‘ahems and ahahs’

I’ve only read two Murakami books and it’s safe to say that I’m a fan already. I would not suggest that the maiden reading for Murakami begin with Norwegian Wood. I myself began with Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which finds Murakami situated in a style and genre that he is more at ease with, magical realism. HBW is a novel that incorporates elements of Alice in Wonderland, Fantasy, Cyberpunk, a blending of all of these types of narrative are invoked and he makes use of them in the best of ways.

Norwegian Wood is more of a traditional coming of age love story. As I mentioned in my previous post, a blending of Fitzgerald and Salinger. This narrative focuses on the different ways that love can break down and pull us apart, being caught in a  world where we often love what we cannot have and fail to recognize the love that is sitting right in front of us. I realize this all sounds cliche and at times it is, but the way Murakami makes use of this genre is done so in a very non-traditional way.

I desperately want to relate more of this narrative to you, my patience blog reader, but to do so would spoil it. If you’re wanting to get away from a very Austen-style romance and get into the mind of someone who is very real and understands how beautiful and tragic relationships and love can be, this is a wonderful narrative to pick up this Christmas season, and it’s a short read at 200+.  Enjoy.