Review by nffca - Norwegian Wood

nffca 's review for:

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Norwegian Wood was my first Murakami novel, and honestly, it didn’t leave much of an impression. The story follows Toru Watanabe, an 18-year-old student in Tokyo, as he tries to navigate grief after losing his best friend. He reconnects with Naoko, his friend’s ex-girlfriend, and the two form a fragile, emotional bond. When she suddenly disappears, Toru is left waiting and uncertain, until she starts writing him letters from a remote sanatorium. Meanwhile, he develops a connection with Midori, a fellow student who couldn’t be more different from Naoko.

The book is largely about Toru’s emotional paralysis, caught between two women, two worlds, and a lingering sense of loss. Murakami’s writing is immersive, and I did appreciate the quiet atmosphere he creates. There’s a certain beauty in how he captures mundane moments and everyday sadness. The references to Western music and literature helped ground the story in something familiar and relatable.

But despite the strong mood and setting, I found the novel frustrating. The female characters often feel like hollow projections, existing mainly to support or seduce the protagonist. Almost every woman in the book either sleeps with Toru or wants to, and the ones who don’t are written off as mentally unwell or broken. Some of the sexual encounters are deeply uncomfortable, and one, involving a minor, crosses a clear moral line. These scenes didn’t feel reflective or honest, they felt indulgent.

Murakami admits in the afterword that this novel is a version of the youth he wished he had, and that lens makes sense, it reads more like a fantasy of emotional depth than the real thing. Norwegian Wood had all the ingredients for a powerful, intimate coming-of-age story, but it never quite delivered for me. Beautifully written in places, yes, but hollow at its core.

Content Warnings