him off that one time.There's also a scene in this book where an adult rapes a 13 year old and it's literally framed as if the adult was the poor victim of a child seductress. Nope. I was so close to DNF-ing after that.
In terms of the writing, I really felt like this was missing the breathtaking moments of prose that I've read in other Murakami works. On the whole, I found that it was well-written--it had a really solid flow to it and it was easy to become immersed in. But there were very few lines that stood out to me or truly made me think. Suicide and death are huge themes within this novel and I was expecting to come away with a new perspective but I didn't. However, I did really enjoy the positive depiction of a mental health rehabilitation center. I wasn't always on-board with the messages about depression but there was a lot of good stuff there.
niamhdo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5