Japan: Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood
If you have never heard of Haruki Murakami stop what you’re doing right now and get
yourself down to Waterstones immediately. Murakami is one of Japan’s biggest modern writers and for a justifiable reason. Norwegian Wood is told by Toru Wantanabe, who is looking back on his life following the suicide of his best friend Kizuki on his 17th birthday.
Following Kizuki’s death, Toru and Kizuki’s now ex-girlfriend, Naoko, try to come to terms to Kizuki’s death through silent walks through the Japanese countryside. However, things quickly complicate once Tobu falls passionately in love with Naoko, whose deteriorating mental health forces her to go to a mental rehabilitation. Meanwhile, Tobu enters university and meets a pixie-haired girl named Midori, who he quickly develops a close relationship with.
However, don’t expect this to be your typical western love story. If you want happy endings and a reflection of the ‘Hollywood’ ideals of love, then perhaps this book isn’t for you. If you are familiar with The Beatles’ song which the novel is named after, this will perhaps serve to give an insight into course of the novel. Tobu describes how: ‘I felt so sorry for Naoko. My arm was not the one she needed, but the arm of someone else. My warmth was not the warmth she needed, but the warmth of someone. I felt almost guilty being me’ and it is with such delicate descriptions that Murakami handles with such a gentle perfection that makes Norwegian Wood’so enduring. With Naoko’s deteriorating mental wellbeing and Midori’s own personal battles, Toru is left having to choose between his past and his future. A must read book which serves a notably different insight to love, mental wellbeing and society than that of any Western book, Norwegian Wood thoroughly deserves your attention and admiration.
Words by Juliette Rowsell