Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My first exposure to Haruki Murakami was via Kafka on the Shore, when it was the hot new thing, oh, 6 years ago. I thought the language was absolutely beautiful, the emphasis on how music and literature give a life grounding entirely compelling, and the pervasive oedipal obsession completely offputting.
I'd always meant to read more Marakami though, since surely the latter problem was not a universal one. I tried to read Hard-boiled wonderland and the End of the World but got bogged down in the weirdness. It wasn't until I saw the trailer for the movie they made of Norwegian Wood that I was driven to reconsider Murakami.
I am tremendously glad that I did. The language is still beautiful, music and literature still feature prominently, and the themes (love, death, caring for those with mental illness, and growing up surrounded by these things) are things I care about much more than, erm, maternal relations.*
For all this, though, the book doesn't really hit its stride until the final third, when the main character finally has to make some hard choices. The fact that Murakami can carry this through to its devastating conclusion is great though, leaving the reader with the feeling that the final third is a remarkable accomplishment of literature, rather than dimishing the first two thirds.**
So, yeah, loved it. Thought the ending was amazing and perfect and beautiful. My only real complaint is that I didn't read it 10 years ago when the coming of age aspects would have resonated with me even more.
* For those of you that disagree, fear not, there are hints of things to come peppered throughout the novel and one scene that will give you all you want and more.
** I'm looking at you, Prince of Thorns.
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