BOOK: Norwegian Wood

To call this a review would be unfair -- "love story" is not a fiction genre that I like. My mind is not rational enough to take a neutral view of a love story. I have one advice before you buy this book -- don't buy this book. Two bookish friends of mine (A and A) should not ever read this book; buying the novel would not be just a waste of money but will bring a horrible effect to the two of you. I will "judge" you if you read this book too. In plain simple word -- do not buy the book. The main reason apart from the fact it is "just" a love story is that the portrayal of the xes scenes are just horribly detailed and traumatising.

When he hears her favourite song, Beatles' Norwegian Wood, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love, Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend, Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back to his student days in Tokyo in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss- to a time when a her classmates Midori came to his life (taken from the shorter version of the plot at the back of the book). He has to choose between the present and the past and the future. His best friend, Kizuki killed himself when he was 17 years old.

Naoko and Watanabe then fall in love (as what every love story is about). Fast forward, Naoko killed herself. It's not worth to tell more as the story is just "just a love story". As I've told before, I'm not a fan of this genre but with my personal aim to read all Haruki Murakami's books, I managed to go through the story till the end. It was a challenge. It is completely different from my experience when reading Kafka on the Shore. To my friends, I have only one thing to say about this book -- "eeeuw" (both in reference to the plot and tonnes of xes scenes).-The Chukai Insider

My first Haruki Murakami

The reason I picked up two Haruki Murakami's books when I went to Border's less than two weeks ago was just because he is now the Tom Cruise of the bookish world. His newly launched book IQ84 received worldwide acclaims in the English speaking world. Contrary to the people who picked up his books just to enjoy his writings and the uniqueness of his stories, I started reading his book just because I wanted to see what the fuss is all about with this Japanese writer.

I am now halfway through both Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood and I should say they should make more fuss about this Japanese genius who created such 'kaboom' novels. I've been reading these two books for the past weeks and it seems that Kafka on the Shore is much more of a masterpiece compared to Norwegian Wood (mainly because NW is a love story). I should thank my super-smart friend Jeen for recommending this book to me. I still remember how she told me how good Haruki Murakami is under the scorching sun of Johor Bharu when we went for an oil and gas conference a month ago.

I thought reading Haruki Murakami is hard. I do not mean plot but the language. Since forever, I always thought good writers always write with the styles and vocabularies that I cannot understand. Haruki proved that my belief was wrong. I cannot say anything about the plot because I have not finished reading them but I guarantee you that his books are more than worth buying. 

Who would have expected to have fish raining from the skies? That is the kind of story that I have been waiting for. Halfway through his books, I am definitely going to put him among my favourite writers along with Malcolm Gladwell and Orhan Pamuk.-The Chukai Insider