Norwegian Woods: A dream you do not wish to wake up from
My Rating: 5/5 stars
“What happens when people open their hearts?"
"They get better.”
“Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt.”About the Book:
A magnificent blending of the music, the mood, and the ethos that was the sixties with the story of one college student's romantic coming of age, Norwegian Wood brilliantly recaptures a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.
My Take on it:
Norwegian Woods by Haruki Murakami is a book that he himself considers a challenge. It is quite a challenge for the readers as well to accept it the way it is without compromising our own thoughts. My general view of Murakami's writings is that reading his books is like being in a dream.
Sometimes it is a dream you do not wish to wake up from and sometimes it is a nightmare. The first time I read Norwegian woods, I was taken aback by the simplicity, relatability and intriguing narration.
But when I read it again, amidst a reading block, I realised why so many people read Young Adult romance novels still when the real-life is quite contrary to the harmless fantasies these authors cater to. Norwegian woods fulfilled a void of being understood through the character of Midori and though generally side characters are not given much importance in novels, Murakami makes each character essential to the story.
Midori's character is larger than life. You can forget whatever has happened before in the book, overlook dramatic changes during her conversations with Toru. But a character is no enough to make a book great. Norwegian woods looks like a simple love story on the surface but is a story that deals with grief, death and mental health. We are all living in our own universes carrying a knot of air inside us as a memory of someone we have lost. We all have regrets of failing people or growing apart from those who once mattered a lot to us. And in the end, we all just scream in emptiness expecting an echo of someone who finally understands us.
It sounds a lot gloomy than it really is. But Norwegian Woods deals with these melancholic themes just as it continues to be a coming-of-age story of teenagers embracing adulthood. Lost in their own self-centred worlds, they know the consequences of their actions but a little too late, just like life.
Perhaps, every time I read Norwegian Woods, I will look at it differently. But one thing is for sure, waking up from this dream and going back to the reality is really heart-wrenching because it is not the characters' story that ended. It was your beautiful friendship with them.
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