Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

 

 

I read this book on recommendation by several people as I wanted to expand the geography of my reading. It's set in Japan, I've actually read a few set in Japan now (Convenience Store Woman - which I've just realised I never reviewed, such a shame because it was a really odd book!, The Key to Midnight - this one really doesn't count!), but it's a culture I'm fascinated by. I really hope to go there sometime.

However, the most you really learn about the culture of Japan is that The Beatles really were big all over. The title of the book is (probably obvious to most people but sadly not to the musical ignoramus that is me!) a reference to The Beatles’ song of the same name. It's the favourite song of one of the main characters.

It's really about people. Dysfunctional, messed up people. It's written from the point of view of Toru Watanabe, a university student in 1960's Tokyo, and is about his relationships with five different people who could all have chapters dedicated to them in a psychology study.

First is Kizuki. Kizuki is Watanabe's childhood best friend, but he killed himself completely out of the blue when he was 18. This is no spoiler; it's revealed early on and really sets the tone for the rest of the book. The suicide itself and how it affects the rest of the characters are not explicitly explored in the story but are there as an undercurrent throughout.

Naoko was Kizuki's girlfriend. The three of them hung out together a lot but you don't feel that there was a great closeness between Naoko and Toru. But then they bump into each other in Tokyo and become very close, and semi-dependent on each other, in love with each other in a completely dysfunctional way. Until Naoko disappears one weekend. She has been admitted into an institution for those with mental health problems and believes herself to be broken, and irreparable. It's heartbreaking really, because as more of her history is told you realise she's suffering from terrible PTSD and trauma and unresolved grief and all sorts of terrible psychological issues which would most likely be perfectly treated nowadays but back in the 60s, I guess, not all fully recognised. 

Then there's Midori. Midori is a girl that Toru meets in Tokyo after Naoko has disappeared. It's hard to know if Murakami intended her to be the most insanely unlikeable person or if he just thought he was writing another traumatised, messed up soul but where I felt all the heart-rending sympathy for Naoko, Midori just came across as self-centered and narcissistic in her troubles. She’s a total, “oh-look-at-me-I’m-so-weird-and-not-like-other-girls!” girl. There was no room for Toru to have needs and all the control (and manipulation) is in her court. She doesn’t talk to him for a couple of months because he didn’t mention her haircut! And then just asks him to come running to her again. I was crying out for him to dump her from the first time she dangled him at arm’s length until she thought she'd punished him enough for whatever innocuous crime she felt he'd committed that time. Don’t get me wrong, she has some legitimate traumas but... grrrrr. I am NOT team Midori.

Then there's Reiko. Reiko is Naoko's roommate in the institute. Basically, a mother figure but also a patient so hiding some pretty messed up issues too. And, quite frankly, her issues really are VERY messed up. I won't do spoilers but if she was sharing her "issues" in court today she wouldn't be going into an institute, she'd be going into a prison. But she's a likable character who helps Toru and Naoko a lot. It's a dichotomy. It's hard to understand the motivation of the author in this. It was written in the late 80s which I guess was a different time, and I'm reading it with the 2020's mindset… I don't know. No conclusions were met by me! I enjoyed the book so I just tried to separate the character from the obviously questionable actions.

Finally, Nagasawa, another extreme narcissist but one without the background trauma, just the self-confidence, and inability to care about any effect his actions have on others. A much more one-dimensional character than any of the others with no background story told. But I've included him because he takes up quite a significant space in Toru's life and yet another one with personality issues. I was going to say that he tries to lead Toru into his lifestyle (of many, many one-night stands and general self-indulgence) but actually it's more like Toru tries it out and it doesn't really suit him.

A couple of other characters are Hatsumi (Nagasawa's girlfriend) and Storm Trooper (Toru's roommate). Hatsumi seems fairly normal and well-adjusted. But she is Nagasawa's girlfriend, utterly in love with him, and I've mentioned his lifestyle so you can see how that would eventually take its toll and it does. Storm Trooper has some serious OCD issues. Or issues with cleanliness at any rate. The dorm room must be immaculate at all times. And then one day he just doesn't come back to university and Toru never hears from him again. It’s never explained.

The book really could be called Toru Watanabe and his Journey Through The Mental Health Issues of Others.  

It's a really stunning book, not a joyful book in any way but utterly engrossing and so beautifully told. I wonder if it’s used in Psychology lessons anywhere…