Reviews tagging 'Grief'

ノルウェイの森 Vol. 1 by Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami, Haruki Murakami

173 reviews

thomasdj's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

3.5

***Spoilers beyond the opening paragraph***

Norwegian Wood is very effective at portraying it’s main message of ‘to keep living’ showing the dangers of dwelling in the past and trying to assign meaning to those past events. Murakami is also a fabulous writer, able to paint vivid images of 60s/70s Japan with immense variety of quotable, poetic mantras. However, the plot of this novel, along with its depiction of women, leaves a lot to be desired.

The plot is perfectly mediocre, Toru (the protagonist) and Naoko (one of two primary love interests) are in love but their love for each other is limited. This is a result of Kizuki (Naoko’s boyfriend and Toru’s best friend) taking his life at 17. Understandably there is a lot of trauma associated with this, essentially forcing their love to be platonic. When it turns sexual, Naoko feels like she is betraying Kizuki and goes to stay in Hostel to recover from her grief. Instead of allowing Naoko the time and space to recover, Toru goes to visit her and writes to her weekly. This is in spite of the fact that he has met another woman. Midori, the antithesis of Naoko is lively, dramatic and opinionated but Toru continues to ignore their burgeoning love and insists on focussing on Naoko. It’s frustrating to read, even though it’s intentionalas one character says “Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Only arseholes do that.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Sexual assault

mostpeoplecallmemilo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Addiction

angela_iseli's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, and Grief

bunitsu's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.75

oh lord was this a journey. i have never read a book so fast. without the time i took a break, it only took me 7 days to read. even though i had to take a break after a while due to the intensity of certain things in the book, before those things happened i couldn’t put the book down. beautifully written but as always it’s not murakami without misogyny.  i hated a lot of moments in the books, some things i couldn’t comprehend why one would do some of the stuff he did. it just didn’t make sense but i will never stop reading murakami because of the beauty of his writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Self harm, Grief, Misogyny, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death, Abandonment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts

2hermione4's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed the symbolism that was used, especially regarding the 4 basic elements of nature, but the sexism and the uncomfortable sex scenes made me consider not finishing the book.
*Check trigger warnings*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexism, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury

seanajk's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicide, and Grief

Minor: Blood

smrod's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

_rowan_'s review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This is a weird book. I love Murakami’s writing style and i (mostly) enjoyed reading this book but there are problematic elements (I especially really really hated the story of when Reiko was a music teacher). The thing is, I don’t know if Murakami is a genius and has carefully constructed his characters or if these are his own misogynistic etc views coming through. Definitely give it a read but remember to check the content warnings (there are a lot). <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol

Minor: Blood and Lesbophobia

libriandthoughts's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Questo libro mi ha lasciato un velo di tristezza, per il dolore che permea la storia dall'inizio alla fine. Però un piccolo spiraglio di luce si può intravedere in mezzo a tutto questo buio: l'amore per l'unica persona che si desidera al mondo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer and Grief

bcooper21's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Forced institutionalization