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.
What to expect?
Norwegian Wood is a book which derives its name from a famous 1965 song by Beatles. It is one of the most popular books of Murakami and is set in the Japan of the 1960s during the period of student revolution. It’s a coming-of-age dark romance and drama which is melancholic and strangely peaceful at the same time. The setting tells us a lot about the Japan of the 1960s and what it was like to be a grown adult (amidst the weak-willed hypocritical student revolution) in those days.
The characters
The characters are what makes Norwegian Wood great. Toru, Naoko, Midori, Reiko and Nagasawa are all brilliant in their own ways. Caught between what they desire and what they think is ideal, they often end up making decisions that they themselves don’t understand.
Toru is increasingly torn between his duty to Naoko and his feelings for Midori. Naoko is distant and emotionally closed but Midori is available and in love with him. Still, it is Toru’s indecisiveness that makes him live a life full of casual sex, uneasy friendships, forced isolation, heartfelt regret and the accompanying melancholy.
Naoko is a different character altogether. She appears to be broken beyond repair but she desires Toru too. Weak-willed and depressed, she is unable to come out of her shell and be happy. Midori is peculiar too, she lies about her family, treats Toru weirdly, cannot get rid of her boyfriend and is still in love with Toru.
The depth of each of these characters and the way they are so caught up in their griefs is what makes this book such an enthralling read.
If you want a good twisted Love ❤story
NORWEGIAN WOOD is for you😊
DuckDesk 