[Book Notes] Norwegian Wood

My favorite one yet. Absolutely beautiful and melancholy prose.

It's the first book where Murakami gives characters real names. There are far fewer fantastical elements than in prior books. The only one that comes to mind is a midnight encounter that felt strange. This book is worth analyzing thoroughly. Quick reflections won't do it justice.

The characters are deeply human and easy to connect to. I found the main character painfully selfish. I classify life and death as key themes that shape what happens.

Naoko's sexual experience being described as "violating" matters — whether that means she brought it to Toru or whether it was already there and was part of her neurosis. I wonder if Toru's self-centeredness is what allowed him to continue viewing Naoko's devotion to him as half of a whole, when it contributed to her choosing death.

Speaking of suicide, this feels like Murakami's first attempt to take on a truly pressing social issue for Japan.

— Jay