Norwegian Wood - A review

I've always felt intrigued in translated literature. Often time translated works are over glorified, especially in the West. I think this might be caused by the amount of American literature we read in high school; it makes us feel less exotic.

Of course, it is true that most translated works are amazing.

Recently, I read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is a Japanese author born in 1949. Being born in the 21st century, this sounds like a long time ago, but it was merely 74 years.

Murakami's essays, short stories, and novels have received global praise throughout his years of writing. Being from Japan, almost all of his stories are set somewhere in Japan, bringing a nice and aesthetically pleasing read.

Now to start the review...

I honestly loved this book. Other reviews I've read on this book have been either good or bad. I think that it depends–

Murakami is an amazing author but what makes this book so controversial is his portrayal of women. Not to generalise, but it is the same portrayal that modern day anime's have of women–very sexualised and lacking real depth.

If you can look past these imperfections and look deeper into the text however, I find that the female characters in this book do have quite depth, especially Reiko. (Even though, yes, the main character does end up having sex with almost every female character in this novel)

Murakami writes with an encapsulating premise. Every sentence is worth reading, unlike writing filled with meaningless description. As a reader who struggles with visualisation, Murakami leads the imagery for the reader to decide–He doesn't specify every colour, direction, and shape–He simply allows the reader to decide the space setting that the reader decides.

Norwegian Wood follows the story of a young man named Toru. Described as different by himself and his peers, he doesn't enjoy the same pastime as his peers at university. Because of this, he dwindles with the feeling of loneliness.

As we learn of his backstory, we find that his only two friends–Naoko and Kizuki–were his only chains to reality. But when Kizuki, his best friend and boyfriend of Naoko, commits suicide, we find that Toru struggles with understanding his placement in the world.

His trauma bond with Naoko and sexual frustration is what composes this beautiful novel full of love, grief, and loneliness.

4.5/5 – definitely recommend.