Isn't It Good, Norwegian Wood

Coming of age stories have been a staple in the literary world for centuries. Many know the trials of Huck Finn and his quest on the raft with Jim or Holden Caulfield and his distaste for phonies. Then there is Norwegian Wood, written by Haruki Murakami. Norwegian Wood's protagonist is Toru Watanabe and tells the story of his struggle to find his place in a world that seems to only feature suicide and the injustice of unattainable love.

Haruki Murakami is one of the most prominent figures of contemporary Japanese literature. He is known for his avant-garde works; such titles as Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World spring to mind. But then he emerged with Norwegian Wood.

Norwegian Wood transformed Murakami into a star in Japan, much to his dismay, and the Japanese youth cleaved onto the novel. However, many of Murakami's contemporaries saw Norwegian Wood as a mere love story- something that Murakami should never have deigned to write.

Despite its mainstream formula, Norwegian Wood is one of the most poignant and moving "love stories" that I have yet to come across, and the beauty is in its simplicity.

Toru Watanabe is a college student in 1969 and is majoring in drama, but has no aspirations or goals. His single devotion is to Naoko. Naoko is the beautiful and fragile girl who is the only remaining link to his happier past. Naoko was Toru's best friend's, Kizuki's, girlfriend. However Kizuki inexplicably commits suicide.

This sends Toru and, even more so Naoko, into a downward spiral. Soon Naoko and Toru become involved with each other, culminating when Naoko and Toru sleep together on Naoko's twentieth birthday. Consumed by guilt, as she never slept with Kizuki, Naoko flees to a remote sanatorium to convalesce.

Toru continues his life at college where he soon finds himself drawn to a vivacious and sensual student, Midori Kobayashi. As his friendship with Midori grows, his contact with Naoko wanes; the more extroverted Toru becomes, the less sane Naoko becomes.

Norwegian Wood, though at times too neatly wrapped up in its own tragedy, heartbreakingly tells the story of one person's simple love story and his journey to adulthood.

-Acerbec