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Norwegian Wood |  | Author: Haruki Murakami
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £3.24
as of 25/11/2009 09:36 GMT details
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New (31) Used (13) from £2.00
Seller: UKPaperbackshop
Rating:  105 reviews
Sales Rank: 1639
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0099448823
Dewey Decimal Number: 895.635
EAN: 9780099448822
ASIN: 0099448823
Publication Date: May 17, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me" "Norwegian Wood" (Lennon/McCartney). pWith INorwegian Wood/I Murakami, best known as the author of off-kilter classics such as the IWind Up Bird Chronicle/I, IA Wild Sheep Chase/I and IHard Boiled Wonderland/I, finally achieved widespread acclaim in his native Japan. The novel sold upwards of 4 million copies and forced the author to retreat to Europe, fearful of the expectations accompanying his new-found cult status.pThe novel is atypical for Murakami: seemingly autobiographical, in the tradition of many Japanese "I" novels, INorwegian Wood/I is a simple coming of age tale set, primarily, in 1969/70, the time of Murakami's own university years. The political upheavals and student strikes of the period form the backdrop of the novel but the focus here is the young Watanabe's love affairs and the pain (and pleasure) of growing up with all its attendant losses, (self-)obsessions and crises. pThe novel is split into two volumes and beautifully presented here in a "gold" box containing both the green book and the red book. Young Japanese fans became so obsessed with the work that they would dress entirely in one or other colour denoting which volume they most identified with. And the novel is hugely affecting, reading like a cross between Plath's IBell Jar/I and Vizinczey's IIn Praise of Older Women/I, if less complex and ultimately less satisfying than Murakami's other, more allegorical, work. He captures the huge expectation of youth, and of this particular time in history, for the future and for the place of love in it. He also saturates the work with sadness, an emotion that can cripple a novel but which here underscores the poignancy of the work's rather thin subject matter. --IMark Thwaite/I
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 105
 Norwegian Wood February 11, 2009
Mr. J. C. Hull (Hereford, United Kingdom)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I believe the most important thing about fiction is the creation and build-up of the characters - and there is no finer at doing this than Haruki Murakami. This is essentially a coming of age book depicting Toru Watanabe through his university years - post best friends death. His first love is always on his mind - confused because she was his best friends girlfriend, and lost from his own desires and fears, he befriends a sordid and charismatic fellow dorm resident by the name of Nagasawa, and so he gets tangled up in uneasy friendships formed by casual sex, desire, loss and fear.
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br /It's interesting to read in which Murakami almost writes as if it's not fiction but biographical, and perhaps in some ways it is as I often believe writers include problems and thoughts from their own life in their writing. Murakami is a "realistic" writer who creates characters so wonderfully believable that you feel you are right there talking to them yourself, and the dialogue is so precise and important that it is truly beautiful to read - it flows from the pages to your heart and leaves you feeling both broken and alive. He has a knack for emotional wordplay, and his writing is the kind that can keep your emotions locked up, benign until the flood gates are opened - and so you will be drawn into the lives of these wonderful characters.
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br /A remarkable book from a remarkable writer - the first of which I have read of his work, and most definitely not to be the last. Murakami really must "rank among the world's greatest living novelists".
Wonderful May 11, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is superb. Set in 1960's Japan and named after the Beatles song it is an absorbing, poetic beautifully written tale of first love. It has entered my top 10 books ever, it was completely compelling and I couldn't put it down. Buy it now.
Enticed April 28, 2005
Pete Moss
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Murakami's 'The Wind-up Bird Chronicle' entranced me and 'Norwegian Wood' has done the same. Murakami describes worlds that seem so normal yet so eccentric. pI was disappointed by the translation of 'Goodbye Tsugumi' by Banana Yoshimoto because it seemed too American for me, but I found the language used here didn't get in the way of my enjoying the story.pI look forward to my next adventure into Murakami's world.
The Japanese "Catcher..."? May 24, 2002
23 out of 28 found this review helpful
I found that I was drawn to this book by simply reading the back (always a bad thing), but I've never tried reading Japanese fiction before, so I thought I would start here. I wasn't disappointed.brpbrThe book opens with Toru Watanabe reflecting on his student days in Tokyo during the 1960's when he hears a musak version of "Norwegian Wood" as he arrives in Germany. His first complicated love affair with Naoko, a girl coping with depression and loss, is at the forefront of his mind. There are plenty of colourful characters in the book such as the fun-loving Midori who always seems to be happy despite the many people she has lost and the pressures that cloud her world. brpbrToru is definitely a Japanese, post-modern Houlden Caulfield who despite sounding apathetic to his peers and companions, is in fact a loveable self-involved rogue. This was a book I couldn't put down, and I will definitely be picking up some of Murakami's other work.
Magical!! March 9, 2006
Aida Hrnjica (Bosnia)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I cannot believe there are people that say this book is shallow and all about men#x27;s selfishness etc etc, because this is is everything but shallow. It#x27;s the deepest,most interesting book I have read in the past few years. I like the fact that the reader doesn#x27;t know what#x27;s going to happen until the end. I think it is a bit depressing, but that#x27;s the reality of life in many situations,many people#x27;s lives,many countries, etc. It#x27;s a book about everything: love,friendship,loyalty,intelligence,maturity,and so many more topics. I recommend it to everyone who has a respect for live...the good and the bad in it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 105
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