[Review] Norwegian Wood

Hi guys! I just finished reading Norwegian Wood last night! As most of you readers know, I have no interest in any of John Green's endings, except for Looking For Alaska probably, but John Green still haven't explain what happened to Takumi (which bothers me a lot). And now, Murakami did the same thing. I'm so pissed off at hime for not explaining whether Toru/Watanabe and Midori ends up together or if Midori left Toru because of his selfishness and things. I hate reading stories that end because I could imagine anything happen to the character, and I don't like what I imagine so it's better to have a story guide rather than imagining by myself.

Ater I finished the book, the last paragraph of what Toru said worries me because I thought Toru killed himself when he knew Naoko was killed. Like maybe he got dragged into the ocean by the waves but didn't realize and thought he was alive. But then I realized the book was a flashback from his eyes so he couldn't be dead. Unless the book was from the point of view of a dead person (like The Lovely Bones). 

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I searched the ending of Norwegian Wood in the internet and found some pretty good things on goodreads. 

An answer by Aelethiel:

Only my thoughts:

When his friend kills himself the 'sickness', meaning depression and unability to cope with life, is passed on to Naoko. It hurts her on a fundamental level. She turns to the protagonist in hopes that he can save her, but in the end he fails. 

When Naoko commits suicide the 'sickness' is passed on to him. He becomes unable to cope with life. He feels disconnected and confused and he is crying out for Midori to save him, because he can't do it on his own anymore. 

This is a circle of action and reaction. A person can be hurt on such a fundamental level that no love in the world could save him/her. And a person in pain may accidentally hurt his/her loved ones in exactly that manner, without ever intending to. 

So in the end the fear remains that the story will repeat itself. 

An anser by A Slice of the Moon (people mistaken it our Alice of the Moon hahah):

I'd rather interpret it in a positive sense. 

Watanabe is shown to be someone who cannot open up about his problems - even his friend Nagasawa comments on how he is secretive when it comes to his personal life. And because the book is in Watanabe's voice, i got the feeling that he was always struggling to be detached from the many problems in his life. 

However, in the end, he finally decides to 'open' up to all the tragedy in his life - and the feeling of 'dead centre' etc comes from finally allowing all the tragedies to affect him. he's finally letting go. 

We're not told if he is pulled back from this darkness by Midori, who is at the other end of the telephone line - but I'd like to believe she did. Just the fact that Watanabe chose Midori over Naoko shows that he chose life over death, i think. 

another reason why i thought it all ended well is because the story begins 10 years later, when he is in the plane and he hears "Norwegian Woods" playing. He loses control for an instance, but then recovers. I think it shows that though he is scarred by his past, he has also managed to move on. 

just my thoughts, though. 

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I liked the answer from A Slice of the Moon better than the other one. But still, it's hard to imagine Toru being happy and accepting life and all when Murakami didn't give a story guide. But I really wish Toru and Midori would end up together. I haven't watched the movie, just the trailer. I like how the director, i forgot his name, chose Kiko for Midori. I think Kiko is perfect for his character because Midori is very happy and joyful and she brings happiness to the book, while most of the other characters are forlorn. I also like StormTrooper. But too bad he decided to leave the dormitory.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book, to senior high schoolers and above. It's writing is similar to John Green's but his books are from a teenager's point of view, while Murakami's from a 37 year old. Although they have easy words to sink in to the brain, the contents are hard to understand. Rate this book a 4 out of 5. Oh and one more thing, this book isn't too pricey. It's only Rp. 80.000 in Periplus!

Happy fasting!