Reviews

Tokio blues by Haruki Murakami

sofi_b's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

peroyvind's review against another edition

4.0

Nydelig. Nydelig tematikk, karakter, språk og mat. Eineste er at Watanabe føles ikkje heilt ekte for meg. Hans oppførsel blir for meg litt for "hendig" for historiens del, synes eg. Men god bok. Anbefales. Fin farge på coveret.

damieu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad 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

4.75

Norwegian Wood is such a tender portrayal of coming of age and loss that it feels like it must be autobiographical. From the perspective of a middle aged man reminiscing on a transformative time in his life we are given the chance to both live his past experience and learn the insights of that past only granted by reflection separated by years. The strong atmosphere of memory is immersive and shared through simple but effective prose that only Murakami can pull off. Complex relationships with love, sex, friendship, and death provide so much to chew on without ever feeling forced. This is my second time reading this book and having just gone through the ages Toru passes through I can relate to many of the feelings Toru has much more than when I first read it at 19. Oddly comforting and endlessly compelling Norwegian Wood feels like it will be a defining novel I will continue to return to throughout my life.

bbrassfield's review against another edition

5.0

I have been reading a lot of Murakami of late. I love his work and to my mind he is the most interesting novelist writing today in any language. Even his nonfiction is compelling but that is a review for another day. I made a slow start of Norwegian Wood. I actually began reading it before the author's latest opus, 1Q84, was released this past October, and unlike most of his work, I was not taken right away with Norwegian Wood. To say that I am surprised then to find Norwegian Wood is Murakami's heart-wrenching novel takes me, well, by surprise, but it is and I have read all of his novels, save for the Wild Sheep Chase, which is still ongoing. Norwegian Wood is a love story, or actually three love stories rolled into one rather linear narrative, at least by this author's standards. Norwegian Wood is also a sad tale, though perhaps not ultimately so, and the excellent writing takes the reader well into the minds and hearts of the characters as they navigate through very difficult emotional terrain. Norwegian Wood might be Haruki Murakami's most emotionally engaging work, either because it is less fantastical in scope than some of his later works (Wind-Up Bird, Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84, Sputnik) or because his earlier self wrote more straightforward prose. I am unsure which and some readers may well disagree. Several things are for certain, in a Murakmi novel one is bound to encounter complex human emotion, a cat or two (sometimes they even talk), lots of sex (occasionally inter-dimensional) a suicide or three and excellent descriptions of food and music. In fact, it has always been the fantastical elements of Murakami's novels I have enjoyed the most because when it comes right down to it I am a Science Fiction and Fantasy geek (notice the caps), but what Norwegian Wood offers is a complex love story involving several well developed characters, a story that in its relative simplicity touches readers in a way no other Murkami novel does. Sure there are overtures to Thomas Mann's great work The Magic Mountain as Murakami has the central male character reading Mann's work as he just so happens to be on a voyage to a mountain sanitarium but Norwegian Wood does not have any of Mann's history and critique of his region's history wrapped into it. Norwegian Wood is first and foremost a very touching love story and on this level it succeeds marvelously.

matthew_'s review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

megcarpenterr's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.5

sanny2005's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.25

concordia's review against another edition

1.0

Objectifying, misogynistic, sexist.

sfi's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

drushtii's review against another edition

5.0

It took me a lot of time to read this book but i guess it was worth it. Firstly, whenever i was reading this book I was like fully inside it. I love the writing. Tho I must admit murakami’s portrayal of women is kinda questionable like wtf is that. I am willing to overlook it while rating this book because I loved the story but yeah that remains a concern of mine as I am yet to read his other books.