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thea_maarup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Enjoyed it a lot, worth the read.
arumbawangi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.0
nzagalo's review against another edition
5.0
“Norwegian Wood” é Murakami num estado mais puro e realista, menos dado a explicações do sobrenatural, preso aos fios do romance, discutindo o amor e a paixão como forças existenciais e centrais para qualquer adolescente à procura de desabrochar enquanto adulto. O autor é adorado por muitos, mas é também indiferente para muitos outros, e este livro não contribui em nada para mudar opiniões. Deste modo resolvi questionar-me: porque gosto tanto de Murakami?
São várias as suas características que me interessam, desde logo, e talvez a mais relevante, seja o modo como cria atmosferas a partir dos cenários e dos personagens. Os espaços sui-generis das cidades japonesas misturados com os sentires distantes dos seus personagens, transportam-nos para uma dimensão ou realidade paralela. Tudo se passa como no nosso mundo, mas num ritmo muito mais lento, como se fosse necessário desacelerar para podermos observar a vida do lado de fora, assistindo à sua desconstrução nos detalhes daquilo que cada personagem vai fazendo ou dizendo. Porque se os personagens são misteriosos e carregados de idiossincrasias, o narrador não deixa de os apresentar num registo muito direto sem restrições morais ou sociais.
Comparando com outros livros dele, o mistério não dá espaço a elementos do sobrenatural, sendo preenchido com a fina linha entre a vida e a morte, o que acaba por transformar esta sua obra numa das mais melancólicas, exigindo dos seus leitores um estado apropriado à sua leitura.
Uma nota para quem tiver lido, ou for ler. Passei anos e anos sem nunca entender o sentido do aforismo de "Forrest Gump" (1994) que diz que "A vida é como uma caixa de chocolates, nunca se saber o que se vai encontrar lá dentro". Na verdade nunca fez sentido nenhum para mim, apesar de adorar o filme. Sim a vida é cheia de surpresas, mas daí a vê-la como um mero envelope de coisas, não consigo estabelecer qualquer analogia. No entanto Murakami consegue aqui pela primeira vez dar sentido a essa analogia, de uma forma bem distinta mas profunda, e que como diz Watanabe pode servir como verdadeira "filosofia de vida". Não vou revelar aqui o que é dito, deixo esse gostinho para quando chegarem a essa página, perto do final do livro.
Uma nota para a tradução. Li pela primeira vez Murakami por outro tradutor que não Maria João Lourenço (MJL) e foi muito bom. Não sendo uma grande tradução, perdendo-se alguma fluidez (ou talvez assim também seja por ser uma das primeiras obras de Murakami), gostei de ler a obra sem os constantes clichés da linguagem e cultura portuguesas imiscuídos no texto como tanto gosta de fazer MJL. Daí que não me tenha atraído nada que a Casa das Letras tenha adquirido os direitos e tenha lançado uma nova tradução feita por MJL. E posso dizer que ainda perdi mais essa vontade quando li um texto da própria a vangloriar-se de nem sequer se ter dado ao trabalho de ler esta tradução de Alberto Gomes. É mau, é sobranceria, e é pior ainda porque MJL nem sequer traduz diretamente do japonês.
São várias as suas características que me interessam, desde logo, e talvez a mais relevante, seja o modo como cria atmosferas a partir dos cenários e dos personagens. Os espaços sui-generis das cidades japonesas misturados com os sentires distantes dos seus personagens, transportam-nos para uma dimensão ou realidade paralela. Tudo se passa como no nosso mundo, mas num ritmo muito mais lento, como se fosse necessário desacelerar para podermos observar a vida do lado de fora, assistindo à sua desconstrução nos detalhes daquilo que cada personagem vai fazendo ou dizendo. Porque se os personagens são misteriosos e carregados de idiossincrasias, o narrador não deixa de os apresentar num registo muito direto sem restrições morais ou sociais.
Comparando com outros livros dele, o mistério não dá espaço a elementos do sobrenatural, sendo preenchido com a fina linha entre a vida e a morte, o que acaba por transformar esta sua obra numa das mais melancólicas, exigindo dos seus leitores um estado apropriado à sua leitura.
Uma nota para quem tiver lido, ou for ler. Passei anos e anos sem nunca entender o sentido do aforismo de "Forrest Gump" (1994) que diz que "A vida é como uma caixa de chocolates, nunca se saber o que se vai encontrar lá dentro". Na verdade nunca fez sentido nenhum para mim, apesar de adorar o filme. Sim a vida é cheia de surpresas, mas daí a vê-la como um mero envelope de coisas, não consigo estabelecer qualquer analogia. No entanto Murakami consegue aqui pela primeira vez dar sentido a essa analogia, de uma forma bem distinta mas profunda, e que como diz Watanabe pode servir como verdadeira "filosofia de vida". Não vou revelar aqui o que é dito, deixo esse gostinho para quando chegarem a essa página, perto do final do livro.
Uma nota para a tradução. Li pela primeira vez Murakami por outro tradutor que não Maria João Lourenço (MJL) e foi muito bom. Não sendo uma grande tradução, perdendo-se alguma fluidez (ou talvez assim também seja por ser uma das primeiras obras de Murakami), gostei de ler a obra sem os constantes clichés da linguagem e cultura portuguesas imiscuídos no texto como tanto gosta de fazer MJL. Daí que não me tenha atraído nada que a Casa das Letras tenha adquirido os direitos e tenha lançado uma nova tradução feita por MJL. E posso dizer que ainda perdi mais essa vontade quando li um texto da própria a vangloriar-se de nem sequer se ter dado ao trabalho de ler esta tradução de Alberto Gomes. É mau, é sobranceria, e é pior ainda porque MJL nem sequer traduz diretamente do japonês.
hadidee's review
I loved Murakami's book on running but I find his novels really hard. Will try again at some point
cpope9's review
2.0
Oof. There was so much good here. Despite the generally boring pretense and delivery of this story, the writing, for the most part, was wonderful to read. It kept me engaged and interested even though nothing ever really seemed to go on. This is my first exposure to Murakami and I can see why he gets the rep and praise that he has (although, I'm not sure how much the quality of translation affects his original work). I felt that reading this was akin to reading something by David Foster Wallace. Not that Murakami and DFW have any stylistic similarities--because they don't!--but because sometimes the skill of the author is enough to engage and impress the reader even if the subject material is not engaging or impressive. Thus, I enjoyed the book solely for its storytelling.
However, I didn't enjoy the story. There were parts that I thought were interesting and building though slow and objectively dull. Some themes were becoming apparent though not as consistent as I'd expect. And ultimately, the ending of this book just pissed me off. I was upset because the climactic event of the book was obvious and predictable. Though predictability isn't a disqualifying attribute in and of itself, the muted tone of the climax and its subsequent events were. The book takes an awkward and unnecessary erotic turn for the last few pages with no explanation, believability, or sensibility. I was shocked that this is where the story went and furious at this was how it was to conclude. While I should have probably noticed and anticipated these events, I just couldn't see such a craftsman veer the story into such ridiculous waters. I was going to give a solid 3.5 stars to this book until the last 20 or so pages....such stupidity.
A note on the sex in the book. It is obvious that sexuality intended to be some theme or motif in the story, but I didn't get it. The ideas and morals about sex were so muted in comparison to the graphic and crass descriptions of the events. Sex is all over this book, which is fine in its context, but the words used to tell the story of the events or thoughts were so unbecoming of the rest of the prose. They were just so....dirty? I don't know. It was like taking a beautiful book of poetry and interspersing fan fiction erotica-quality sex scenes every fifth page. It notably took away from the ideas and messages that were trying to underpin these events. The intricacy and intimacy of the scenes may just have been lost in translation, but, given the large frequency of sexual scenes in this book, it ruined the whole thing for me.
Thus, taking beautiful and engaging writing and character development and mix it with distracting, inadequate, and immature sexual storytelling and a ridiculous ending, and you have this underachieving and unsatisfying collection of words.
...It brings me some peace that Murakami himself doesn't view this work as adequate or notable.
However, I didn't enjoy the story. There were parts that I thought were interesting and building though slow and objectively dull. Some themes were becoming apparent though not as consistent as I'd expect. And ultimately, the ending of this book just pissed me off. I was upset because the climactic event of the book was obvious and predictable. Though predictability isn't a disqualifying attribute in and of itself, the muted tone of the climax and its subsequent events were. The book takes an awkward and unnecessary erotic turn for the last few pages with no explanation, believability, or sensibility. I was shocked that this is where the story went and furious at this was how it was to conclude. While I should have probably noticed and anticipated these events, I just couldn't see such a craftsman veer the story into such ridiculous waters. I was going to give a solid 3.5 stars to this book until the last 20 or so pages....such stupidity.
A note on the sex in the book. It is obvious that sexuality intended to be some theme or motif in the story, but I didn't get it. The ideas and morals about sex were so muted in comparison to the graphic and crass descriptions of the events. Sex is all over this book, which is fine in its context, but the words used to tell the story of the events or thoughts were so unbecoming of the rest of the prose. They were just so....dirty? I don't know. It was like taking a beautiful book of poetry and interspersing fan fiction erotica-quality sex scenes every fifth page. It notably took away from the ideas and messages that were trying to underpin these events. The intricacy and intimacy of the scenes may just have been lost in translation, but, given the large frequency of sexual scenes in this book, it ruined the whole thing for me.
Thus, taking beautiful and engaging writing and character development and mix it with distracting, inadequate, and immature sexual storytelling and a ridiculous ending, and you have this underachieving and unsatisfying collection of words.
...It brings me some peace that Murakami himself doesn't view this work as adequate or notable.
dianaevelin's review
2.0
I guess I really don't like Murakami books. His stories are so dull and everything is oversexualized. He has a misogynistic way of writing women and objectifying them. That was off putting.
All the characters are put in a stereotype and they don't really develop. Toru is the only one that seems to change, and by the end you realize he hasn't changed at all.
All the characters are put in a stereotype and they don't really develop. Toru is the only one that seems to change, and by the end you realize he hasn't changed at all.
inacarolin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
3.0
sarah_tellesbo's review against another edition
2.0
This is the first Murakami book I’ve read that I really didn’t enjoy very much. It’s not that it’s a terrible book, because it’s definitely not. It’s just not what I’ve come to expect of Murakami. I’m drawn to Murakami’s books because they’re usually so complex and weird; they almost defy description. I love how he can twist my brain around and make it think in ways it never has before.
This book is *not* that. This book is a love story, plain and simple. It’s got some relatively basic exploration of life and death (as evidenced by the quotes that resonated with me), as well as a coming-of-age flavor that for other authors might be brilliant, but for Murakami is… disappointing? It’s just that he’s capable of so much more than this, so it was hard going into this expecting the usual Murakami magic and, instead, finding something so generic and ‘normal’…
Anyway, if you’re interested in dark-ish romances, this one might be for you. If you’re anything like me, though, and seek out Murakami stories for their wonderful metaphysical quirkiness, I’d say skip this one and jump to one of his many masterpieces like 1Q84 or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
This book is *not* that. This book is a love story, plain and simple. It’s got some relatively basic exploration of life and death (as evidenced by the quotes that resonated with me), as well as a coming-of-age flavor that for other authors might be brilliant, but for Murakami is… disappointing? It’s just that he’s capable of so much more than this, so it was hard going into this expecting the usual Murakami magic and, instead, finding something so generic and ‘normal’…
Anyway, if you’re interested in dark-ish romances, this one might be for you. If you’re anything like me, though, and seek out Murakami stories for their wonderful metaphysical quirkiness, I’d say skip this one and jump to one of his many masterpieces like 1Q84 or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
laroche79's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
amishkaw's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25