Norwegian Wood

Nudged against the suffering of post-WWII Japan, with its lost society of the late 60's, and mixed into the crowded emptiness of Tokyo -- with fleeting natural beauty -- Norwegian Wood is a story of layered sadness.

It is not giving anything away to say that by the end of this important novel, the narrator does not have an answer to his question of "Why?" though he does seem to have a bit more understanding of the burden that those of us who remain must carry. And that the reward for continuing is deep, soft, and spiritual.

Life is for… show more.

All of the five or six novels of Murakami’s that I’ve read feature an introverted protagonist not quite at home in the world, someone who wonders about reality and latches on to other strange people. Norwegian Wood, named after a song by the Beatles, may be the most accessible and this-worldly of his books.  It’s a coming-of-age story about a Japanese college student who falls in love at the end of the 1960s and never quite resolves his feelings. But after you read Norwegian Wood – assuming you like it – be sure to go on to Murakami’s Kafka… show more.

I suspect for a lot of people this will be the first fiction by a Japanese author they read. Murakami’s world can be dream-like, sometimes supernatural so, often, you don’t always notice the emotional impact of his stories. Norwegian Wood is one of his more ‘straightforward’ narratives, a timeless depiction of young love and all its agonies.