Haruki Murakami is one of the most popular Japanese authors worldwide and the majority of his works hold themselves at an odd threshold between science fiction and mystery. Norwegian Wood is a work of Murakami’s that does not fit in his usual library of past authored books. The novel is a realistic fiction story set in the late 1960’s in Japan following main protagonist Toru Watanabe and his mental journey reliving his tragic, yet sentimental days at university in Tokyo. The Stanford Review stated in its review of the book, “the tragedy immerses us in a mixture of sadness, agony and confusion.”

While Murakami acknowledges the success of this novel and cares for the story, he also points out that it served its main purpose to him of breaking into the mainstream and allowing for new readers to discover his novels filled with more complicated prose and colorful metaphors. In an interview with The Paris Review Murakami stated that, “Many people liked th[is] book. They might then be interested in my other work; so it helps a lot.” The interviewer described Murakami as very thoughtful before he spoke and intentional with every sentence in his answer. When asked about his two hobbies, jazz and marathons he transformed into a more intensely excited demeanor.

Norwegian Wood is a novel widely acclaimed by many for its, “guid[ing] of readers through some of life’s darkest and most dangerous territory – the cold, dark winter woods of death and grief and abuse – and do so with wisdom and warmth.”, as stated by The Guardian in their review. The novel explores themes of growing up, depression, time, grief and death as well as love, passion, dedication, and hope. Its ability to explore all of the themes makes it a very compelling novel, but it does not come without its flaws.

After reading Norwegian Wood myself I found that while there was significant emotional depth felt by the main character, it was often stunted by the author’s consistent inclusion of physical lust. The inclusion of such lust was so monotonous and distracting it undermined the effectiveness of the novel significantly. Every single relationship the male main character had with the female characters was deranged and not realistic. Coinciding with these odd relationships every single female character acted as though they were written by a male author, undeveloped, mentally fragile, people pleasing, and somehow all with the perfect body. This frame of character was seen consistently in all four main female characters, and all their lives centered around men. I found that while the book had its good points, it was wildly sexist and had tones of misogyny that were gravely disappointing.

I rated this novel 2 stars because of the storytelling, engaging writing style, and depiction of grief, it would be a 4 if the female characters were more developed and accurate as well as the plot which was also slightly unrealistic.