A story about a young man, Toru Watanabe, who is transported back to his student days in Tokyo when he hears his first loves favourite song; Norwegian Wood. It is set in the 1960’s, at a time of student uprisings and free love. When an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life, he is forced to choose between the future and the past.
This book has received great reviews. Murakami is ranked“among the world’s greatest living novelists”(Guardian). I was therefore very eager to read this novel. However, much like the time I saw the musical ‘Cats’, I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I felt like Louis Walsh at the end and I “just didn’t get it.”
When we watch “reality” TV shows we know that most of it is scripted to make it a little more dramatic. If a camera were to genuinely follow a person around, it would be considerably more boring as, let’s face it, everyday life is not that exciting. When reading ‘Norwegian Wood’ I felt as if I was reading someone’s account of his very ordinary and mundane life. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did. I even started to guess what I thought was going to happen, and enjoyed my story a bit more. I have never stopped reading a book half way through and trudged on, still expecting the ending to be profound and thought provoking. The conclusion felt rushed and left me disappointed. The main characters were very believable and engaging, but other characters were introduced who didn’t add anything to the story and it felt more of a chore than a pleasure to read.
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