A review by jacattack99
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my first Murakami read, and it lived up to my expectations. Murakami writes so beautifully and easily, even if the feelings aren’t relatable to me, he makes them understandable. To me this book encapsulates the pain and beauty in the mundane and the ever-changing role of love in our lives. Love need not be defined by one relationship or one way of loving. 


My only big complaints are the last three paragraphs (I didn’t feel like I needed him to wrap things up with her) and the weird sex scenes / sexist language (which of course I had been prepped for before I read it). For me, it could’ve ended at the train station with him being told to be happy. 

Overall, a huge fan of the writing style, and I enjoyed the exploration of love and death and life.
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