This is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and burgeoning sexuality. This is the first book of Murakami that I have ever read so far and I ended hunting all his other books as a result. It originally started on this quote I read on tumblr really struck my heart in a way.I ended sharing the quote on FB and surprisingly,two friends who are huge fan of Murakami recommended me to read his novels. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”I was so glad I did because so far,this is my second fave book this year (next to MY NAME IS MEMORY).Also,I found a new fave author with an ODD,adventurous and mind provoking writing style. So this is probably one of the longest review I've ever written as I was so much impressed with it.So I'm going to write my own review alongside some reviews or thoughts I've copied online that I find myself agreeing with or does makes so much sense. "I think most readers would say the same. Most would choose Midori. And the protagonist, of course, chooses her in the end. But some part of him is always in the other world and he cannot abandon it.It’s a part of him, an essential part. All human beings have a sickness in their minds. That space is a part of them." -an excerpt from an interview of the author SO FAR THIS IS MY FAVE INTERPRETATION I'VE FOUND ONLINE DISCLAIMER: This is copied from the comment section of GOOD READS online.I carefully selected some few reviews posted there that I find myself agreeing with.No infringement intended...It's just that I agree with his review and is almost the same with what I have in mind.He wrote it really in a very beautiful way and just thought of copying it here... "After reading the book, I immediately went to have a listen of the Beatles' Norwegian Wood, having never heard it before. With the large number of allusions made to the song, it appears to me that the book could be interpreted in the manner it parallels the song. Unless I'm mistaken, the song was about a boy who was invited into the room of a girl and misled into believing that sex was on offer when the girl really wanted to talk. When the possibility of that went down the drain after a talk that lasted till 2am, the boy ended up spending the rest of the night sleeping in the bathtub. On waking and finding that the girl had left without even bothering to wake him up, he decided to light a fire and burn the girl's Norwegian Wood (the furniture she had been proud of). In a similar but different way, Toru was after something from Naoko. He was looking to obtain Naoko's love and Naoko used the knowledge to get what she wanted from Toru - a chance for emotional closure and companionship. There are suggestions that she believed that she could only obtain these from Toru as they were part of the trio and only Toru would be able to understand what she had gone through and how she felt. Through his reminiscing in Chapter 1, we also find out that Toru came to the realisation, albeit eventually, that Naoko did not love him (perhaps only not enough to live for him and face the hardships of the real world). So Toru goes to Ami Hostel with the hope of healing Naoko and winning her love, and gets used by Naoko in the process, with the consequence that he forsakes his growing passion for Midori for entire stretches of time. It seems to be no coincidence that Ami Hostel is located in a secluded part of the countryside and hidden in the woods (apparently, the woods in Norwegian Woods originally referred to forests in Japanese). And it was introduced to Toru, and he comes to be convinced of it as well, as being better that the outside world in some ways. Just as the girl in the original song showed her room and asked "isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?" When Naoko eventually did leave by committing suicide, Toru was devastated and hit rock bottom. He spent one month roaming around before he finally "woke up" Of course, he doesn't truly wake up until he meets Reiko and talks things through with her. The parallels seem feasible to me until this point where I feel I might be stretching it a little... Toru obviously doesn't light a fire and burn up the woods as an act of revenge. However, he ended his associations with Ami Hostel when Reiko left. We are told he had sex with Reiko four times, ending a long period of time without sex for him as a result of his love for Naoko. The act of sexual intercourse itself might be seen as an act of defiance and revenge but why Reiko? It might be that Reiko, who had spent 8 years in Ami Hostel, was symbolically a representation of not just the place, but of all the emotional drama that had occurred there. Just as Naoko says of sex on the night before her suicide, that '[she] never wanted to be violated like that again - by anybody', Toru was defiling the memories of the occurrences in the woods through the sexual acts. If this interpretation is followed, it then follows that the entire episode between Toru and Naoku is finally over from unfulfilled promises and manipulations to revenge. While it has come to a conclusion, Toru is not necessarily free from the effects of the incident - it will probably colour his view and his attitude just as Kizuki's death weighed over his life. Nonetheless, Toru had closed a chapter of his life since Kizuki's death that caused him to close himself off, and he was reborn without a disabling baggage. He finally calls Midori from the phone booth and tells her, "I have to talk to you. I have a million things to talk to you about. A million things we have to talk about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning." Toru had overcome an invisible barrier between Midori and him that had caused him to be closed off about his history with Naoku and to be stuck in terms of his relationship with Midori (perhaps this is shown by Toru's limits to his sexual acts with Midori, never progressing beyond what he had already done with Naoku). We get the sense that there is a chance that this time, there can finally be progress. And if I'm allowed to squeeze this last analysis out, the last puzzling scene gives us another clue... "Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again I called out for Midori from the dead centre of this place that was no place." The end part.... "Gripping the receiver, I raised my heads and turned to see what lay beyond the phone box. Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again I called out for Midori from the dead centre of this place that was no place." So how do you think the ending goes.... In a way, it seems like Toru had been living an extended dream and that he had finally opened his eyes to the world around him. He had no idea where he was. He was in a senseless world and that he was surrounded by people with irrational thoughts and motivations. Toru knew that he was an outsider and with all the chaos of the normal world around him he could not understand, he only knew that he wanted - needed - Midori to survive. MY PERSONAL REVIEWWhile most are really obsessed whether he ended with Midori or not,quiet frankly It's not what I'm concerned the most.As soon as I finish reading the book,my first question was whether he was also destroyed by his mental illness.He's not normal according to what society deemed as normal.Well,that would explain why he's in the circle of unnatural people. It has an open ending so people can think whatever they want.Thus adding charm to the way he wrote his book because he challenged his readers to really participate through a mind provoking approach. In my case,for some reason I was so drawn into the MENTAL DISORDER part of the story.The oddness of each character is actually fun and I like the humor but at the end of the book,I am convinced that Watanabe might have also suffered from the same sickness of the mind as the author puts it. So,the mental disorder is a cycle.The chain of death due to mental disorder is really disturbing that in the end,I didn't lament because of the numerous deaths but I lament of the suffering leading to death.The pain and extent of their suffering.Somehow,there are parts of the story that I can relate with in terms of mental suffering. Specifically this part... I have so many questions in mind like It's driving me crazy and I'm so excited to write all of them.I am too excited that I have no idea how to put them in words the way how I wanted them to be understood. I have tons of questions such as the following...
I know,they are like the typical essay questions you see on your essay exams but for some reason,those are the first few random questions that came to mind. MIDORI I like Midori.Her appearance somehow make the story more dynamic.Perhaps because she has an opposite character with Naoko. Midori is stronger than Naoko. That's why she has survived from all the loss of life. People should be strong in life in order to live and love. Her craziness...her resilience is beyond what's normal or at least to what society deemed as acceptable.She is literary the girl in Katy Perry's song "hot and cold" .She's so weird yet so interesting.She's cold yet loving.She's beautifully damaged.She's confident and strong to the eyes of many,yet a very vulnerable,delicate woman when she's with Watanabe.The only guy who accepted everything about her,the guy whom she's allowed to be just herself... my arm was not the one she needed |
I had lost in the course of my life.Time's gone forever,friends who have died or disappeared,feelings I would never know again | A gentleman is not someone who does not what he wants to do but what he should do - Nagasawa |
I can tell these things after 7 years watching people come and go here.There are only people who can open their hearts and people who can't.You are the ones who can.Or more precisely you can if you want to...
-Reiko
-Reiko
When I like somebody,I really like them.It doesn't turn on or off for me just like that
"When you fall in love,the natural thing to do is give yourself to it.It's just a form of honesty.Things will go where the're supposed to go if you will let them take their natural course."
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