I came across a meme on Instagram where a guy asks a girl who says she likes to read to name her favorite book. She replies, “It’s Murakami by Norwegian Wood.” This silly meme made me want to reread Haruki Murakami’s ‘Norwegian Wood’. I had read it when I was in the 12th grade because it was all the hype back then. I had fallen in love with the plot and the characters and I always talked about it as one of my favorite books. But I remembered none of the details. I couldn’t even find my copy of the book on my shelves which is why I had to buy another one. 

All readers have favorite books. But as we continue on our reading journey and meet new characters and hear new stories, inevitably we forget the ones we have read a long time back. What remains is how they made us feel. When we say a certain book is our favorite, chances are that we are talking about how it made us feel and not what’s in it. This year, I’m planning to reread some of my favorite novels and I decided to start with Norwegian Wood. 

Norwegian Wood is perhaps one of the few books by Haruki Murakami that doesn’t have magical realism woven in the plot. It’s a simple, heartwarming love story, or rather the love triangle of Toru Watanabe, Naoko, and Midori. It starts with Toru Watanabe hearing his favorite Beatles song and being transported back to a time and place 20 years ago when he was a student in Tokyo and was in love with a girl named Naoko. She was the girlfriend of his best friend, Kizuki. He recalls those days when uneasy friendship, casual sex, passion, and desire ruled his life. Then Midori walks into his life and he has to decide whether he wants to hold on to the past or work on his future. 

Toru, Naoko, and Midori are fascinating characters with such strong personality traits that it feels like you know them personally. Some of the side characters, like Toru’s friends and Naoko’s roommate, are also integral to the plot. Despite making short appearances, Murakami ensures that they stay on his reader’s mind as much as the main characters. It’s the hallmark of a great writer. I liked the plot of the book but I loved the characters more. Even when one of the side characters goes on a rant, telling her story to Toru, you are never bored and actually want to know more. 

I can now understand why the book was all the rage when I was in school. It deals with friendship, love, and youngster’s search for identity and so it was bound to resonate with us. The love story angle is also intriguing. I find it fascinating that Murakami was 29 and running a jazz bar in Tokyo when the urge to write came to him. He wrote several books before Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, turned his six figure readership into millions. However, Murakami was uncomfortable with the stardom and moved to Europe and then to the United States for a life of secluded writing. It wasn’t until 1995 that he considered moving back to Japan, but he had his terms and conditions clear: He wouldn’t give interviews or make television appearances. 

I’m fascinated by Murakami’s mind. I wonder how it might feel to have all these stories in one’s head. Norwegian Wood is just one of his masterworks. Others like ‘Kafka on the Shore’, ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’, ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’  and his short story collections are brilliant too. I must have read seven or eight of his books and each of them have reminded me what good stories can do to you. They blow your mind wide open and urge you to look at things from different perspectives. 

Fiction

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami

Translated into English by Jay Rubin 

Published: 2000 (English translation)

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK

Pages: 389, Paperback