When I was a university student, one of my close friends told me that novels by Haruki Murakami were good, and recommended me to read them. I was 19 years old then, and it was the first time for me to read “Norwegian Wood.” The novel captured my interest, and I have read it again and again since then, and I still read it even now. “Norwegian Wood” is one of my favorite books.
The novel “Norwegian Wood” depicts the university days of the main character, Watanabe Tohru. In the novel, he lives in Tokyo, and goes to university. He likes reading American modern literature. He did not have any friends except for one best friend during his high school days, but the friend killed himself at the age of seventeen. Watanabe has several relationships with women between the age of 18 and 21. Some characters in the novel, other than Watanabe’s best friend, have also killed themselves. The novel consists of sex, death, literature, and intelligence.
I went to university, and had some close female friends. In addition, I liked reading classic literature. Furthermore, I did not belong to a sport clubs at university, so the scope of my friendship was limited. In essence, I felt a sense of intimacy with Watanabe while reading the novel. (In fact, I learnt “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald from Norwegian Wood, and both books were the first English novels which I completed reading in their original language.)
Norwegian Wood is an important book for me, so I was glad to hear, 2 to 3 years ago, that the movie version of this novel would be screened. The movie was released about one week ago, and I went to see it today.
Locations shot in the movie were beautiful, and the music sounds good. In particular, I was moved by one scene in which Reiko sang “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles with a guitar, and Naoko lost her mental stability during Reiko’s performance. In addition, the cast members in the movie were also good, especially Mizuhara Kiko, who played Midori, was very cute and vivid.
Since I have read the novel over and over, and remember the whole story in detail, I can go so far as to say that I do not need any explanation for the story in the movie. Because I know the story, I was purely interested in how the film director, Tran Anh Hung, had expressed the novel through the media of a movie.
The movie version of “Norwegian Wood” was not solely a converted version of the novel, but represented its originality and creativity with the help of movie techniques, such as music, voice (cry, laugh, or angry), facial expression, and scenery.
Norwegian Wood is one of my bests, too. I read a few passages of the novel in Japanese literature workbook in high school and ran to buy reading the rest of the story after school. It was unusual incident for me. People who watched the movie have all different feeling, but it sounds like it's quite beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing to realize is that Watanabe, Naoko, and Midori are all more than ten years younger than me already. This fact makes me feel weird, because they were much mature when I read itfor the first time. I'd like to watch it soon.
Since many of the Japanese phrases shown in the movie seems to be able to be naturally translated into English, you will enjoy watching the movie there in Mumbai, though I do not know whether or not the movie will be released there.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Norwegian Wood has also provided me with several opportunities to expand my friendship. Through the discussions about the novel, I have learnt what the potential friends have been thinking, and have expressed myself to them.
Hi there, Takanori san, I came across your blog while looking for reviews (in English) people had after watching "Norwegian Wood". Norwegian Wood is a great novel which I too could relate to. Since movie adaptations usually alter the original work, I was wondering if they had done that too. I was in Tokyo during the middle of December last year but I missed the chance to go a cinema to see the movie. I was a little afraid of being disappointed by the movie adaption. Having read the work in it's English version and not being so confident about my Japanese, I did not made much effort to go and watch the movie. After reading your review and no longer in Tokyo, I somewhat regretted not going to watch the movie. I hope they will show the movie outside of Japan.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. The movie is not a copy of the novel, but a complementary one of the novel. If you are fond of the novel, I bet that you will be never disappointed by the movie. Since the movie was good, I think that it will be aired all over the world in the future. I am looking forward to hearing your impression when you see it there.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do hope that I'll be able to see the movie someday. And when I've seen it,I'll share my thoughts and views on the movie. And maybe find some interesting points to discuss about it here.
ReplyDeleteI always welcome your comments, and am open for the discussion. By the way, I re-read the speed of "Egg and Wall" provided by Haruki Murakami in Israel in 2009 today. The article can be found at http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/always-on-the-side-of-the-egg-1.270371. He is a good novelist indeed.
ReplyDeleteI read the book a few years ago when I started my Japanese language lessons. I was of course not fortunate enough to have read it in Japanese, but it was my first book written by a Japanese. I loved it. It gave me such a melancholic feeling after reading it...it was as though I was in the book; in the 60s, feeling Naoko's pain, totally transported there by Murakami's brilliance. This is something that not many fiction novels can do. This made me buy almost all of his books. When I heard Norwegian Wood was to be made into a feature film, I kept looking out for trailers in youtube, cause I know it will take sometime for it to be released here. I will be making a trip to Tokyo in Feb, I hope it will be showing still...but then, there's gonna be a problem with the subtitles. I am glad you thought the show was good..I'd be very disappointed if the director made a blunder out of one of my favourite books ever. Thanks Takanori!
ReplyDeleteI think that you were lucky since the first Japanese book which you had read was Norwegian Wood. In addition, your Japanese capability seems high since you could feel deep sympathy with the novel, given that you have read it in your second or third language. Thus, I think that watching the movie in Japanese in next February will cause you no trouble. Youtube is a good idea, but I do not recommend it, not because it is illegal, but because I cannot hope its sound and graphic qualities. On the final note, I would glad if you could disclose your country and name (first, family, or nickname name, whichever you like), so that I could imagine you in more detail.
ReplyDeleteI like your review on imdb. The movie is indeed beautiful and a complimentary of the novel. I have a japanese boyfriend and I am constantly trying to understand him. I always say what I mean, in a very direct way. And my boyfriend always says things with different layers of meaning. When I first read Norwegian wood I was too young (junior high) and I did not really like it. Japanese people' mentality was too complicated for me to understand back then. But after seeing the movie today in the theater, I've decided to re-read the novel again. I think I understood the story now. Still, maybe I haven't got all of what Murakami wanted to tell through the story, and probably I will never can get, since there's no explanation textbook. So I really love to know how do real Japanese people think about this movie/story.
ReplyDeleteBest,
T.
Thank you for your comment. It sounds good idea that you are trying to understand Japanese people’s mentality especially male’s one through Murakami’s literature. Although the novel Norwegian Wood was written in the late 1980s, I think that the complicated/delicate mentality of Watanabe depicted in the novel is still prevailing throughout the Japanese male.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it is interesting to hear that you have a Japanese boyfriend, and you feel that there are some differences in each other’s attitude to the communication. I imagine that your boyfriend became glad when you mentioned that you would try to re-read the novel because your action (trying to read the novel in order to understand your boyfriend) represents your intimacy with your boyfriend.
Hello again Takanori San. I read the short piece of writing you recommended (Always on the side of the egg) which is different to his novels but still a great piece of writing. I like the honest and witty/intelligent way he writes his thoughts and opinions. Thanks for referring me to that article. I agree with you that Haruki Murakami is indeed a great writer.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that there's been quite a number of posts posted as anonymous besides mine. I'm not complaining or anything but just not to confuse you or anyone reading, I was the anonymous poster who was in Tokyo, last December. No plans of going to Japan in February ( so I'm hoping to that the movie will be shown outside Japan some day)and I didnt read Norwegian Wood to try to understand Japanese mentality, etc. But now that someone mentioned it, I guess we can get some insights into the Japanese society and some ideas on what young Japanese (at the time the novel was written)were thinking about then. Some of which might have changed but some might not have. But apart from getting some ideas at best, there's no way we can totally understand what some one is thinking about.
What I felt good about Norwegian Wood was that I could relate to it even though I'm not a Japanese or from that era. Reading the novel brought back memories of myself and also the interesting women I had meet and befriended in my university years. There's something universal and at the same time uniquely Japanese about it.
I understand that at least three anonymous people kindly posted their comments on this topic. Each of the anonymous seems not to be Japanese people, and they all feel sympathy with Haruki Murakami. Murakami is so popular in the world.
ReplyDeleteActually, I am currently in Chile for my business, and yesterday my business partner who is a native Chilean asked me whether or not I know Haruki Murakami. She said that she likes the novel “Tokyo Blues." I found that the title of the Spanish translation version of Norwegian Wood is Tokyo Blues though I do not think this title properly represents the whole story of Norwegian Wood.
I like “always on the side of the egg” as well. It was a nice speech. Do you know that the president of Israel was changing his face, from a satisfied face to an unsatisfied one, during the speech of Murakami? I am not involved in political activities, but I think his brave speech must have encouraged minorities and anti-war activists.
Hello Takanori-san.
ReplyDeleteAs many others before me wrote in the comments, I found your review of Norwegian Wood on IMDb, and found it very interesting.
I read the book a few months ago (in French, my Japanese is too elementary to read anything...). I really loved it, it's the kind of reading that fulfils something in your head, if you see what I mean. Being French, and born way after the 60's, I totally agree with the idea that it is a very universal book, even in its Japanese setting. Had I read this book earlier in my life (say, when I was a teen or a student), it would have probably influenced my life in a great way. No regrets, the most important is that I found this jewel, which (by the way) has a weird title in French: La ballade de l'impossible, which would translate as The ballad of impossible...
Having read your review of the movie, I am really eager to see it now! Although the director is well known in France for its filming abilities, I was a bit afraid the book would have been profanated, because it's a very particular book. But it seems the movie is alright, so I'll have to wait a little before discovering it (it should be out in April in France). Thanks again!
Pierre,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I agree that “The ballad of impossible” is indeed a weird title. Given that the Spanish translation title of “Norwegian Wood” is also “Tokyo Blues”, each of French and Spanish translators must have created its translation title probably without consulting with the original author, Haruki Murakami.
I am glad to hear that you found this post interesting. In addition, I am also glad to see that many foreign people have kindly posted their impression on the novel and movie.
I am proud of the very fact that I can read the novel and watch the movie in its original language. Furthermore, the name of the places appeared in the novel such as “Ocha-no-mizu”, or “Komagome” (many places are actually referred in the novel) are all familiar to me.
The places have hidden meanings. For example, “Ocha-no-mizu” is the place where many business buildings exist and several large-sized universities are located, so that there are always filled with people from early morning to late night. In addition, a nice bridge (The bridge of Hijiri-bashi) and a small river (The river of Kanda-gawa) provide Ocha-no-mizu with good scenery. So, my imagination starts expanding based on such background information when I find the only one phrase “Ocha-no-mizu” in the novel.
I do not know Paris in detail, but many movies and novels have been created along the river of Seine. Along the same line, Tokyo has its cultural basis and Haruki Murakami extracted and expressed them very well.
Anyway, thank you for your comment again, and I hope that you will enjoy watching the movie version of the novel.
P.S. ピエール, You are the first one who used Japanese characters in this blog.
Taknori
Hello Takanori-san.
ReplyDeleteI'm foreigner living in Sapporo. I have read the "Norvegian wood" with such a great pleasure feeling deep sympathy for what Murakami has written so well in this book. I know the book was well appreciated overseas but when it comes to talk about it with my japanese friends there is not so easy. I would really like to know what japanese people think about this piece of great work.
thanks
Hi, and thank you for your comment or inquiry?
ReplyDeleteYes, the novel of "Norwegian Wood" is also one of the best novels that I have ever read. Over the past ten years, I have read the "Norwegian Wood" at least five times.
I was in Tokyo when I was in my university, and Watanabe often appeared in my mind during those days. It was good days.