What is the magic of "Norwegian Wood" that makes me so fascinated? What spell did Haruki Murakami cast on the book that made me want to stop reading it? After reading through the book a few times, I think I need to find the answers to these questions.
Reason 1: Murakami's unique writing style.
I don't know if Murakami's style of writing is set in stone, but I'm sure no writer's style is always consistent. Although I don't know what Murakami's other works are like, Norwegian Wood shows a style that I like extremely well.
Unique metaphors, elegant lyricism, witty writing style, extraordinary imagination, and diversified techniques are always a surprise.
For example:
"Most of all, you, Midori."
"To what extent?"
"Like a bear who likes spring."
"A bear in spring?" Midori raised her face, "What spring bear?"
"You're walking alone in the spring wilderness, and across the street comes a cute little bear with fur that lives like velvet and bulging eyes. It says this to you: 'Hello, miss, will you roll around and play with me?' Then you and the bear cuddled up together and rolled down the clover-covered hillside for a whole day. Don't you think that's great?"
"Awesome!"
"That's how much I like you."
Another example:
"Like my hair?" Midori asks.
"It's so good."
"How good?"
"So good that all the trees in the forests around the world fell to the ground."
"Do you really think so?"
"I do."
Again:
"Like me as much as you like me?" Midori asks.
"All the tigers in the forests of the entire world melted into butter."
You see, it's all these disparate things that Murakami manages to connect, and with a few embellishments you can't help but be struck by how unique the author's imagination is.
Murakami is brilliant at utilizing differences and heterogeneity, and through his skillful integration and illumination, not only do we not feel that it is a stretch, but we may even smile a little.
In Norwegian Wood, dialogues like the one above abound, and I never tire of reading it. Every time I read it, I want to exclaim, "It's worthy of you, Haruki Murakami!
Personally, I think this unique style of writing is the greatest charm of Norwegian Wood. If a book's writing style is too much for me to accept, then the book and its author are too much for me to accept. But that doesn't stop them from continuing to create, after all, writers aren't born to be accepted and create. They just express what they think and whether or not the reader can accept it is another story.
Rationale 2: The attitude towards sex in the book.
In China, people are always afraid to talk about sex, whether in public or in private (where "sex" equals "love").
It seems that sex is a man-eating tiger that lurks behind the scenes, a time bomb that is placed on various occasions. It seems that no matter what, as long as sex is involved, it is vulgar and filthy. So they wielded the stick of "resist vulgarity, run away from filth" and chased after it.
But when you think about it, is sex really that scary? What are the taboos? Is it that people don't want to talk about it, or are afraid to talk about it, or are just too shy to talk about it?
In Norwegian Wood, sex is a way of talking about emotions.
"In reality there is nothing, it doesn't matter, it's just a contact between bodies, we are talking to each other about emotions that can only be talked about through the contact of two imperfect bodies, and in this way we share the imperfections of each of us."
At the end of the day, it's a cultural difference, and China will never be as open and comfortable with sex as Japan is. My own upbringing supports this: when I was growing up, no adult ever took the initiative to explain to me what "sex" was, or even to mention it, for fear of violating some heavenly law. The explanations of sex in the textbooks were also vague and moderate, as if they had not been mentioned at all. The first thing that you need to do is to get your hands on some of the most popular products and services in the world, and you'll be able to do that in the future.
Fortunately, the answers to these questions can be found in literary fiction. At least, "Norwegian Wood" did not disappoint my hopes, and even surprised me.
"Isn't that what sex is all about?"
In Murakami's writing, sex is as wonderful as the scent of grass, the breeze of spring, and the moonlight. Such a bright and honorable attitude is what I want.
Reason 3: The characterization of the book.
The main characters in the book: Toru Watanabe (the main character), Midori, Naoko, and Nagasawa.
Toru Watanabe, the main character, has a unique way of talking, is self-reliant, lives a simple life, follows rules, likes to read books, writes letters, is used to being alone, and has his own ideas about this society.
Moriko, a cute little bunny girl, is self-reliant, a grown-up at a young age, and has a very open sexuality.
Naoko, as weak as a blade of grass swaying in the wind, almost always living in the past, living in the deceased bamboo horse (with the novel's secondary character Kizuki (also the protagonist's best friend) is a childhood friend). The whole body exudes sympathy and pity.
Yongze, the protagonist's friend, is a playboy, suave, super-intelligent, funny, has many strengths and skills, doesn't want others to understand him, is a bit arrogant, and even thinks highly of himself.
I especially appreciate the main character, Toru Watanabe, and always look at it and put myself into it, because I feel like I'm a similar person to Toru Watanabe. The difference is that I don't have his unique charisma, which always makes people feel comfortable and at ease, and I don't have his writing style, which makes me a good letter writer. I like to read and write something, and even occasionally try to write a letter to someone. I also want to be like him to spit out lotus flowers, tongue, golden lotus, I want to be like him to like girls, but not proud of it. But the reality was in front of me, and I couldn't.
Moriko, such an interesting soul, would be the youth and dream of many boys if she lived in reality! The love between Midoriko and Toru Watanabe is something that many people long for and desire!
Whenever I envy the love of this "odd couple", I feel a bit more depressed about the reality. Of course, this kind of love may exist in reality, but the chance of it happening to me is as small as a drop in the ocean.
The love between Toru Watanabe and Naoko is the most frustrating. No matter how hard Toru Watanabe tried, Naoko eventually went to the depths of the forest and hanged herself, adding a sad color to the book. The Norwegian Wood can be so famous, perhaps the plus point lies in this tragedy.
Reason 4: The book's attitude to loneliness.
"What kind of person likes loneliness, but is afraid of disappointment."
Honestly, my heart stuttered when I read that line, as if I'd been hit by something invisible.
It is true that who likes to be alone, but it is just the fear of disappointment. So in order to avoid or minimize disappointment, many people have to survive with loneliness***.
But Haruki Murakami's work offers a mode of life, an attitude to life: to play with loneliness, to play with helplessness.
That is to say, instead of eliminating loneliness and resolving helplessness by reluctantly interacting with people and participating in various social activities, it is better to return and play with loneliness and helplessness.
Toru Watanabe, the protagonist, goes to lectures, takes notes, eats, and reads books alone; he reads books and works part-time to support himself; he listens to jazz and writes letters to someone in many quiet moments; he picks up his backpack every once in a while, brings whiskey and a book, and makes his way along a certain coastline, and raises a glass of **** with the loneliness on a lonely night.
For him, loneliness is just an adopted cat he named "Seagull" that rests quietly and coquettishly by his side.
How many people can adopt and feed loneliness as he did?
Reason 5: Haruki Murakami himself.
Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people, there are probably a thousand Haruki Murakami's in a thousand people.
As far as I'm concerned, Haruki Murakami, like Toru Watanabe, is a self-disciplined man. It's also possible that the author is self-disciplined and that's why he created a self-disciplined character, or that the character of Toru Watanabe is some shadow of Murakami himself. But this speculation has been denied by Murakami in the book's afterword.
I have always had a heartfelt admiration for self-disciplined people. A person who repeats a certain kind of life day after day for ten years and is able to be happy with it, how is that much better than those who are not satisfied, always tossing and turning, but always dissatisfied? Much better.
Murakami's self-discipline, sense of humor, writing style, imagination, and attitude toward society are all reasons why I love and admire him.
Writing in the end:
After all, recommending a book is too subjective, and everyone has their own reasons for liking or disliking it.
I'm just sharing my reasons for liking Norwegian Wood. If you're interested in it, you can find it and read it, and maybe it will give you and me a different surprise.
No chance, right?
I'll end with a piece of advice Nagasawa gave to Toru Watanabe:
"Sympathizing with yourself is the work of a despicable coward."
PS: The novel has been made into a movie of the same name, and the cover image is taken from the movie stills, but it's not really recommended to see it because it's not well done and it's just degrading to the original.