Reviewing My First Haruki Murakami Novel: ‘Norwegian Wood’

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• Title: Norwegian Wood
• Author: Haruki Murakami
• Translator: Jay Rubin
• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Pub. date: 10 October 2011 (first pub.1987)
• Series: none
• Page count: 401
• Genres: adult fiction, contemporary, romance

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire – to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

Content warning: alcohol use, death of a loved one, mental illnesses, sexual content, suicide.

Picking up Norwegian Wood as my first Murakami read might apparently have been a good thing and a not-so-good thing at the same time. I was so curious about what others might have shared on this book that I browsed through numerous reviews and what I came across was that Norwegian Wood is actually a bit of an atypical piece of Murakami’s since his typical work includes talking cats and alternate realities (and I’m obviously even more obsessed now LOL!). But it was this book that propelled the author to super-stardom, or that’s what Jay Rubin stated in his note, so there’s that. What I am trying to say in this long spiel is that I went into my first Murakami novel pretty blind and it was really darn good!

The story starts with Toru Watanabe, 37, hearing the familiar tunes of the Beatles’ hit ‘Norwegian Wood’ while on a business trip, which transports him to his memories of his eighteen-year-old self. This was when he faced the death of his best friend, Kizuki, and fed up with his life in Kobe, Toru moves to dorm-life in Tokyo. Here he reunites by chance with Naoko, Kizuki’s girlfriend, and they reconnect over their past bond. However, after a birthday celebration that goes wrong, Toru starts to realise that Naoko is struggling with her own demons. Then spunky Midori Kobayashi walks into Toru’s life and they connect in an unexpected way. Toru comes to realise that he will have to choose between the two women and the repercussions his choices could lead to.

As the story really delves into Toru’s memories, the reader ends up really face-to-face with his inner workings and emotions, so it is really interesting how I felt like I was hijacking Toru’s body. Though he is the main character, Toru was not my favourite character in Norwegian Wood. He gave me Nick Carraway vibes from The Great Gatsby (which is his favourite book, so coincidence?) because he spends the majority of his life being a passive observer of his friends’ lives. This got very frustrating to me at times and I felt like whacking him multiple times throughout the story honestly. And maybe I’m being too sensitive, but this guy slept around a lot throughout this whole novel!

Naoko, Toru’s dead best friend’s girlfriend who then gets involved with Toru, is a lot more complicated character, and even at the end of the story, I do not think anyone completely understood her, including Toru. Funnily enough, she isn’t the only complicated character the reader comes across the span of the story. Even Midori, with her spunky feminism, is complicated in her own way. I think one of my favourite things about this book was this fact: that it was fun to read about these complex characters with their unpredictability and their quirks.

My favourite character was definitely Midori though. Despite how often I blushed at her unapologetic interest in everything to do with sex and men, I found it refreshing to see a female character who was so unapologetically forward and brazen. She is quite inspiring in that sense.

One thing that floored me as soon as I started reading was the buttery writing. Absolute magic! Yes, I read a translation, so I give credit to both the author and translator for how cohesive and elegant the writing was.

There were several moments when Murakami managed to convey such detailed imagery through his words! Whether it is about something as physical as mountains or something more abstract, like the words spoken by someone when it touches the air. He does it so brilliantly that I am left gaping at the text when I read it the first time and then I re-read it because it is so beautiful!

The writing was wonderfully paced and flowed smoothly till the very end. I am still struck by how the writing on its own just impressed me so much!

With all these complicated characters and immersive writing, the plot of the story is actually a bit cliche and straightforward. It is essentially Toru’s struggles with his love life, but Murakami weaves in so many other things like his dorm life, the student revolutions going on, life events like deaths and birthdays.

What I liked about this plot is that it is not a frilly love story; there are many real-life issues that pop up and need to be worked through for everyone to be happy. So, then it becomes more of a story about life and everything that comes with it. I also like how Murakami sort of sneakily centred the story more on life and death when the reader goes in expecting a love story.

What I did not like about the story was that it was about a love story. Ha! Confused? Let me explain. This is my first Murakami novel and I jumped in more or less blind to anything behind this book, so I expected a lot more than a “good ol’ love story”. Since the story had a huge mental illness element, I thought “Oh, maybe the story will focus more on recovery or something along those lines” but not really focus on Toru choosing between two girls.

Norwegian Wood is mainly set from 1968 to early 1970s Tokyo. I honestly do not know much about this period and I more familiar with present-day Japanese culture primarily through reading books that represent them, so I don’t think I am the best judge of accuracy or historical context. Though I did come across that Murakami is well-known for adding in elements of cultural importance from relevant periods, which explains the student revolutions and such that Toru describes during his dorm experience.

Other than that, I enjoyed the Japanese representation (based on what little secondhand experience I’ve got) and this book even gave me some wanderlust for some Japanese countryside. Toru’s dorm life was very exciting and vibrant as well, and I came across sources that stated this was probably due to the almost autobiographical nature of Murakami’s writing on Toru’s dorm experience. Well, it was certainly plenty lively for me!

I also liked how Murakami used Midori’s personality to challenge the patriarchal views of the society in both an impactful and likeable way, which was in wonderful contrast to the student riots.

Like I briefly touched on before, life and death play a central role in Norwegian Wood. The story is set in the phase of Toru’s life that cements his views on these themes, and I found his monologues rather insightful. And relatable too! I loved how Murakami explored these haunting themes with elegance and cutting edge that delivered a very impactful punch towards the end of the story.

There is also a focus on mental illness in the book as Toru himself struggles to understand what is happening. It was interesting to see the perspective of 1960s-70s Japan on mental illness though I am sure there was much more to it.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami was a rather interesting take on life, death and love. Though simple in story, the writing and the characters add all the layers that give the story its depth and attractiveness. Though I was slow to sink into the story at first, I was quickly transported to late 1960s Tokyo and deeply immersed in the plot within one chapter. Also, I am definitely re-reading this one in the future!

Also, make sure you check out this amazing book cover breakdown of Norwegian Wood by Ninu @ Bookishloom!

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Have you read Norwegian Wood yet? What’s your favourite Haruki Murakami work so far?