A review by ailykatt
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

4.5

I was absolutely enamored by this author’s writing style. The dialogue and the way he captures the sight & sound of a scene were so lovely it felt like a film. I read this as an e-book and found myself repeatedly screenshotting paragraphs because of their beauty. I think if you enjoyed Never Let Me Go by Kashuo Ishiguro and Beautiful World Where Are You by Sally Rooney you may enjoy Norwegian Wood. It was also somewhat reminiscent of The Secret History by Donna Tarte due to the lingering sense of existentialism and the collegiate setting. That being said, this story was rife with suicide and egregiously sexual. I recognize that could be a regional/cultural difference. I certainly believe that sex can contribute to plot/character development but this was near constant. I found the flippant regard for infidelity unsettling, and a particular scene involving a minor was very difficult to stomach.