Written by Japanese author and translator Haruki Murakami, whose wildly imaginative and magical realist stories have gained him a worldwide following, “Norwegian Wood” (ノルウェイの森) takes a step back from his usual prose and focuses on the mundane life of a young man grappling with grief, loss, and existentialism. Despite being one of Murakami’s earliest novels, “Norwegian Wood” is one of his most well-loved books to date.
The novel begins with a 37-year-old Toru Watanabe on a flight to Hamburg, Germany, when he hears the beginning notes of The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood. Memories and emotions then come flooding back as his mind travels back to the late 1960s, reliving his life as a man on the cusp of adulthood. Toru had fled from his hometown in Kobe to bustling Tokyo to start anew after his best friend, Kizuki, unexpectedly took his own life.
With his idyllic childhood in shambles, Toru vows to remain detached from others as he starts his college life. While he meets several interesting characters in his dormitory, including his neat-freak roommate “Storm Trooper” and womanizing university student Nagasawa, who eventually coaxes him to sleep around with women, Toru remains at a distance.
By a stroke of luck or misfortune, however, Toru runs into an old friend from Kobe. Naoko, Kizuki’s demure girlfriend, had also been suffering due to her lover’s death. It is through this shared agony that Toru and Naoko find solace in each other’s company, and as they spend time together, Toru eventually falls in love with the broken Naoko.
During his time in Tokyo, Toru also meets Midori Kobayashi, whose vibrant and spirited personality is a stark contrast to Naoko’s reserve. As they grow closer, Midori shows Toru the different side to life he’s unaccustomed to—one of trust and idealism.
The beauty of conversations
As Toru tries to come to terms with his tumultuous emotions and his tragic love affairs, Murakami draws in readers with his simple yet profound writing style. Readers are able to connect to the humanity of Toru’s character, particularly in his day-to-day conversations with those he comes across.
While Toru’s inner thoughts make up much of the story’s narrative, it is through his conversations that Murakami breathes life into the characters. From the hesitance in Naoko’s stammering, to the lighthearted, and oftentimes, provocative tone of Midori’s remarks, the novel highlights these dialogues and forms its chapters around them. It is in this narrative we are taken back to a life we have never known, yet feels strangely familiar.
Life and death
While the novel is heavily punctuated by tragedy and loss, it also delves into the healing that comes afterward, whether consciously or not. After an incident drives a wedge between Toru and Naoko, the latter retreats to Ami Hostel, a sanatorium in the forested mountains of Kyoto, in an attempt to mend herself. Murakami’s eye for description truly shines in the way he paints the vast timbered landscape of the sanatorium where much of the story takes place.
The forest where Toru and Naoko reconcile is representative of the deep depression that puts them both in an undertow, the same one that keeps them from committing to each other fully. And while the forest is where people come to heal, it only drives Naoko farther away from clarity. Her unwillingness to leave the crutches of her mental state ultimately decides her fate, and it is here where Murakami shows the reality of healing: that it does not always come to us.
While Murakami’s novel has succeeded in captivating millions of readers worldwide, it does come with its fair share of criticism. Much of Murakami’s work features women who are objectified and merely introduced as metaphors for sexual desires and relief—and Norwegian Wood is no exception. While sexuality is a theme explored by many authors in their work, Murakami’s writing choices can seem quite off-putting, as Toru seems to have sexual relations with almost all female characters in the story.
Despite its faults, Norwegian Wood is an enthralling read. Its existential themes are timeless, thought-provoking, and definitely worthwhile. The nostalgic and dreamlike quality of Murakami’s storytelling is bound to keep you enamored in Toru’s daily life. Furthermore, Jay Rubin, Murakami’s English translator, has done a fantastic job of keeping the novel true to its essence.
It’s highly recommended to listen to The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood, the novel’s namesake, while reading.
Norwegian Wood, and the rest of Murakami’s spellbinding novels, are available in bookstores nationwide.
