abeagleandabook 's review for:

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

2.0

reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content warning: NSFW, traumatic sexual experiences. This isn't my first Murakami. (I read 1Q84 several years ago and found it too... cerebral? pensive? Didn't hit.) When I was googling Japanese author recommendations, his name repeatedly came up, so I decided to give his work another go, despite not loving what I'd previously read. Murakami himself says Norwegian Wood is a different style for him (more realistic fiction) so I thought perhaps it'd be a better match. It still wasn't. His female characters feel thinly developed - borderline sexualized objects. His prose is still pensive and at times poetic, which works for descriptions of nature, but felt too detached for the thoughts/dialogue of a narrator in his late teens-early twenties. The book references Catcher in the Rye - fitting, as Watanabe is reminiscent of Holden Caulfield. I wanted to give Watanabe a good shake, tell him to treat his loved ones like humans, and leave. A narrator can get away with that vibe if the book gives some insight or meaningful conclusion, but I didn't get that resolution from Norwegian Wood. 2/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content