Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Norwegian Wood

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

406 reviews

hunnylemon's review against another edition

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

those were three days i’ll never get back. i don’t know why everyone recommends this as a good starter to murakami novels it is shite and the only thing that kept me reading was knowing what will happen to the manic pixie dream girl and her side piece (the main character apparently). there are too many things wrong with this book it felt like i was reading a much more graphic version of “looking for alaska”

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lagaialettrice's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

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katanarin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Like always Murakamis style of writing is very delicate. The plot is interesting, good pacing, poetic descriptions.
The plot and fantasy aspect differs to other Murakami books, this book is a romance novel and got nothing surreal to it.
There is like always one thing that annoys me about this book or about Murakami in general.
The way he writes woman lol
Again - every woman is at one point in this book just an sexual lust-object for the protagonist or another male. In Kafka on the shore it somehow made sense to me but in this book it seemed really unnecessary and at some point it was so annoying that it really ruined the moment. It's just sad :,)

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amilabell's review against another edition

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mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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minihaido's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jennyreadssometimes's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Overall a great read. It was a sad, nostalgic and very raw story with its main focus the difference in relationship dynamic between the main character, Watanabe, and two love interests in his life who are very different.

I had initially expected it to be a bit more of an inspirational story about overcoming mental illness, so I was quite taken back by the unexpected twist of Naoko taking her own life at the end, but I think that made it more thought provoking as it became really reflective of how Watanabe himself dealt with loss.

I've heard things before about Murakami's writing style being slightly objectifying of women, however I didn't feel that with this read. I enjoyed that I resonated with the vulnerability of all the characters and grieved over the parts that didn't work out. It reminded me in some ways of my own grief journey and for that I thought it was quite cathartic.

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froggoz13's review against another edition

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dark reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I am very conflicted due to the themes of pedophilia and homophobia and the misogynistic undertones that aren't adressed anywhere in the book. I don't like the characters and don't see myself being drawn to them or worried for them. I experienced the story as very strange and uncomfortable.

The writing style is good and descriptive in a pleasant way but the dialogues are often quite direct. Overall I did want to continue reading the vook and find out what would happen next but I did not particularly enjoy reading it.

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