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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234716.Norwegian_Wood?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Norwegian Wood" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172972097m/234716.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234716.Norwegian_Wood?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Norwegian Wood</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3354.Haruki_Murakami">Haruki Murakami</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/754606?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars My oh my....I think I would give this book ten stars if I had the chance. A review is forthcoming, once it isn't 4:49 in the morning and all of my thoughts are properly collected....
 
 ***************************
 
 Can you believe I didn't listen to The Beatles once over the two weeks that it took me to read this? I find it strange, as I tend to suffer from Beatlemania and listen to them frequently. But no, no Beatles, not a single time. As interesting as that may or may not be, it isn't the best way to start this review. I find myself wondering if Toru Watanabe is the one literary character I have been able to relate to most. No, no...that isn't a good start either. 
 
 Very early on in this book, I knew I would love it. This is my third Murakami, and he hadn't let me down before. I find his writing in general to be visceral, nostalgic, and tinted with shadows of melancholy. This book, however, in contrast to The Elephant Vanishes and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go until its final words passed before my eyes. Is it because he eschews the supernatural this time around, or doesn't throw his usual left hooks plotwise? Not really.
 
 Normally I can understand why, or at least rationalize a review or rating, but I find the right words are elusive tonight. I think back through particular scenes in the book and can pinpoint certain moods and feelings. I can say that so-and-so a scene was intense enough to give even me an erection; I can say I discovered heartache and touched sorrow here, relived loss there, experienced beauty, felt pain, the joy of togetherness. You'd figure if you covered this semi-representative range of moods and emotions, mixed them together like an omelet and said voila! you would have this book. And I suppose in a way that's true...
 
 But it's also not true. This book isn't some magic potion, and it isn't an omelet. At it's heart, it's a love story, about love that is simultaneously there, tangible and real, but also elusive and forever slipping away. As John Lennon once wrote, "I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me." But Matt, you're thinking, there are millions of love stories out there. What makes this one so special? I don't know. It's complex, sure. Yet that's not it. It's beautifully written, sure. Yet that's not it. It has colorful characters, fantastic dialogue, raging eroticism, thoughts and ideas I can relate to, yet they aren't it either. I can't pinpoint it. But I love it anyway. 
 
 There's a quote that I think sort of relates in a roundabout way. "Letters are just pieces of paper," I said. "Burn them, and what stays in your heart will stay; keep them, and what vanishes will vanish." This reading is still very fresh in my mind, too fresh perhaps, but I get the feeling it will stick with me for a long time to come. I look forward to seeing again, further down the road.
 
 And, for the record, the music I found most apt to this reading experience was the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós. Dig it, kids.
 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/60698?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Matt's review
rating:

My oh my....I think I would give this book ten stars if I had the chance. A review is forthcoming, once it isn't 4:49 in the morning and all of my thoughts are properly collected....

***************************

Can you believe I didn't listen to The Beatles once over the two weeks that it took me to read this? I find it strange, as I tend to suffer from Beatlemania and listen to them frequently. But no, no Beatles, not a single time. As interesting as that may or may not be, it isn't the best way to start this review. I find myself wondering if Toru Watanabe is the one literary character I have been able to relate to most. No, no...that isn't a good start either.

Very early on in this book, I knew I would love it. This is my third Murakami, and he hadn't let me down before. I find his writing in general to be visceral, nostalgic, and tinted with shadows of melancholy. This book, however, in contrast to The Elephant Vanishes and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, grabbed m...more My oh my....I think I would give this book ten stars if I had the chance. A review is forthcoming, once it isn't 4:49 in the morning and all of my thoughts are properly collected....

***************************

Can you believe I didn't listen to The Beatles once over the two weeks that it took me to read this? I find it strange, as I tend to suffer from Beatlemania and listen to them frequently. But no, no Beatles, not a single time. As interesting as that may or may not be, it isn't the best way to start this review. I find myself wondering if Toru Watanabe is the one literary character I have been able to relate to most. No, no...that isn't a good start either.

Very early on in this book, I knew I would love it. This is my third Murakami, and he hadn't let me down before. I find his writing in general to be visceral, nostalgic, and tinted with shadows of melancholy. This book, however, in contrast to The Elephant Vanishes and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, grabbed me by the heart and didn't let go until its final words passed before my eyes. Is it because he eschews the supernatural this time around, or doesn't throw his usual left hooks plotwise? Not really.

Normally I can understand why, or at least rationalize a review or rating, but I find the right words are elusive tonight. I think back through particular scenes in the book and can pinpoint certain moods and feelings. I can say that so-and-so a scene was intense enough to give even me an erection; I can say I discovered heartache and touched sorrow here, relived loss there, experienced beauty, felt pain, the joy of togetherness. You'd figure if you covered this semi-representative range of moods and emotions, mixed them together like an omelet and said voila! you would have this book. And I suppose in a way that's true...

But it's also not true. This book isn't some magic potion, and it isn't an omelet. At it's heart, it's a love story, about love that is simultaneously there, tangible and real, but also elusive and forever slipping away. As John Lennon once wrote, "I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me." But Matt, you're thinking, there are millions of love stories out there. What makes this one so special? I don't know. It's complex, sure. Yet that's not it. It's beautifully written, sure. Yet that's not it. It has colorful characters, fantastic dialogue, raging eroticism, thoughts and ideas I can relate to, yet they aren't it either. I can't pinpoint it. But I love it anyway.

There's a quote that I think sort of relates in a roundabout way. "Letters are just pieces of paper," I said. "Burn them, and what stays in your heart will stay; keep them, and what vanishes will vanish." This reading is still very fresh in my mind, too fresh perhaps, but I get the feeling it will stick with me for a long time to come. I look forward to seeing again, further down the road.

And, for the record, the music I found most apt to this reading experience was the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós. Dig it, kids.

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message 1: by David (last edited 04/24/2008 05:02AM)

04/24/2008 05:01AM

Matt, are you saying Norwegian Wood gave you American wood? I guess I'll have to read this one and Sputnik Sweetheart to see how I really feel about Murakami... But I think maybe you should look into a career as a publicist, or a car salesman maybe... because I walked onto the lot not expecting to buy (in fact, I just wanted to use the restroom), but here I am driving away in a rusty '93 Pontiac Grand Am with spoiler and indecipherable stains in the upholstery. You sold me, dude! Murakami, show me to my own boner...