At first, it was slightly unsettling, but as I got further into the book and read other works by Murakami, I found that his writing style was comforting in a sense.

His narration was detached even when pertaining to extremely emotional personal events like falling in love for the first time or losing a friend to suicide.

Upon first reading the novel, I found Toru aloof and pensive. He develops two deep romantic relationships with polar opposite women: outgoing, eccentric Midori and the elusive and deeply troubled Naoko.

Named after the Beatles’ 1965 song “Norwegian Wood,” the book is a reminiscence of protagonist and narrator Toru Watanbe’s college years and his developing sexuality. One of his most notable works is his 1987 novel “Norwegian Wood,” a hauntingly beautiful love story that combines Murakami’s quintessential elements of nostalgia, loneliness and ennui. The New York Times referred to him as “the most widely read Japanese writer outside of Japan, past or present.” Murakami’s trademark ability to deftly balance the sadness and tranquility of loneliness pulls the heartstrings of many. His works are consistent bestsellers in Japan and have been subsequently translated into over 50 languages. His books have erased any Eurocentric notions I had of literature and pushed me to explore definitions of life and love outside of the box that the narrow-minded texts of high school had placed me in.īorn in 1949, Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer who is renowned for his picaresque characters, magical realism and unique bildungsroman. My first introduction to an Asian American author was with Haruki Murakami, and I embraced my AAPI community through his writing. It was only towards the end of high school when I began exploring the intersection of my AAPI identity with the books and literature I was consuming. I was always hearing about what the white man had to say, what friendship and love was for the white man or what struggle and conflict the white man had to face.

Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway dominated my English classes. Growing up in a predominantly Caucasian community, I was often fed Eurocentric literature in school and consumed media mainly centered around white narratives.

Murakami books norwegian wood