Book Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

In Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami proves himself as a leader in literature, perfectly capturing the feeling of true love within a book with so much charm.

Centering on Toru, a man who hears his favourite Beatles song (Name in the Book Title) and is instantly transported back 20 years, where he recalls his first love, Naoko, Haruki encapsulates what it's like to be a student in Tokyo, or on a far broader scale, in general. An artistic display of talent from Murakami shows him telling a tale of "Uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire" with noticeable charm that just pulls you right in and ignites a willingness to take the book slow, asking you to take in every last detail and enjoy the moment, just as Toru does.

Spoiler Free Book Score:

To provide this book with a score below 9 would be unjustified, as it beautifully displays the talent of Haruki, providing a wonderful story full of wit, entertainment and humour, with a hint of love.

9/10

Spoiler Warning! This part of the review will go into detail about the story.

Haruki displays nothing but prowess, expertly weaving together friendships, love and student uprisings (Bit of a weird one, but it's there) into one beautiful novel.

Toru recounts his first love, Naoko, a girl with underlying mental health issues, who moves into the mountains to escape reality, finding a home with other people struggling with similar situations. It's here that we find Ruth, a woman far older than Toru and Naoko, but one who quickly grows fond of both and takes Naoko under her wing, helping her cope with her mental health while Toru isn't there to support her.

Naoko's backstory is tragic, but handled in a way that brings out understanding and empathy, not sadness, within the reader. The suicide of Toru's best friend and Naoko's lover, Kizuki, extracts a heavy toll on Naoko and is the ultimate underlying plot-point of the book. Everything in this beautiful book revolves around Kizuki's death and Naoko's handling of it. A strong bond is formed between Toru and Naoko as a result of Kizuki's death, and when Naoko leaves for the mountains and doesn't write to Toru for months, we watch as Toru goes through a bought of depression, attempting to block out Naoko with casual sex with girls he feels nothing for.

No character overstays their welcome, everyone is given ample time to establish a place within the reader's heart, within which understanding is brought out, particularly after the feelings of love between Naoko and Toru are acted upon, because everyone has experienced love at some point in their life. This allows the reader to build an incredibly strong connection to these characters.

Overall, this book is a masterpiece, perfectly encapsulating death, passion, love and sadness into one truly beautiful tale. If you're a fan of tales with little to no action, this is, without a doubt in my mind, a must-read.

9/10

Author's note:

Hey everyone, thank you for reading this far. I hope this was a useful, extensive book review for you to get a far more in-detail insight into this stellar novel. Just an update, I've read another book (VOX) since reading a Tale for the Time Being and this, so expect a review on that soon. I'm about halfway through Good Omens too. If you want to contact me to provide suggestions you can find me on Twitter (@sluwushi) or Instagram (@sluwushi). Both are primarily music accounts however, so, follow if you want to keep up with my music too.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and are staying safe!

Ryan Wheeler