blueaeriblue 's review for:

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

3.5

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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this book is a lot more depressing than i expected. after finishing, i felt a strange sense of melancholy and sorrow i still can't seem to get rid of. murakami has such a unique way of writing. i didn't know a human could convey feelings through words like that before. it's so emotionally vacant, hollow and insufferable. i've always wondered if that hollowness shows how the concept of masculinity detaches men from their selfhood, empathy, and ability to connect with others, whether intentional or not. it's quite controversial and uncomfortable in some chapters. there's no woman in the book that is not being sexualized bro!! murakami women are either manic pixie dream girls or uncomfortably sexualized older women, no in between. he has an undeniable problem writing about women, though. which in some works is merely disappointing and others can be really problematic.