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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Murakami’s Norwegian Wood is unlike the surreal, dreamlike novels I’ve read of his before—it’s grounded, melancholic, and intensely personal. Told through the retrospective lens of Toru Watanabe (a semi-autobiographical narrator), it’s a story of grief, love, and the difficult passage into adulthood in 1960s Tokyo.
What stayed with me most is the novel’s exploration of how death shapes life. The many suicides in Toru’s life leave him torn between memory and possibility, and force him to face how “death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.”
The novel isn’t always comfortable. The pacing is slow, the atmosphere heavy, and the characters are not designed to be easily likable. But by the end, it’s devastating and strangely beautiful, like the Beatles song it takes its name from: bittersweet, nostalgic, and impossible to shake.
🌍 Jay Rubin’s English translation of Norwegian Wood from Japanese is absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend it.
What stayed with me most is the novel’s exploration of how death shapes life. The many suicides in Toru’s life leave him torn between memory and possibility, and force him to face how “death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.”
The novel isn’t always comfortable. The pacing is slow, the atmosphere heavy, and the characters are not designed to be easily likable. But by the end, it’s devastating and strangely beautiful, like the Beatles song it takes its name from: bittersweet, nostalgic, and impossible to shake.
🌍 Jay Rubin’s English translation of Norwegian Wood from Japanese is absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Murakami's depiction of women sounds like a horny 14 year old boy who has never interacted with a female before.
The protagonist is dull and heavily relies on any other character to give life to the story. This makes no difference to the female characters who never think about anything other than sex.
The writing is smooth and easy to read but other than that I don't get the hype. There was no compelling insight or even a good story.
I look back on the book I read and there is nothing that I can identify as to why this book is so popular. If I wanted to find something, I'd have to dig deep and then come up with something pretentious to justify its quality.
That tells me enough.
The protagonist is dull and heavily relies on any other character to give life to the story. This makes no difference to the female characters who never think about anything other than sex.
The writing is smooth and easy to read but other than that I don't get the hype. There was no compelling insight or even a good story.
I look back on the book I read and there is nothing that I can identify as to why this book is so popular. If I wanted to find something, I'd have to dig deep and then come up with something pretentious to justify its quality.
That tells me enough.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mid at best
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
What did I just read? Honestly, what on earth was this? I feel like I’ve wasted my time. I don’t understand how this book is so popular. Author comes across as such a pervert. He clearly does not know how to write women. Every female character exists only in relation to a man, never as a self-sufficient individual. And why does every single conversation revolve around sex? It’s such a bizarre, repetitive theme. This book had the potential to be so much more, it touches on mental health and grief, but even those themes are reduced to being about sex. Just weird, honestly. Not a great book, would not recommend.
This was a beautiful, yet sad story with a very raw and honest character. The protagonist could be any one of us struggling through early adulthood and the search of understanding what love, lust and passion are and what it means to be true to yourself while struggling with internal conflict. A beautiful story, I am very happy I have read this.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
10/10 reading experience, thoroughly enjoyed it but definitely have qualms about the women in this like I’m speechless