Norwegian Wood is the third work of Murakami that I've read and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than A Wild Sheep's Chase and 1Q84. The story was straightforward, was quite realistic (in the sense it lacked fantasy or highly unreal, unexplainable circumstances), but the ending again got me all "arghhh what does this meannnnn??!?" I think I tend to enjoy novels that are realistic and/or understandable. I found Watanabe's interactions with the various women in Norwegian Wood to be mirrors of common relationship tropes we see in western writing. Watanabe and Naoko is more of a first love that doesn't work out later; Watanabe and Midori is a friends turned lovers situation; ignoring the sex scene at the end of the book, Watanabe and Reiko ends up being a mentee/mentor type of relationship; and Watanabe and Hatsume are really just acquaintances with no feelings between them.
I really enjoyed the chapters when Watanabe went to the sanitorium to visit Naoko and Reiko, and the small snippets where we'd get a letter from Naoko or Reiko about the sanitorium's happenings. I felt relieved when Naoko was making a quick recovery once she had moved to a proper hospital because I am a big fan of slow burn angst kind of vibes that turn fruitful. Needless to say, my jaw dropped when Naoko killed herself.
I also enjoyed reading about Watanabe's relationship with Midori. I think Midori, after they took their trip, forced Watanabe to do something he wouldn't have usually done which was to break curfew, let alone for a girl, and let alone to not sleep with her! Midori was a breath of fresh air that Watanabe so desperately needed, but he just didn't know he needed it more than Naoko.
Much like Watanabe's move out of the dorms and into the real world, the monotony of doing the same thing day in and day out with nothing and no one to pull him out of it definitely contributed to his poor habits. On top of the fact that his main love interest had killed herself, his desire to be nowhere in the city is totally understandable. When he's finally done feeling sorry for himself and calls Midori, I think Watanabe realizes that he's lost his way and even considers stepping back from everything he's been stumbling through. Hopefully Midori can continue doing what she's doing and pull him out of his trance, but honestly, I think that Watanabe (should the story continue) will kill himself. I'm hoping that when I watch Norwegian Wood over the spring break, that the ending will make a little more sense.
Stay tuned.
Alexander Wen
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