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Norwegian Wood (novel)
Encyclopedia
is a 1987 novel
by Japan
ese author Haruki Murakami
.
The novel is a nostalgic
story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo
. Through Toru's reminiscences we see him develop relationships with two very different women — the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.
The novel is set in Tokyo during the late 1960s, a time when Japanese students, like those of many other nations, were protesting against the established order. While it serves as the backdrop against which the events of the novel unfold, Murakami (through the eyes of Toru and Midori) portrays the student movement as largely weak-willed and hypocritical
.
Murakami adapted the first section of the novel from an earlier short story, "Firefly." The story was subsequently included in the collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
.
Norwegian Wood was hugely popular with Japanese youth and made Murakami somewhat of a superstar in his native country (apparently much to his dismay at the time).
In 2011, a New Jersey high school district removed the novel from its 10th grade Honors English summer reading list after parents protested its inclusion. Objections focused on a lesbian sex scene in the book.
song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
," written by John Lennon
and Paul McCartney
. The song is often mentioned in the novel, and is the favourite song of the character Naoko. Mori in the Japanese title translates into English as wood in the sense of "forest
", not the material "wood
", even though the song lyrics clearly refer to the latter. Forest settings and imagery are significantly present in the novel.
," he is suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss and nostalgia. He thinks back to the 1960s, when so much happened that touched his life.
Toru, his classmate Kizuki, and Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko are the best of friends. Kizuki and Naoko are particularly close and feel as if they are soulmates, and Toru seems more than happy to be their enforcer. This idyllic existence is interrupted by the unexpected suicide of Kizuki on his 17th birthday. Kizuki's death deeply touches both surviving friends; Toru feels the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. The two of them spend more and more time together, trying to console one another, and they eventually fall in love. On the night of Naoko's 20th birthday, she feels especially vulnerable, and they consummate their love. Afterwards, Naoko leaves Toru a letter saying that she needs some time apart and that she is quitting college to go to a sanatorium.
The blossoming of their love is set against a backdrop of civil unrest. The students at Toru's college go on strike and call for a revolution. Inexplicably, the students end their strike and act as if nothing had happened, which enrages Toru as a sign of hypocrisy.
Toru befriends a fellow drama
classmate, Midori Kobayashi. She is everything that Naoko is not — outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident. Despite his love for Naoko, Toru finds himself attracted to Midori as well. Midori is attracted to him also, and their friendship grows during Naoko's absence.
Toru visits Naoko at her secluded mountain sanatorium near Kyoto. There he meets Reiko Ishida, another patient there who has become Naoko's confidante. During this and subsequent visits, Reiko and Naoko reveal more about their past: Reiko talks about her search for sexual identity, and Naoko talks about the unexpected suicide of her older sister several years ago.
Now back in Tokyo, Toru unintentionally alienates Midori through both his lack of consideration of her wants and needs, and his continuing thoughts about Naoko. He writes a letter to Reiko, asking for her advice about his conflicted affections for both Naoko and Midori. He doesn't want to hurt Naoko, but he doesn't want to lose Midori either. Reiko counsels him to seize this chance for happiness and see how his relationship with Midori turns out.
A later letter informs Toru that Naoko has killed herself. Toru, grieving and in a daze, wanders aimlessly around Japan, while Midori — with whom he hasn't kept in touch — wonders what has happened to him. After about a month of wandering, he returns to the Tokyo area. He gets in contact with Reiko, who leaves the sanatorium to come visit. The middle-aged Reiko stays with Toru, and they have sexual intercourse. It is through this experience, and the intimate conversation that Toru and Reiko share that night, that he comes to realise that Midori is the most important person in his life. Toru calls Midori out of the blue to declare his love for her. What happens following this is never revealed — Midori's response is characteristically (by this point) cold, yet the fact that she does not explicitly cut Toru off at that point (as she did before) leaves things open.
(who translated many of Murakami's earlier novels) and was published in 1989 in Japan by Kodansha
as part of the Kodansha English Library series. Like other books in this pocket-sized series, the English text was intended for Japanese students of English, and even featured an appendix listing the Japanese text for key English phrases encountered in the novel. Notably, this edition kept the two-volume division of the original Japanese version and its color scheme — the first volume having a red cover, the second green (the first UK edition in 2000 would also keep this division and appearance). This earlier translation has been discontinued in Japan.
The second translation, by Jay Rubin, is the authorized version for publication outside Japan and was first published in 2000 by Harvill Press in the UK
, and Vintage International in the USA.
The two translations differ somewhat. Of note, there are some differences in nicknames: Toru's roommate, for example, is called "Kamikaze" in the Birnbaum translation, and "Storm Trooper" in the Rubin translation.
was released in Japan in 2010. The film stars Kenichi Matsuyama as Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi
as Naoko and Kiko Mizuhara
as Midori. It was presented at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
. Jonny Greenwood
scored the film.
The location hunting of this film was done in Tonomine highlands
, Mineyama highlands
, and Kasumi coast
.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese author Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
.
The novel is a nostalgic
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Through Toru's reminiscences we see him develop relationships with two very different women — the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.
The novel is set in Tokyo during the late 1960s, a time when Japanese students, like those of many other nations, were protesting against the established order. While it serves as the backdrop against which the events of the novel unfold, Murakami (through the eyes of Toru and Midori) portrays the student movement as largely weak-willed and hypocritical
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
.
Murakami adapted the first section of the novel from an earlier short story, "Firefly." The story was subsequently included in the collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
.
Norwegian Wood was hugely popular with Japanese youth and made Murakami somewhat of a superstar in his native country (apparently much to his dismay at the time).
In 2011, a New Jersey high school district removed the novel from its 10th grade Honors English summer reading list after parents protested its inclusion. Objections focused on a lesbian sex scene in the book.
The novel's title
The original Japanese title Noruwei no Mori, is the standard Japanese translation of the title of The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood is a 1965 song by The Beatles.Norwegian Wood may also refer to:* Norwegian Wood , an annual music festival in Oslo, Norway* Norwegian Wood , by Haruki Murakami...
," written by John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. The song is often mentioned in the novel, and is the favourite song of the character Naoko. Mori in the Japanese title translates into English as wood in the sense of "forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
", not the material "wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
", even though the song lyrics clearly refer to the latter. Forest settings and imagery are significantly present in the novel.
Characters in Norwegian Wood
- Toru Watanabe — The main character and narrator. He is a Tokyo college student of average ability, majoring in dramaTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
but without reason or conviction for doing so. Unlike most students, he is interested in Western, and in particular, American literatureAmerican literatureAmerican literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
. He is Kizuki's best friend, and develops romantic relationships with Naoko, and later, Midori. - Naoko — a beautiful but emotionally fragile woman who is Kizuki's girlfriend, but becomes involved with Toru after Kizuki's death. Naoko's older sister committed suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
at age 17, which, along with Kizuki's suicide, has a lasting effect on Naoko's emotional stability. - Midori Kobayashi — a vivacious, outgoing classmate of Toru. She and her sister help their father run a small bookstore. She originally had a boyfriend but develops feelings for Toru as she gets to know him more, putting Toru in a tough situation.
- Reiko Ishida — an inmate of the mountain asylum to which Naoko retreats. She and Naoko room together and become close friends. An accomplished pianist and guitarist, Reiko has endured lifelong mental problems that wrecked her professional musical career and later her marriage. She attempts to advise Toru and Naoko in their relationship.
- Kizuki — Toru's best friend in high school, and Naoko's first boyfriend. Kizuki took his own life when he was 17.
- Nagasawa — a diplomacyDiplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
student at the elite University of TokyoUniversity of Tokyo, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
whose friendship with Toru is kindled over The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
, a book both love. Nagasawa is unusually charismatic and is complex in both his ideals and personal relationships. Toru routinely accompanies Nagasawa on outings to bars, where they pick up girls for one-night stands. - Hatsumi — the long-suffering girlfriend of Nagasawa. A kind woman by nature, she tries to offer advice to Toru, but Toru is reluctant to confide in her or Nagasawa. (Two years after Nagasawa leaves for Germany, Hatsumi marries, only to commit suicide after another two years. News of this prompts Toru to break off his relations with Nagasawa.)
- "Storm Trooper" — Toru's dormitory roommate who is obsessed with cleanliness, and who is majoring in cartographyCartographyCartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
in preparation for a career at the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan. He later moves out, leaving their room entirely to Toru until he moves out of the dorm altogether. - Itoh — an artArtArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
student whom Toru meets after moving out of the dorm he shared with Nagasawa and Storm Trooper. The two share a love of Boris VianBoris VianBoris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered today for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of their...
. He has a girlfriend in his hometown of Nagasaki, but her unease about Itoh's chosen career leads him to unease about their relationship. - Momoko (Momo) Kobayashi — Midori's sister.
- Mr. Kobayashi — Midori's widowed father. Midori had initially said that he had emigrated to UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, but that later turns out to be a joke; Mr. Kobayashi was actually in a hospital in Tokyo, with brain cancer. When Midori and Toru visit him, Toru briefly stays to take care of him alone. He later dies, and his daughters sell the bookstore to move to new quarters.
Plot synopsis
A 37-year-old Toru Watanabe has just arrived in Hamburg, Germany. When he hears an orchestral cover of the Beatles' song "Norwegian WoodNorwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
"Norwegian Wood " is a song by The Beatles, first released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul....
," he is suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss and nostalgia. He thinks back to the 1960s, when so much happened that touched his life.
Toru, his classmate Kizuki, and Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko are the best of friends. Kizuki and Naoko are particularly close and feel as if they are soulmates, and Toru seems more than happy to be their enforcer. This idyllic existence is interrupted by the unexpected suicide of Kizuki on his 17th birthday. Kizuki's death deeply touches both surviving friends; Toru feels the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. The two of them spend more and more time together, trying to console one another, and they eventually fall in love. On the night of Naoko's 20th birthday, she feels especially vulnerable, and they consummate their love. Afterwards, Naoko leaves Toru a letter saying that she needs some time apart and that she is quitting college to go to a sanatorium.
The blossoming of their love is set against a backdrop of civil unrest. The students at Toru's college go on strike and call for a revolution. Inexplicably, the students end their strike and act as if nothing had happened, which enrages Toru as a sign of hypocrisy.
Toru befriends a fellow drama
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
classmate, Midori Kobayashi. She is everything that Naoko is not — outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident. Despite his love for Naoko, Toru finds himself attracted to Midori as well. Midori is attracted to him also, and their friendship grows during Naoko's absence.
Toru visits Naoko at her secluded mountain sanatorium near Kyoto. There he meets Reiko Ishida, another patient there who has become Naoko's confidante. During this and subsequent visits, Reiko and Naoko reveal more about their past: Reiko talks about her search for sexual identity, and Naoko talks about the unexpected suicide of her older sister several years ago.
Now back in Tokyo, Toru unintentionally alienates Midori through both his lack of consideration of her wants and needs, and his continuing thoughts about Naoko. He writes a letter to Reiko, asking for her advice about his conflicted affections for both Naoko and Midori. He doesn't want to hurt Naoko, but he doesn't want to lose Midori either. Reiko counsels him to seize this chance for happiness and see how his relationship with Midori turns out.
A later letter informs Toru that Naoko has killed herself. Toru, grieving and in a daze, wanders aimlessly around Japan, while Midori — with whom he hasn't kept in touch — wonders what has happened to him. After about a month of wandering, he returns to the Tokyo area. He gets in contact with Reiko, who leaves the sanatorium to come visit. The middle-aged Reiko stays with Toru, and they have sexual intercourse. It is through this experience, and the intimate conversation that Toru and Reiko share that night, that he comes to realise that Midori is the most important person in his life. Toru calls Midori out of the blue to declare his love for her. What happens following this is never revealed — Midori's response is characteristically (by this point) cold, yet the fact that she does not explicitly cut Toru off at that point (as she did before) leaves things open.
Allusions
- One of the favorite books of Toru and his older friend Nagasawa is The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
by F. Scott FitzgeraldF. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
. But before said book became Toru's favorite, he liked John UpdikeJohn UpdikeJohn Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
's The CentaurThe CentaurThe Centaur is a 1963 novel by John Updike. It won the National Book Award in 1964. The story concerns George Caldwell, a school teacher, and his son Peter, outside of Alton , Pennsylvania. The novel explores the relationship between the depressive Caldwell and his anxious son...
, which he read several times. - In his initial meetings with Naoko and Reiko at Ami, Toru is reading Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
's novel The Magic MountainThe Magic MountainThe Magic Mountain is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of 20th century German literature....
. He is also assessing Beneath the wheelBeneath the WheelBeneath the Wheel is a 1906 novel written by Hermann Hesse. It is also sometimes titled The Prodigy in English.-Plot summary:...
, the second book of Hermann HesseHermann HesseHermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
.
- When Toru visits Naoko at Ami, they reminisce about a time when he and his friend Kizuki took a motorcycle trip to visit her in a hospital a few years earlier. This same story is told at more length in the title story of Blind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping WomanBlind Willow, Sleeping Woman is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami....
.
English translations
Norwegian Wood has been translated into English twice. The first was by Alfred BirnbaumAlfred Birnbaum
Alfred Birnbaum is an American translator.Alfred Birnbaum was born in the United States and raised in Japan from age five. He studied at Waseda University, Tokyo, under a Japanese Ministry of Education scholarship, and has been a freelance literary and cultural translator since 1980.From March...
(who translated many of Murakami's earlier novels) and was published in 1989 in Japan by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
as part of the Kodansha English Library series. Like other books in this pocket-sized series, the English text was intended for Japanese students of English, and even featured an appendix listing the Japanese text for key English phrases encountered in the novel. Notably, this edition kept the two-volume division of the original Japanese version and its color scheme — the first volume having a red cover, the second green (the first UK edition in 2000 would also keep this division and appearance). This earlier translation has been discontinued in Japan.
The second translation, by Jay Rubin, is the authorized version for publication outside Japan and was first published in 2000 by Harvill Press in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Vintage International in the USA.
The two translations differ somewhat. Of note, there are some differences in nicknames: Toru's roommate, for example, is called "Kamikaze" in the Birnbaum translation, and "Storm Trooper" in the Rubin translation.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A film adaptation directed by Tran Anh HungTran Anh Hung
Trần Anh Hùng is a French film director of Vietnamese ancestry.He was born in Đà Nẵng, Central Vietnam, and emigrated to France when he was 12 following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975....
was released in Japan in 2010. The film stars Kenichi Matsuyama as Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi
Rinko Kikuchi
, born , January 6, 1981, is a Japanese actress. Kikuchi is the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years. She is currently Japan's only living female Academy Award nominee in acting categories...
as Naoko and Kiko Mizuhara
Kiko Mizuhara
, born Audrie Kiko Daniel, October 15, 1990, is a Japanese model and actress. She is a former exclusive model for the Japanese magazine ViVi and the Japanese edition of Seventeen....
as Midori. It was presented at the 67th Venice International Film Festival
67th Venice International Film Festival
The 67th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from September 1 to September 11, 2010. American film director and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was head of the Jury. John Woo was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement prior to the start of the Festival...
. Jonny Greenwood
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy "Jonny" Greenwood is an English musician and composer, best known as a member of the English rock band Radiohead. Greenwood is a multi-instrumentalist, but serves mainly as lead guitarist and keyboard player. In addition to guitar and keyboard, he plays viola, harmonica,...
scored the film.
The location hunting of this film was done in Tonomine highlands
Kamikawa, Hyogo
is a town located in Kanzaki District, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.The town was founded on November 7, 2005 by the merger of Kanzaki and Ōkawachi, both from Kanzaki District....
, Mineyama highlands
Kamikawa, Hyogo
is a town located in Kanzaki District, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.The town was founded on November 7, 2005 by the merger of Kanzaki and Ōkawachi, both from Kanzaki District....
, and Kasumi coast
Sanin Kaigan National Park
is a national park on the island of Honshū in Japan. It runs along the coast of the Sea of Japan from Kyoto to Tottori. The park area encompasses a variety of landscapes, including the Tottori Sand Dunes, the only large dune system in Japan....
.