Norwegian Wood

Excessive sex is forefront in Murakami’s novels;

my understanding of his writing is sex isn’t obscene or to sensationalize, rather it is one way to try out deep intimacy between his characters (with vaginal penetration being most powerful and substantial);

Another way deep intimacy manifests in his stories, but as more a build-up than a release: listening to jazz records with somebody in the privacy of a closed room.

At the end of the day, although innately gendered, I think men and women are equal in his stories (they get objectified and objectify, they get sexualized and sexualize, they are ill-fated and are forced into roles and responsibilities that bring them anguish all the same) and why I don’t agree with that statement at all

but idk I’ve only read 2 murakmais so far

the depiction of grief in different perspective was heartfelt however the random sex and the way women are perceived in the book bothers me so much.

i kinda get it but at the same time i don’t really. finished this on the plane and wasn’t really loving it until the ending made it better. still not sure how i feel about watanabe tho

I don’t know if this was the best book to start with murakami’s work but I do enjoy his writing style. His detailed writing is what builds the atmosphere and I think that is what carried the overall tone in this book. The underlying theme regarding sexuality and intimacy was too much for me but I can appreciate how he works through other topics like grief, mental health and living for yourself.

😵‍💫Fixated on unimportant details and descriptions.

💤Pointless, endless conversations and storylines.

🤢The amount of times I said ew or what the fuck was incredibly high.

Ich weiß nicht wie ich anfangen soll… es ist mein erstes murakami Buch und habe aufjedenfall mehr erwartet.

In diesem Buch geht es um zwei Sachen: s*x und tot. Es gibt überall verborgene Bedeutungen. Aber wenn man das wegschneidet und zum Kern geht, ist das nur noch übrig.

Es ist aber auch ein starkes buch. Es erzählt keine besondere Geschichte. sondern untersucht den menschlichen Geist und die Geschichten, die in der normalen Vergangenheit von gewöhnlichen Menschen um uns herum versteckt sind.

Am Ende weiß ich nicht, was ich zu diesem Buch sagen soll. Ich mochte es manchmal und habe es manchmal gehasst. Wenn dieses Buch Murakamis Werke repräsentieren würde, würde ich nie ein anderes von ihm lesen. Aber ja ich weiß dass es nicht so ist!

Bin ich froh, dass ich dieses Buch gelesen habe? Würde ich es empfehlen? Die Antwort, die mir für beide Fragen in den Sinn kommt, ist nein. Es kann sehr deprimierend sein und hat mich emotional belastet. Und nachdem ich fertig war, hatte ich nicht das Gefühl, dass dies ein Buch war, das man unbedingt lesen muss. Es war nicht besonders gut, und es sendete keine wichtige Botschaft. Aber aus irgendeinem unerklärlichen Grund war es immer noch lesenswert. In gewisser Weise.

The thing he wanted to convey tried to like to make an impact of maybe overshadowed by “going with the flow” character of Watanabe. for sure it's a vigorous episode in the fiction that will make you cry and soothe the broken in you as well.

If I could describe Norwegian Wood in one word: liberated. Definitely not like the usual books I’ve read, but you can’t remain in your comfort zone forever, right? I think it applies to books as well. I had to look past a lot of things in order to appreciate the book in all its splendor. One thing I really loved was how introspective the protagonist, Toru was. The way he describes his surroundings and feelings is extremely vivid. If you were to lift his words from the story and situate it in this world we live in, it would not make sense. One might think, “nobody actually talks like that.” However, the world Murakami creates is a special one, and so, you must be willing to suspend disbelief to fully immerse yourself in his work. I can’t speak much since this is my first time reading Murakami, but it’s what everyone else is saying. I really am looking forward to reading more.

** spoiler alert ** I found Murakami’s writing intriguing and full of depth. But... this book is not worth more than 3 stars. “Norwegian Wood” is about a Japanese boy, Toru Watanabe, who slowly steps into adulthood, which carries all the pain and frustration it always does. He is torn between future and past, and clumsily makes his way through life. One of the things I found interesting in “Norwegian Wood” was the character’s thoughts on death. They were naive at first and then slowly - more and more real, down to earth even. He comes to terms with what death is. He accepts it. One particular quote stayed with me: “I tried hard to forget, but there remained inside me a vague knot of air. And as time went by, the knot began to take on a clear and simple form, a form that I am able to put into words, like this: Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life.” Murakami writes about life (and its inevitable death) in a deep and beautiful way. I do think this is what I found most fascinating. As well as my love for the Japanese culture. “Norwegian Wood” takes you to Japan in the 60s - through its small and big cities, the mountains, the politics even, and Tokyo’s different faces each season of the year. You get to experience everything Japan was before, and still is to this day. But the plot was not necessarily my thing. I have heard a lot about Murakami’s style and his deep take on life but “Norwegian Wood” wasn’t what I expected. It even disappointed me a little. There were too many empty scenes and heavy thoughts that don’t always suit a young boy such as Toru Watanabe. And last... after trying to find a deeper meaning in the ending and having to think about it a few days after I closed the book, I can say that I was not fascinated by it. I do understand why everything happened the way it did and why it was necessary for all events to take place. I do understand why certain things in life need to happen in order to let go of the past, but this doesn’t make me neither love nor accept the way “Norwegian Wood” ended. Perhaps the third star this book receives goes to The Beatles and one of their best songs. Naoko was a sentimental one, after all, and her taste in music didn’t disappoint all the sentimental souls out there. (I would love to read more of Murakami, but I do hope I stumble upon something better in the future.)

I was amazed at how Murakami gave the sense of atmosphere and mood impeccably. There were some quotes in the book that made me take a second and say dude Woah. I will be reading more books by him in the future definitely. :D

4.5 ☆’s “desde el principio estuvimos unidos en la frontera entre la vida y la muerte.” “hasta ahora había deseado permanecer eternamente en los diecisiete o dieciocho años. pero ya no lo pretendo. […] he cumplido veinte años. y debo pagar un precio por seguir viviendo.” hay dos tipos de personas: los que se aferran a la vida y los que se entregan a la muerte. and this book showed both sides perfectly. update: 5 stars esta madre me dejó mal

Beautiful but the ending throw me off

i’m so glad to be done with this godforsaken book if i had to read one more mechanical ill placed sex scene i was going to gouge my eyes out

It felt surreal to read this with the events that were happening in my life. It helped me face my fears in the most poetic way.

I am sorry I am not the target audience for male characters that think women are a hollow form with a pair of tits

I re-read this book after a long long time and finally i understand......... no, its just desprate episode

I'm unsure honestly what to say. While I enjoyed the writing in the beginning and annotated quite a few quotes there was just so many weird and uncomfortable points in this book.  Firstly unrelated to content this book was a DRAG to read, despite not being that long it felt like it took ages to complete it. The pacing is incredibly slow and it felt like it was just a guy living his mediocre life, just doing things for quite a bit of this book.  Secondly it's hard for me to ignore the weird pedophilic side story that occurs to Reiko. It honestly unsettled me so much that afterwards the whole book felt a little tainted for me.  Thirdly I just did not like the way any of the characters were written, especially the women. Toru is just some guy, with no particular interests or aspirations. Midori is some weird manic pixie dream girl type. I will say though that my experience was not completely negative. I enjoyed the discussion of death and grief, of relationships in early adulthood and growing pains. I really liked Midori's character in the earlier part of the book when she spoke about being a caretaker to her ill father and the snobbyness in how working class people are treated when asking practically about revolution. I wish there was better characterisation and just less weird sex scenes...it would have made this book way better to me.

the portrayal of women in this book makes makes me sad.

took me a very long time to finish this book. the writing is captivating, but sometimes i was just like D:

Varias personas me recomendaron este libro. Decidí leerlo antes que las primeras obras de Murakami por esa razón, pero creo que fue un error; no me dejó nada particular la historia. El personaje principal está rodeado de amistades que se suicidan, que a su vez tienen vidas rodeadas de muerte. Ok, la muerte es parte de la vida, pero sentí que estuvo a punto de ser ridículo. Storm Trooper-lieber.

Emotional romance novel about moving on and letting go and accepting life as it comes. It started off a little boring but definitely started picking up trough a cast of very endearing yet tragic characters. The ending was confusing, but hopeful, happy in a sad way. I enjoyed this very nuanced read.

4.5 stars! Just something about the way Murakami built the story.. it really was breathtaking

Here's a challenge for Haruki Murakami: Don't be a misogynist for twenty seconds. I think the grotesque way he views women is overlooked simply because of his literary standing.