Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami

God I love this book.. it's very close to me, partly because I got it recommended by a very dear friend of mine.. partly because I can relate to the main character a LOT. It's about a guy who's best friend commited suicide, after which he feels very lost and lonely and seeks the company of his friends girlfriend, who feels lost as well. They don't have anything in common but their dead friend. It's a perfect story if you're interested in Japanese culture.

I'll quote the part that really got to me, because when I was 17 a friend of mine commited suicide as well and this is exactly how I felt/feel.. Murakami manages to capture it in simple words.

 

one of my favorite books of all time. beautifully written. murakami is a genius. try the "wind-up bird chronicle" as well.

 

I love you!

I only know one other person that knows/loves Murakami as much as I do.. The first book I read was 'a wild sheep chase', followed by 'dance dance dance'.. I've bought '[size=-1]Hard-boiled Wonderland/End of the World[/size] ' recently but I need a little more time before I start that one.. his writing can really get to me sometimes and I don't want to get sucked in again without having some 'time out' first

Haven't read wind up bird chronicle yet.. did you read the other two I mentioned? And yeah.. he's a real genius.. he is..

 

i accidently came across "hard boiled wonderland" in a bookstore in london about three years ago--the excerpt seemed bizarre, so i bought it, read it, and fell in love with murakami's writing. i've also read "sputnik sweetheart" (short and easy, but still bizarre. you should definitely read it), "the elephant vanishes", and of course "norwegian wood" and "wind-up bird". i haven't yet read "wild sheep chase" or "dance dance dance". isn't "dance dance dance" a continuation of "wild sheep chase"?

 

Yeah it is.. you can read the second one without knowledge of the first one I guess, but you will miss a lot of the background information. If possible, read 'wild sheep chase' first.

I'm planning on reading a lot of Murakami's stuff.. apart from Douglas Adams he's the only writer I really really appreciate. The others put words on paper, they put feelings in their as well. The best thing 'bout Murakami I think is the fact that his style of writing is so plain. No fancy words, no attempt to dazzle you with drama.. just plain words. But oh, the depth of them!

 

definitely. what i love best about murakami is the fact that he uses such normal characters and then sends them down the most bizarre plotlines imaginable. i hope my life enters a murakami vortex someday...

 

Hm.. the bizarre plotlines in Norwegian Wood were very little I thought.. but in the other two books (wild sheep chase & dance dance dance) it was definately a vortex.. it sucked me in and it had a major impact on me.. think it's hard to explain to anyone who didn't read the books.. and I wonder if even everyone who does read them 'feels' the books in the same way (you and) I do.

 

norwegian wood is definitely the most "normal" of his novels, but even it had its share of bizarre moments (like the whole seduction of Reiko by the young girl). wind-up bird and hard boiled wonderland in particular are two stories where simple, middle-aged japanese men get themselves into the strangest set of events imaginable. god... you HAVE to read wind-up bird when you get a chance... i'm telling you...

 

heheh.. ok ok I will.. and about the Reiko & young girl thing.. that wasn't as much bizarre as well.. it was very.. eh.. erotic?

Hey.. ever been to Japan? Still very high on my list of places to go if I ever get money....

 

never been to japan, although when i graduate next may i plan on teaching english as a foreign language there for a year. i leave for europe tommorow. second time there. if you run into a tall american named phil in amsterdam, then that's me.

 

i love to shove a Norwegian Wood up y.... .......

 

Hey that's pretty sweet! Been in Amsterdam before? Drop me a line when you get there..

There are some people on the boards here who teach english in Japan.. well.. at least one Beach Bum sth sth.. black guy.. nice fellow. Think he's back in the US again now though so... but he might be able to provide you with the info you need.

Best of luck and have a great vacation!

 

you be better off living in Nazi germany in 1939 than japan in 2005. dont forget to flush the toilet is a fine if you dont . and get used too of people giving you dirty looks.

 

and what ever you do dont marrie a japanase girl unless you intend to move out of japan fast. becouse it well go from dirty looks to right down nasty remarks. in the wrong spot you might even get kill.

 

How strange..... about 3 years ago I posted a thread in this forum about that book and no one had heard of it... nice to see now a few more people have read it. I enjoyed it as well, was a nice read and the author DOES write beautifully, I loved the way he wrote the ending.

 

Cool Did you read any other books of him?

 

Nope, not as yet but if I ever see any others around I will definitly give them a read.

 

Hey..never read any Murakami, but I picked up a copy of Wild Sheep Chase to read ...eventually..., and it looked kinda like Thomas Pynchon's the Crying of Lot 49. Anyone read Wild Sheep Chase? Are my estimations correct?

 

I read it but I don't know what you are comparing it with.. ehm.. just read it and you'll see? Hehe.. sorry.. can't help you here.. only know that I *loved* the book

 

Murakami is a great writer, isnt he!?

Have read Norwiegan wood, South of the border west of the sun and After the quake of his.

Loved all three equally Cant wait to read more of his stuff. But your right about needing a gap in between each book, they suck you in completely and sorta leave you completely satisfied but exhausted, kinda like coming down from a high

Would recommend him to anyone! I like him because his stories havnt really got plots or should I say have simple plots but he explores lots of different themes that you can relate to in real life, theres so many feelings he conveys that I think 'yeah, I know just how that feels', he really makes the reader relate to the characters or events in his books i think.

Agree about his 'plain' writing...Its so sparse and beautiful and descriptive even though he doesnt have to use incredibly big/dramatic words or string long sentences together. I think there are several Japanese authors that have a similar style to this. Maybe it is the way their work gets translated into English?

Banana Yoshimoto and Kazuo Ishiguro are well worth checking out too there stories relate to real life and real feelings so well, and they have a very similar style of writing!