Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
January 27, 2017
"Norwegian Wood," published in 1987, is considered to be Haruki Murakami's step to stardom. It's one of my favorite books and, even though it's dark, it still has that warmth on every page. It follows the recollection of Toru Watanabe, who was 30 years old then. He was brought back to the past while he heard a Beatles song while on a flight.
It wasn't easy for Toru and Naoko. However, what I love most about the book is that it is relevant, and will remain so. Though this is one of the most common characteristics of books, what makes "Norwegian Wood" different me love the book is that it's relevant to everyone. Though some reviews think that it has a coming of age theme, but it's more relevant in how people are becoming more secretive about their dark and emotional battles.
Social media has taught most of us to share almost everything and anything. However, there's still an ulterior sign that "only share the good things in your life." Though oversharing in social media, may it be good or bad, is annoying, but crafting a different life with fake photos and posts is more annoying and even scary.
Another thing is that Murakami was able to give a realistic point of view people suffering and how it affects the lives of the people around them.
It is also a great example of how love truly operates and that love is not something that dependency cultivates. Love is something that operates freely and isn't afraid of death or loss, which most of his characters represent.
Here's what the book is all about:
"This stunning and elegiac novel by the author of the internationally acclaimed Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has sold over 4 million copies in Japan and is now available to American audiences for the first time. It is sure to be a literary event.
Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable. As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.
A poignant story of one college student’s romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man’s first, hopeless, and heroic love." - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
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