A review by almostblue
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

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

3.75

It was hard to attribute a rating to this book as reading it quite literally led me into a depressive episode. I think it's because the different themes were really heavy, and the way human relationships were depicted felt particularly bleak at times. Without forgetting the misogyny.
 
Yet, this novel is so memorable. Naoko's character especially is very haunting. My heart still breaks for her. It was definitely not the most pleasing reading experience, but I'm glad I finished it. In fact, I stopped reading halfway through the first time because one scene made me way too uncomfortable (
I'm referring to that one scene about rape between a minor and an adult, during which the narration also felt really lesbophobic to me
), and I only managed to read it all the way through a year later. Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without at least some content warnings. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings