A review by bella613
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I like the way Murakami writes, as if he must tell a story that really happened and not as if he's creating one. 
I didn't love this book the way I loved Killing Commendatore. It was not quite what I expected, especially after hearing it was this book that exploded Murakami into fame. But I did connect with it. As it is with Murakami, there are some uncomfortable sections of the book. But there are some uncomfortable moments in life, so... it's sort of beautiful that he captures it so intensely? 

I found myself most drawn to Naoko in this story. Midori as a character is someone I would probably not enjoy spending time with in real life, but added to the story in a mostly positive way. I didn't like Toru much in the same way that one might not like oneself. Listening from his pov felt like looking back on one's own life and seeing all the flaws and mistakes and self-centered choices that were made. But he was very real. That's one thing I also love about Murakami: his main characters feel undeniably real. He's not great at writing women, but since he usually writes from a male ego perspective, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as it seems to bother others. Read any contemporary romance and you'll see that most women are terrible at writing men, too. 

My favorite part of the book was probably the long letter describing the sanatorium and the following visit to the sanatorium.
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