Reviews with content warning for Death - Norwegian Wood: Tokyo Blues

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Norwegian Wood: Tokyo Blues by Haruki Murakami

283 reviews

bella613's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

I like the way Murakami writes, as if he must tell a story that really happened and not as if he's creating one.
I didn't love this book the way I loved Killing Commendatore. It was not quite what I expected, especially after hearing it was this book that exploded Murakami into fame. But I did connect with it. As it is with Murakami, there are some uncomfortable sections of the book. But there are some uncomfortable moments in life, so... it's sort of beautiful that he captures it so intensely?
I found myself most drawn to Naoko in this story. Midori as a character is someone I would probably not enjoy spending time with in real life, but added to the story in a mostly positive way. I didn't like Toru much in the same way that one might not like oneself. Listening from his pov felt like looking back on one's own life and seeing all the flaws and mistakes and self-centered choices that were made. But he was very real. That's one thing I also love about Murakami: all of his characters feel undeniably real.
My favorite part of the book was probably the long letter describing the sanatorium and the following visit to the sanatorium.

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abril6's review against another edition

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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? No

1.0

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countdraculahimself's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? Yes

2.0

disgusting

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meg_reads83's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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soniaaaaaaaa'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
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

heartbreakingly good, the characters felt like real people and how murakami is able to explore grief and loss was really effective.

i would also check the trigger warnings before reading, some stuff i read i didnt expect and it was quite disturbing

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janainthebooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.0

I understand it is the perspective of a 19 year old boy but the way women are viewed and described in this book is extremely superficial, overtly sexual and plane boring. This one sided and objectifying way of storytelling takes away from the depth of the story and the of the characters. The story itself is rather slow paced and at times hard to get through, but gets more interesting in the last third. All in all its an intriguing plot and some passages are beautifully poetic, but it could've been executed better.

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