Book Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

This is the first Murakami book I have actually managed to read all the way through, and I think I finally understand somewhat why he is so well-regarded.

About the Book

Title: Norwegian Wood

Author: Haruki Murakami

Published: 1987

Genre: fiction, contemporary

My Rating: 4/5 stars

The Premise

Synopsis (from Goodreads) (truncated):

“Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.”

My Thoughts

I had mixed feelings on Norwegian Wood ; I loved parts of it, and didn’t love others.

I was not sure of my feelings about the book directly after finishing it, but after a day spent mulling it over, I came to a more clear understanding of what I think this book is meant to be about.

The most salient impression I had about the novel was that it was a story primarily about sex and suicide. As I thought about it some more after finishing the book, I started connecting it to other things I’ve read/thought about recently.

The book I finished before this one was The Denial of Death, which had a passage that stuck in my mind about how sex and mortality are linked in our minds because sex reminds us about our physical bodies and stops us from being able to pretend that we are detached from such earthly things. I also started thinking about Schopenhauer’s idea of the “will to life” and how it can lead to destruction/suffering. (this is because I was listening to a podcast on Schopenhauer earlier today)

Anyway, thinking about all of these things, I started to solidify my interpretation of the novel: a story about sad and lost people caught up in a whirlwind of lust and self-discovery, but who can’t escape the reality of death and depression and the fact that love doesn’t work out the way it does in romantic movies. That you won’t always find the right person at the right time, or any time at all.

There’s a lot of sex in this book. But the main thing I noticed was the difference in the sensuality and connection between Watanabe and Naoko vs. Watanabe’s one night stands with random girls after outings with Nagaswa.

I think also that, since everything was from the perspective of Watanabe, that his interactions with Naoko were idealized. He hardly thinks about her and her own well being. He strings her along while going out with Midori, while also not paying much attention to Midori either. He only really cares about Naoko because of his lust for her. And I think she, well, clearly, was much more unhappy than perhaps Watanabe ever realized.

I think predominantly this novel is about the way relationships don’t work out and love is messy and inextricably tied with loss.

Have you read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami? What did you think of it? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to Frappes & Fiction. I post about the books I read (even if they’re not fiction), the books I think YOU should read, and anything else on my mind.