Norwegian Wood

Back in 2011/2012 I read Murakami’s What I talk about when I talk about running and since then I have wanted to read some of his novels, but I never really got around to it. As a first novel to read from an author, this is a rather harsh start -- not because it is bad (quite the contrary), but because it is not a light or joyful read. With that said, I really did enjoy it.

Watanabe (whom the story follows) made me think of main character in Camus’ The Stranger. I say main character and not protagonist, because what they have in common is that things mainly happen to them and not because of them. Like the stranger, Watanabe also seems detached and outside his surroundings and his peers. This is especially alluded to in his mannerisms and speech. I’ve read it described as honest to a fault, but I read as more complicated than that.

Watanabe’s challenge is his inability to be honest about key issues in his life. He is not talking about Kizuki. He is not facing his past through his parents or classmates. He is indecisive in his relationship with Naoko and Midori. He is unwilling to talk about his relationship with Naoko. Of course, none of this is easy to talk about -- they are probably among the hardest things for anyone to talk about. And this is what I find so appealing: the stranger is an undefined outsider, but Watanabe is an outsider who is both understandable and sympathetic (at least to a degree.)

Contrast it with an Idiot Plot where if people would just talk it would solve the problem. The problems in Norwegian wood are neither something you just talk about nor something which might even be solvable.

Note: I read the Danish translation.