Paperback, 295 pages
English language
Published Aug. 1, 2015 by Vintage International.
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.
I love Murakami writing but I have mixed feelings about this one. It's a depressing book overall, the story is a bit too dark, but as usual with Murakami we are almost transported to another dimension. I give a 4 star review (more like a 3.5) only because I still feel the good things overcomes the bad ones.
What a mournful read. Echoes of "Norwegian Wood" lyrics ripple through Toru Watanabe's intimate scenes with Reiko, Midori, Naoko and Hatsumi. Toru sees autumn rain as his jet lands in Germany and like Proust's madeleine he is transported to his early manhood and his relationships with university roommates, emotionally fragile and mercurial women, and the dying.
