It was surprising to me how noticeably Murakami’s writing improved since A Wild Sheep Chase. The main issue I had with A Wild Sheep Chase was how detached it was. I didn’t feel drawn into the story and I didn’t gain an affinity for any of the characters. With Norwegian Wood, I felt like I had a better understanding of the characters and was able to get drawn into the story. It seemed like the characters actually had personalities, especially Midori, who probably had the most personality. I will say that despite liking Norwegian Wood, there are still some aspects of Murakami’s writing that I dislike. It seems like it's impossible for Murakmai to write a completely “normal” story. There always has to be at least one thing that’s weird or comes completely out of the blue. For example, the whole thing with the 13 year old. Like… why?? What was the point of including that? I think my main issue with Murakami’s writing is not his style, but the content of his stories.
As a complete side note, I’m curious what relationships are like in Japan, at least in the time period the book takes place in. In Norwegian Wood, cheating seems normal. Hatsumi and Nagasawa’s relationship isn’t portrayed as being that unusual, and she doesn’t seem that upset with his infidelity.
No comments:
Post a Comment