Norwegian Wood
A student in 1960s Tokyo loved two women. One lived in the past. One was trying to pull him into the future.
The Dead and the Living
Haruki Murakami's 1987 novel follows Toru Watanabe, a university student in Tokyo who is haunted by the suicide of his best friend Kizuki and drawn into an intense, delicate relationship with Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko, who is struggling with her own grief. At the same time he meets Midori, bright and alive in every way Naoko cannot be. The novel is Murakami's most straightforwardly realist work and his most emotionally direct.
Reading Norwegian Wood
Longing
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Chapter
"No matter how far you travel, you can never get away from yourself.
"Haruki Murakami
Norwegian Wood made Murakami a literary celebrity in Japan almost overnight. Embarrassed by the attention and the tabloid coverage of its frank sexuality, he left Japan for Europe for several years after its publication.
The novel sold over four million copies in Japan alone. Anh Hung Tran's 2010 film adaptation starred Kenichi Matsuyama and was screened at the Venice Film Festival.