Picture credit - harukimurakami
“If you're in pitch blackness, all you can do is sit tight until your eyes get used to the dark”
A journey through the life of three different persons enfolding every emotion which is generally overlooked by most of us. Taking you along the 1960’s Japan and its jazz music, club and, the ever-evolving life of three teenagers, crossing the biggest threshold of their lives. The intriguing journey of Toru, Naoko, and Midori amidst all the chaos going around.
Introduction
Book Name: Norwegian Wood
Author’s Name: Haruki Murakami
Genre: Romance and fiction
Language: Japanese
Synopsis: Non-spoiler alert!
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The story centres on Toru Watanabe who for most of the novel is nineteen, going on 20. The book opens as he’s 37 on an aeroplane and he hears the song Norwegian Wood, which is the title and he starts recalling his younger years and this particular woman (Naoko) who he was in love with. So you basically get a little bit of background and then it goes straight into the part when he was nineteen in the late 1960s.
The book then explores mental illness, suicide (which is the massive theme in this novel). The idea is that people not only get physically but also mentally and emotionally sick as well. Toru falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend and then everything goes downhill from there to a time when an impetuous young woman named Midori marches into his life.
Later in this novel, the author talks about mental health issues at different levels. Toru meets different people from all sorts of backgrounds and learns from their life experiences. Looking at female characters from the gaze of a male protagonist who is speaking in the first person. The female characters get romanticized in different ways throughout the novel.
The ending leaves us wondering about him choosing between his future and past in the middle of nowhere. The last lines were absolutely enthralling “All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out for Midori from the dead centre of this place that was no place.”
About The Author
Haruki Murakami is considered by a lot of people to be a prolific author to come out of Japan. He is certainly one of the most commercially successful authors given that this book itself had sold millions and millions of copies. Most of his novels feature themes like jazz music, clubs and alcohol. One can see the reflection of his own life in his work.
Self Analysis
It’s a very emotional and evocative book. The way the book is written is amazing. The imagery is potent. The author paints an amazing image in every sense. I loved reading about Tokyo in its old 1960’s. So the book is big on music, music is one of the central themes in the book. It’s written in a different time and culture. So that’s the premise you enter.
Going through his (author’s) psychology, I felt Naoko’s character has a great void inside her due to personal loss which is reflected in the latter part of the novel. Dark thoughts and suicide were prominent throughout the novel. Sexual abuse/harassment was also dealt with in this. It brings a sense of grief born from loss, and the book ends on a positive note that we may continue to live after all that one has gone through.
This book is a modern literary depiction of depression, suicide and dark thoughts. Although the novel deals with a heavy theme, at the end I would like to conclude my analysis with a positive note that this book brings out at the end, though one may be lost and feel dejected we can continue to live and heal from it as long as we try.
Famous Quotes
- “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”
“Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it’s time for them to be hurt.”
“Only the Dead stay seventeen forever.”
Bottom Line
This book is a bit on the darker side of life, some lines and references might evoke or trigger some group of people. I wouldn’t suggest this book to someone who’s going through a rough patch in life but one can give this a shot if we try to look on the brighter side of this novel.
My rating for the book- 3.5 on 5
Get your copy on amazon Norwegian Wood Paperback
Written by - Shambhavi Arya
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