Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森, Noruwei no Mori) is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.[1] The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and burgeoning sexuality.[2] It is told from the first-person perspective of Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo.[3] Through Watanabe’s reminiscences, readers see him develop relationships with two very different women—the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.[4]
The novel is set in late 1960s Tokyo during a period when Japanese students, like those of many other nations, were protesting against the established order.[5] While it serves as the backdrop against which the events of the novel unfold, Murakami (through the eyes of Watanabe and Midori) portrays the student movement as largely weak-willed and hypocritical.
Murakami adapted the first section of the novel from an earlier short story, “Firefly”. The story was subsequently included in the collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.[6]
Norwegian Wood was hugely popular with Japanese youth and made Murakami something of a superstar in his native country (apparently much to his dismay at the time).[7][8]
A film adaptation of the same name was released in 2010, directed by Tran Anh Hung.
The original Japanese title, Noruwei no Mori, is the standard Japanese translation of the title of the Beatles song “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”.[9] This song is often described in the novel, and is the favorite song of the character Naoko. Mori in the Japanese title translates into English as “wood” in the sense of “forest”, not the material “wood”, even though the song lyrics refer to the latter. Forest settings and imagery are significant in the novel.
A 37-year-old Toru Watanabe has just arrived in Hamburg, West Germany. When he hears an orchestral cover of the Beatles’ song “Norwegian Wood”, he is suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss and nostalgia. He thinks back to the 1960s, when so much happened that touched his life.
Watanabe, his classmate Kizuki, and Kizuki’s girlfriend Naoko are the best of friends. Kizuki and Naoko are particularly close and feel as if they are soulmates, and Watanabe seems more than happy to be their enforcer. This idyllic existence is shattered by the unexpected suicide of Kizuki on his 17th birthday. Kizuki’s death deeply touches both surviving friends; Watanabe feels the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. The two of them spend more and more time together going for long walks on Sundays, although feelings for each other are never clarified in this interval. On the night of Naoko’s 20th birthday, she feels especially vulnerable and they have sex, during which Watanabe realizes that she is a virgin. Afterward, Naoko leaves Watanabe a letter saying that she needs some time apart and is quitting college to go to a sanatorium.
