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A review by christar_123
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
3.0
I was disappointed in this book - maybe my expectations were too high because I had heard from friends that it was really good. But I found it completely unbelievable, and not in the mysterious, mystical way Murakami's work usually is but in a frustrating, question-raising way.
So, first, I didn't like the characters. I'm completely over books about a guy pining away for the perfect girl who is too shy/ too emotional/ too whatever to take part in the world. I did not find Naoko to be an interesting character. Locked up in an institution, for her fragile mental health, of course, our hero could only occasionally visit her. She felt manufactured. The situation made me think of what some overly romantic emo boy would imagine for the princess locked up in the castle.
And then Midori, who I really liked at first, until I was too frustrated with her just being another fantasy character. Presenting readers with Naoko's clear opposite, she's overtly sexual, loud, boisterous, off the walls but all because she's hiding from her depressing family past. Completely manic. Another stereotype. Reiko, the wise older woman who has been hurt by the world and is trying to find her own peace in a music and mentorship....seriously?
In some ways, it seems like a book written by a man who has never had a conversation with an actual woman and is just writing about hypothetical interactions with three different stereotypes (but we know that's not true because the women in Murakami's other books are less obnoxious). The characters are too set in their stereotypical roles to break out into three-dimensionality.
I realize it's supposed to be about coming of age, dealing with loss, questioning one's place in society, etc but because the characters were so tiresome I wasn't as interested in the book as I could have been. However, it was still written in Murakami's beautiful prose and his use of words and descriptions could be awesomely beautiful. I think it's a book people either love or toss aside with a "meh" sigh.
So, first, I didn't like the characters. I'm completely over books about a guy pining away for the perfect girl who is too shy/ too emotional/ too whatever to take part in the world. I did not find Naoko to be an interesting character. Locked up in an institution, for her fragile mental health, of course, our hero could only occasionally visit her. She felt manufactured. The situation made me think of what some overly romantic emo boy would imagine for the princess locked up in the castle.
And then Midori, who I really liked at first, until I was too frustrated with her just being another fantasy character. Presenting readers with Naoko's clear opposite, she's overtly sexual, loud, boisterous, off the walls but all because she's hiding from her depressing family past. Completely manic. Another stereotype. Reiko, the wise older woman who has been hurt by the world and is trying to find her own peace in a music and mentorship....seriously?
In some ways, it seems like a book written by a man who has never had a conversation with an actual woman and is just writing about hypothetical interactions with three different stereotypes (but we know that's not true because the women in Murakami's other books are less obnoxious). The characters are too set in their stereotypical roles to break out into three-dimensionality.
I realize it's supposed to be about coming of age, dealing with loss, questioning one's place in society, etc but because the characters were so tiresome I wasn't as interested in the book as I could have been. However, it was still written in Murakami's beautiful prose and his use of words and descriptions could be awesomely beautiful. I think it's a book people either love or toss aside with a "meh" sigh.