Bookatlas
1987Contemporary World Fiction
Cover of Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood

Haruki Murakami · b. 1949 · Japan

Originally Noruwei no Mori (Japanese) · translated by Jay Rubin

Why it matters

Student Tokyo, 1969: two loves, one shadowed by suicide: Murakami with the surrealism turned off and the ache turned all the way up. It sold millions in Japan and made him famous enough to flee the country.

At a glance

bildungsromanromance
Difficulty 3/10fast pace296 pages

Plain, conversational, straightforwardly chronological prose throughout.

More by Haruki Murakami →

Deep dive

Why Naoko and Midori aren't really rivals for Toru's affection so much as two different ways of surviving loss — one oriented toward the dead, one toward broad daylight.

Where to go next

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