ノルウェイの森 (1)

I rather enjoyed this book about the struggles of a young man to cope with the pains of growing up and his whole world crumbling around him. I suppose it is in many ways a metaphor of the Japanese society of the time. The story is about 2/3 psychological introspection and 1/3 sex and booze, so don’t dive in expecting anything else. The author spends quite some time fleshing out and making us empathise with their female characters but, possibly because we see them through the eyes of that 1960s young man, they all end up feeling a bit like characters from a harem manga. On that same topic I also found a couple of descriptions questionnable (analogies between women and children’s bodies).

For language learners I find this book particularly good. It focuses a lot on the daily lives of its characters, so you’ll learn or review all of the most useful vocab in the most common situations one can encounter. The writing is generally very consistent and standard, the main character generally expresses himself in a polite, easy to understand way. Other characters will use more unstructured and rougher speech in casual situations but nothing too wild.

Some quotes I found funny or impactful, to give you a feel for the writing style:

彼は僕なんかはるかに及ばないくらいの読書家だったが、死後三十年を経ていない作家の本は原則として手にとろうとはしなかった。そういう本しか俺は信用しない、と彼は言った。

世の中で何が哀しいって生乾きのブラジャーつけるくらい哀しいことないわよ。

我々はその哀しみを哀しみ抜いて、そこから何かを学びとることしかできないし、そしてその学びとった何かも、次にやってくる予期せぬ哀しみに対しては何の役にも立たないのだ。

ときどき俺は自分が博物館の管理人になったような気がするよ。誰一人訪れるものもないがらんとした博物館でね、俺は俺自身のためにそこの管理をしているんだ。

私はもう終ってしまった人間なのよ。あなたの目の前にいるのはかつての私自身の残存記憶にすぎないのよ。私自身の中にあったいちばん大事なものはもうとっくの昔に死んでしまっていて、私はただその記憶に従って行動しているにすぎないのよ。

Best to start your N2 journey with a novel

Norwegian Wood was the second novel I read while studying for the N2 level.

It was great to see the words I already knew in context and to learn new vocabulary and kanji at the same time.

Compared to other Haruki Murakami novels, this one (in my opinion) felt more “light-hearted.”

It’s a good choice if you’re around the N2 level and want to take the next step while enjoying a book.

感想

★★★★★★★ - 見る価値あり

Overrated

I’m a big fan of Murakami, but this is the least favorite book I’ve read from him. Nothing really happens, the characters are dull and flat, and the narration is pretty lifeless. It’s a big deviation from his usual style of magical realism, which I really enjoy. Try Kafka or 1Q84 instead.