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A review by elusorius
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
2.0
I finished reading this book while I was sick and honestly, I didn't really like it.
The plot was boring, not much was happening and therefore nothing compelled me to keep reading.
I didn't like any of the characters. The main character was very bland. He seemed pretentious and whiny, and I could not understand why all the women were so into him. Speaking of the women, some parts were quite sexist. A direct quote: "A beautiful, young girl like you has got to have a man to hold her and make her happy."
Additionally, all women were needy, pick-me girls. They all had trauma that was sexualized. The main character didn't have any women he was simply friends with. Every single relationship, romantic and platonic alike, was harmful in some way and there was a lot of infidelity that was considered normal.
And during the sex scenes, comparisons to young girls would be made. Even outside of the sex scenes, there were just so many descriptions of breasts.
Now, the book did have some good parts. The best part was its prose. Murakami's writing is truly beautiful, and he draws you into his world with ease. Some parts of the story also had deep messages that resounded with me, about death and grief.
In the end, I would give this 1.5 stars. But I will round it up to 2/5.
The plot was boring, not much was happening and therefore nothing compelled me to keep reading.
I didn't like any of the characters. The main character was very bland. He seemed pretentious and whiny, and I could not understand why all the women were so into him. Speaking of the women, some parts were quite sexist. A direct quote: "A beautiful, young girl like you has got to have a man to hold her and make her happy."
Additionally, all women were needy, pick-me girls. They all had trauma that was sexualized. The main character didn't have any women he was simply friends with. Every single relationship, romantic and platonic alike, was harmful in some way and there was a lot of infidelity that was considered normal.
And during the sex scenes, comparisons to young girls would be made. Even outside of the sex scenes, there were just so many descriptions of breasts.
Now, the book did have some good parts. The best part was its prose. Murakami's writing is truly beautiful, and he draws you into his world with ease. Some parts of the story also had deep messages that resounded with me, about death and grief.
In the end, I would give this 1.5 stars. But I will round it up to 2/5.