Hey, everyone! After my previous review I thought I'll continue with the same author and grabbed his most famous novel "Norwegian Wood". A book named after the song from The Beatles, not a surprise given the author's fascination with music. Friends from the book club agreed to let me read this one and they'll be joining soon.
If you have read other works from Murakami or just heard about him, you are probably familiar with his magical realism. His stories integrate ordinary and fantastic elements making you question what is real and what is not. People actually doubted he can write a classic novel without relying on magical elements. This was his attempt to prove to everyone and to himself that he can do it.
"Norwegian Wood" is in a way a classic story about love, friendship, growing up, searching for happiness, but also about death, suicide and mental health. It is not an easy read even though sentences flow easily. And even though it's about love, it teaches how not to love and how not to make friendships. Make sure you are emotionally and mentally in a good place because this book will challenge you.
It is far from perfect and the characters are flawed - so why read it? - Because it is written beautifully and it's realistic in a sense that all the problems of main characters will seem familiar to you. It offers an insight into human psychology and human relationships and struggles that go with it.
The book is set in the late 1960s in the time of big student protests in Japan. It is written in a first person perspective from the point of view of young student Toru Watanabe but parallel to him we also learn about several other characters that are involved in his life. It begins by describing his relationship with Naoko who used to be his best friend Kizuki's girlfriend. Three of them were the outsiders, close to each other but distant from others. Everything changes when Kizuki commits suicide at the age of 17 and Toru and Naoko are left to deal with the grief of losing him, in their own ways. How does it affect them personally and what it means to their relationship?
Another important character we meet is Midori, a girl who is a complete opposite to Naoko in the way they approach life. This book explores different perspectives people have have feeling crushed. Part of the story is set in a sort of psychiatric retreat center - some of the characters may try to find their help there. Everyone deals with their sorrows differently, some try to keep positive attitude in spite of darkness around them, others have no strength to overcome these difficulties.
What's interesting about Murakami is that you don't necessarily need to love his characters and it's likely that you won't - it's because you recognize their way of existence as something familiar and relatable that you end up connecting with them. Because Murakami writes straightforward, the way the life is lived which creates a feeling of melancholy.
Mental health and depression are important topics in this book. Characters may live in a delusion, torn between moving forward and being stuck in the past. Unable to overcome their fears they also have trouble to open up to each other which may lead to misunderstanding and lack of trust.
“What a terrible thing it is to wound someone you really care for and to do it so unconsciously.”
I have to mention that at times, characters may act in a sexually perverted ways, that seem way out of line and unnecessary. If you are sensitive, you may have trouble reading through these lines. You might not like how certain characters (especially female) are developed. I personally had no issues with this, honestly at this point there's not much that can take me off guard. :)
Would I recommend this book? The biggest strength of Norwegian Wood is that it's written in a beautiful, poetic way and you'll get to know and love or hate the characters. It is not a valid exploration of mental health issues, but through reading it you might get a sense of what people with depression or lack of motivation feel like. It will certainly be an interesting topic to discuss/argue with your friends after you are finished. If those are good enough reasons, then go ahead and grab this one. :)
Happy reading!