A review by artsyfartsybooks
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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

5.0

This book was so deeply moving in the most exquisitely beautiful way. Murakami has an incredible talent for weaving the pain, grief and loss we face in our ordinary, everyday lives as humans into such a profound, lyrical story that it makes you reconsider the "banality" of normal life - there is so much depth to us, even when nothing seems to be happening (I don't know if this makes any sense, but it struck me quite deeply). There was a great sense of melancholy running throughout this book, which is to be expected given the subject matter (suicide and mental illness). What I found most striking, however, was the grief faced by the loved ones of those suffering from mental illness, and how they struggle to cope not only with the loss of those close to them but with confronting the "sickness" themselves. I really can't do this book justice in a short little review, I feel like there is just so much more to explore and uncover, but that could take me ages! This is the sort of book that really teaches you something about life and encourages you to reflect, pause and reconsider. Anyway, Murakami's writing is simply exquisite, it is beautifully descriptive and captures the emotional experiences of the characters with such profound subtlety. Also, I just love all the characters, especially Midori and Reiko, they were so much fun! I would really recommend this book to anyone and I know that I myself will be revisiting it for many years to come. '

NB the one criticism I had of this book was all the graphic sex scenes. It doesn't necessarily take away from the quality of the novel, but it is quite confronting and I believe it didn't add much to the story. I'm fine with authors discussing sex in their novels, but it doesn't need to be done in such detail every time (I think perhaps I understand it in the scene with Naoko, but none of the others, especially the one with Reiko at the end). Anyway, this isn't to dissuade anyone from reading the book because it's still brilliant, but just be on guard for graphic sex scenes if this is something you are sensitive to.  
Expand filter menu Content Warnings