Book Reviews of Norwegian Wood

A nice read. I could relate to every emotion described, and the feelings of every character was intense. But in between I felt that in between the story was moved to some other way which exaggerate the story.

This is a love story....but behind the veil of a love story there is a deeper author asks a deeper question. What is really the boundary between the sane and the insane. He goes on to show that it is indeed not clear and distinct just as the boundary between reality and imagination and theme which percolates all of literature.

its very rare that one finds such a book..i got to know about this book by chance..once i started to read it..i found it strange..but i couldn't put down the book..it was so gripping..the emotions felt by the characters are surreal..takes us into a nostalgic walk through someone else's eyes..like a dream..it captures us..
this is the first book that i read of Murakami.. truly remarkable..

this was my first Murakami read and i was intrigued right from the first page. a simple story is made brilliant by the author's skill of telling a story in a daring manner. post-colonial in tone, with an ordinary college boy as the hero without any heroic attributes, the minute details of the simple lives and events told with rare boldness make it an interesting read.most of all, the 'one-of-a-kind' narrative style deserves appreciation.

I am a brand new Haruki Murakami’s fan and having read Kafka on the Shore as my first novel written by him, I found myself gripped under the surreal and unimaginable experience his writing provided to me as a reader. And that intrigued me to read another of his famous novels, Norwegian Wood. Before reviewing or rather I would say giving my naïve opinion on this book, I better start with my assumptions w.r.t this book.

When we read someone like him, we start expecting something new and better every time we read more of their works but along the process we tend to forget that there are very few writers in this world who challenge themselves to tread a different path and walking upon it too and that’s exactly Murakami did with this novel, whose popularity surprised him also.

So, it’s not exactly a Love story in the eyes of many, but someone like me who has accepted and marveled at the different kinds of love that exists in this world, it definitely is one and a beautiful one at that. It’s a love story with a pragmatic and realistic view on human emotions. But again, there are several other things murakami surfaced along with love, like rain and how it symbolizes sadness (IMO), like Death and quoting here: “Death exists, not as the opposite but as the part of life,” but in this book, Death exists as a part of this Book. It’s a character in itself and needs to be understood not in a negative sense of death because it’s simply not, quoting again: “I’m getting rid of anything from the past so I can be reborn in the future.”

Why one would hate this book, there can be many reasons but to love this book, one need to put themselves in shoes of Toru, Naoko, Midori, Reiko, Hatsumi, Nagasawa and Kizuki (who started it all). And then one can understand its true essence to cherish the two basic treasures of humans: Love & Life.

P.S. I have imported this review of mine from Goodreads.

This is how goes starting lines of "Norwegian Wood" .This is my first Murakami book......and boy did I loved it!!! The fact that "Norwegian Wood" is also one of my favorite song made it icing on the cake.
Sometimes you may wonder why people read such type of stuff but then I know the answer if not these type of books then which ones we will read? Absolutely a must read for all especially young males this book catches all the emotions of young and restless mind.I can't wait to read all other Murakami's Work!!!

i started reading this book , after a few pages i stopped reading,
instead , ended up living the book.

the protagonist's character is one which everyone could relate to.
the varying degrees to which the three main characters , take life seriously , is beautifully etched.

the magical metaphors used , metamorphose into stunning and seductive scenes in your mind.
there's something in this book for everyone and everything in this book makes you think of that special someone !

I got introduced to Haruki through a friend of mine who absolutely swears by his books. Norwegian Wood is the second book that i read of this author. Savoured this book lil by lil so as not to finish it too soon. But the final part of the book was the best one. At the end of the book, I felt like I have experienced "life" in its entirety through this book. The various fallacies of human nature, the contradictions that are constant in our minds are brilliantly portrayed in this book. Though what you get out of this book is entirely personal and relative and depends how you can relate to your experiences in life.
Reading such a novel is an experience that no one should deny oneself.

Although the narration is pretty good but the story lacks a direction... I was never sure whose love story I am reading. May be the beauty of the book is in the confusion only because it still manages to keep you engaged.

'Norwegian Wood' is the second book of Murakami that I have read, first being 'Sputnik Sweet Heart'. I did enjoy reading this book, but did not find anything great about it.

The story is a quasi-philosophical narration around the depressive feelings that could happen to teenagers as they indulge in love, booze and love-making.