A review by nikolas_kolinski
Norwegian Wood: Tokyo Blues by Haruki Murakami

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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? Yes

3.75

  • Norwegian Wood - review

"Norwegian Wood" is an unusual, chaotic, sometimes even extremely bizarre book.
All this could be also fascinating or interesting, were it not for the fact that, precisely because of these flaws, Murakami spoils his own work.

Let me start by saying that I particularly appreciated the author's style: direct, clear, fast, but still thoughtful and particular.
Torū Watanabe's story is a story of life, of a life that is certainly tragic and marked by death, but of a life that, in Japan, can still be truthful. In fact, I believe that this is the main meaning of the work: the thin bridge that links life and death, the acceptance of the latter and, if you like, even a reflection on the high rate of suicides on Japanese soil and their enormous social impact.
It is also a life story because, often, the most unexpected things happen, people disappear without a word, nothing more is known about their fate, they continue on their way, perhapsawandering a little in the shadows. In this, the author has truly captured the essence of the everyday, which is often absent in literature.

To see Sturmtruppen disappear from one day to the next, without knowing where he has gone or how he is, or to learn without any warning of Hatsumi's death, or even worse, Naoko's death...it makes sense.

Because there is rarely anyone or anything to warn us of what lies ahead in the future.
Here, unfortunately, the merits of Norwegian Wood end.

It could have become one of my favourite books, it could have stood alongside my other few five-star books, but, while trying to get past a few indecent scenes while reading was acceptable, the ending ruined this literary work and almost made me hate it.
But let's go in order.
One of Murakami's biggest problems, are the female characters, which are not only often based on stereotypes and have a marginal characterisation, but also only function on the basis of the physical aspect that any of their relationships can offer to to the protagonist.
Of all the female characters in the novel, most of them, even the most unexpected, have a sexual relationship with the protagonist.

And this is simply unacceptable because, where one could find depth (as one sometimes does in Watanabe's reflections), there is only a body, described in great detail and an end in itself.
This brings us to another major flaw: the sexual component in the book is exaggerated to say the least. It is difficult to read more than fifteen pages without finding a sexual description of a woman or a physical relationship. Although, it is true, this aspect could be important and in some way a solution for the protagonist to deal with his problems (especially because of his young age), all these scenes spoil the magic of the novel and its ability to reflect in depth.
Could this component have a symbolic value? Yes, perhaps so. But there are infinite ways to symbolise something and this seems to me the most unsuitable and the one most at odds with the themes dealt with by the author.
We come to the fateful final scene:
I saw the character of Reiko as a figure of help for Naoko, as a mentor figure for Watanabe, a symbol of the bond between the two characters and, consequently, a symbol of the bond between the strength, but also the fragility of life and the necessity, but also the acceptance of death.
Leaving aside the, to say the least, perverse account of the past event in which there is a sexual relationship between Reiko, an adult of at least thirty years of age, and a piano student of hers, only fourteen years old, in general, I had no great problems with the presence of this character in the story.
As mentioned earlier, the effort she puts into trying to make Naoko feel good and to help her reconnect with the real world and with Watanabe is especially appreciable.
However, after Naoko's suicide, a terrible and unacceptable thing happens.
Reiko, wearing Naoko's clothes and having held a 'second funeral' for her together with Watanabe, wants to have sexual intercourse with him, who accepts this.
Putting aside the huge age gap between Reiko and Watanabe (who, despite being over 18, is still very young and not yet totally aware of himself and his actions), I fail to see the point of this scene.
The only consequence it has is to ruin Reiko's relationship as advisor and teacher for Watanabe, to ruin the friendship between the two, to ruin the relationship between Naoko and Watanabe (who, let us remember, had not had sex, although he wanted to, with Midori, his 'new girlfriend', out of honesty and loyalty to Naoko, but incredibly does not hesitate to have sex with Reiko) and to ruin the relationship between Watanabe and Midori, even without the latter's knowledge.
If, all the nights spent with girls found by chance in a bar thanks to Nagasawa's help, albeit representing a wrong gesture, acted as a 'cure' for Watanabe to overcome the problems in his life (and later, also acted as a way for the protagonist to question his own identity and the value of his actions), with the sexual intercourse between Reiko and Watanabe it goes too far.
I sincerely hope that, after the open ending of the story, Midori left Watanabe, who turned out to be a terrible person, addicted to sex and extremely selfish (as stated by Nagasawa, who, incredibly, was ultimately right).


"Norwegian Wood" is a book with enormous potential, yet squandered by the author, who, despite having demonstrated that he is capable of writing with some depth and has a particular and interesting style, prefers to let his story fall flat, forgetting all the progress and reflections in the novel and thus abandoning the introspective magic of the protagonist and the depth of the theme of life and death, and leaving room for utter banality.

No truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sorrow that comes to us without warning.
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