Norwegian Wood
As his plane lands at a European airport, thirty-seven-year-old Toru Watanabe casually hears an old Beatles song. Suddenly, the music transports him back to his youth, to the turbulent Tokyo of the late sixties. He then remembers, with melancholy and unease, the unstable and mysterious Naoko, the girlfriend of his best—and only—friend from adolescence, Kizuki, and how Kizuki's suicide distanced them for a year until they reunited at university. There, they began an intimate relationship, which was soon cut short by Naoko’s fragile mental health, leading to her admission to a rest center. Shortly afterward, Watanabe fell in love with Midori, a lively and determined young woman. Indecisive and plagued by fears, Watanabe experienced only bewilderment and disillusionment in the very areas where everything was supposed to make sense: sex, love, and death. The unbearable situation led him to seek a delicate balance between his hopes and the need to find his place in the world. Mientras su avión aterriza en un aeropuerto europeo, Toru Watanabe, de treinta y siete años, escucha casualmente una vieja canción de los Beatles: de pronto, la música le hace retroceder a su juventud, al turbulento Tokio de finales de los sesenta. Recuerda entonces, con melancolía y desasosiego, a la inestable y misteriosa Naoko, la novia de su mejor -y único- amigo de la adolescencia, Kizuki, y cómo el suicidio de éste les distanció durante un año, hasta que se reencontraron en la universidad.
Stats for nerds
29recommend
57mentions
47people
2008–2025years
58% recommend39% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Been a year of re-reads and some classics I never started b/c of thickness. Standouts for me were “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Norwegian Wood.”
“Kafka on The Shore”, “Norwegian Wood” - Haruki Murakami
“A Tale of Two Cities” - Dickens
“Count of Monte Cristo” - Alexandre Dumas
LotR, “Hobbit” - Tolkien
“World Atlas of Coffee” - James Hoffmann
“Anathem”, “Diamond Age”, “Termination Shock” - Neal Stephenson
“A Timeless Way of Building” - Christopher Alexander
“Where The Wizards Stay Up Late” - Lyon
“Fahrenheit 451” - Ray Bradbury
“Slaughterhouse V” - Kurt Vonnegut
“Neuromancer”/Sprawl trilogy - William Gibson
Plus an assortment of business, systems thinking, and tech related books that were “fine”, but none that really left me with much to chew on afterwards.
- Someone recommend H.M. To me a few weeks back. Started w/ Kafka by the Shore and then finished Norwegian Wood a few days after that. Couldn’t put them down, both were terrific.
- Hiroshi Sakurazaka wrote 'All you need is kill', which became Edge of Tomorrow film.
And, while not SciFi, I think Haruki Murakami's books are worth a read and might scratch and itch you didn't realise you had. Start with Norwegian Wood if you want a light intro, but then Windup Bird Chronicle next. Possibly 1Q84 after that?
- Don't overlook the earlier books like Norwegian Wood, Wild Sheep Chase, and The Elephant Vanishes. Easier reading than the thick books and fun and beautiful.
- I really liked South of the Border, West of the Sun - it's a rather short novel and IMO pretty focused thematically. And then, of course, Norwegian Wood is a must-read.
- "Representative" isn't "best". Try Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World or Norwegian Wood. Men without Women feels like the best short stories to start with.
Then Wild Sheep Chase, then you've read enough for 1q84.
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