2.7 Stars

2.5 stars

Let me start by declaring that I’ve read only one book of the author before this one. That’s Kafka on the Shore. I did enjoy it (and even gave it 4 stars), except for the Oedipus parts.
While I wasn’t keen on picking this one, I did know that the imagery would be great, and there would be something worth reading.
Yeah, I wasn’t entirely wrong, but then, I could have done without this book (at least I could strike off one reading challenge).

Spoiler

The book deals with death, depression, and teenage confusion in a different style.
It’s not surprising that I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. But I did expect them to make me feel something, anything. What I was left with instead was an eye roll for Toru, a shake of my head for Midori, and a sigh for Naoko and Reiko.
The only reason the book got an extra 0.5 stars (the original was 2.2) was that the author spared Hatsumi for Toru’s conquests (for the lack of a better word). I was dreading their sexual interlude, and thankfully it didn’t happen.
Toru and Reiko, I knew it would come (ref: the first paragraph). I wasn’t surprised, not even disappointed, to be honest.
The story just didn’t seem to be going anywhere until I was done with half the book. At least, the second half went faster (a bit). Midori was refreshing with her almost surreal character that seemed to be a perfect cover for her vulnerability. Though she has a few scenes I could do without. I mean, there’s a thin line between being delightfully different and stupid. Still, she had some spine, which not even our heroic hero seemed to have.
The death of a loved one is never easy to let go of, and Naoko should garner all of my sympathies. Somewhere, she ended up doing the opposite. Stringing a man, oops, a boy along, when knowing there is no hope seems cruel.
Reiko started out great, but then we know what happened. Of course, characters with flaws make a book real. This one has every character with glaring flaws.
That’s good. But it’s not good too. If there was character development, either progress or decline, I’d have enjoyed their flaws.
What do we get instead? The book ends the way it started. We only know that Toru was alive even 18 years after the incidents took place. Guess that should make us happy. With most characters deciding to end their lives, it feels a little good to see the narrator live.
I did wonder if he stayed with Midori or went on to find someone else. Either way, he didn’t deserve the girls. A person who cannot let go of the past shouldn’t ruin someone’s future. Sadly, this is very common.
While I have absolutely no issues with sex scenes, I did get irritated by their frequency in this book. I’m wary of men writing women and sex scenes, and this just proved my point again. Ugh! All those blowjobs and girls fantasizing about men’s (oops again), boys’ dicks get annoying after a while.
There’s only so much one can read about Toru sleeping with girls or dreaming about sleeping with Naoko.
I still gave the book 2+ stars because it does talk about depression, self-obsessed people like Nagasawa and the kind of bullying one has to endure if they are different from the rest (Storm Tropper). Storm Tropper, somehow, was the only character who held promise, and he was plucked out of the book, just like that.

To sum up (I need to do it before I go on ranting), Norwegian Wood should definitely not be the first Murakami book a person should read. Pick up Kafka on the Shore. It’s a lot better in plot, style, and narration.