Rating: 
Summary: Murakami proves himself to be more than a 'niche' writer
Review: This novel was a huge depature from Murakami's other work. Unlike his other works, which are chalk full of evil sheep, unicorns, wind up birds, and the end of the world, Norwegian Wood is a fairly straight forward coming of age love story. But the relativly simplistic plot of this novel betrays a very complex underworking that is just as good, if not better, then the other, more playful and bizarre, books. In terms of actual style, I couldn't help but liken it to a mixture of The Great Gatasby and Catcher in the Rye (bot of which are alluded too many times in the course of Norwegian Wood). Unlike the other Murakami's, which I feel have an almost emotional void to them (which I love, don't get me wrong...), this one was almost painfully emotional. Loce, loss, hardship, happiness; Murakami touches on all of them. And Toru Watanabe is not the average Murakami Hero. AGain, he is more emotional, less detached then the others. The reader knows him far better than any of the other protagonists in the other novels. You feel for him. You understand the basis of his pain. It's really a powerful novel. Any Murakami fan that hasn't yet read this, must get to it as soon as poissible. Don't overlook it because it appears to be mainstream (which it really isn't). However...if you are looking for a Murakami book to start with, I really can't recommend this one, simply because it is so much more different than the other books. Try the Wind-up Chronicle or A Wild Sheep Chase. And have fun. Reading Murakami for the first time is on e of the greatest experiences you can have.
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Summary: A dream which lingers when you wake
Review: After I finished reading this book in a single, frenzied session, I sat still,... devastated, for a long, long time.
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Summary: Love and Death in the Sixties
Review: I love this book. Love love love it. Elegaic and pitch perfect, 'Norwegian Wood' has all the motional vibrance and intensity of early Murakami work, but here that energy is crystalized. The novel's action is akin to tasting the first drop of water to melt away from a frozen desert. Yes, it's that kind of book.This being Takashi Murakami, however, there are girls. Girls who vanish. Witty smart girls and sad tragic girls. There is also great music. Someone should market a CD called the 'The Music of Murakami'. He's constantly reerencing music in his works, giving his readers a built in soundtrack. This book is a classic. Murakami may be the first truly universal storyteller. If only we could get more of his work translated to English!
Rating: 
Summary: GET THE ALFRED BIRNBAUM TRANSLATION
Review: It's not "Norwegian Wood" the story itself that I give 1 star to- it's the Jay Rubin translation. Over a decade ago I bought the Alfred Birnbaum translation, and I find Birnbaum to be a far superior translator to Rubin. Rubin's translation of certain sensual phrases from the Japanese turn into stale duds of sentences compared to Birnbaum's more heartfelt ones. Moreover, Rubin deletes words, sentences and paragraphs as he feels fit- Birnbaum does not make as vast edits as Rubin does. In this version of NW, Rubin writes that Murakami has approved this as the official translation. I'm sorry to say that although Murakami is my favorite author in the whole world, I have heard him lecture and his spoken English is remarkably terrible- he may know how to translate written English to Japanese really well, but he could use to learn about translating from his native language to English. I've rattled on long enough- but let it be said, Birnbaum's translation is far superior- and if you do not live in Japan, then go to your local Japanese bookstore in America like Kinokuniya or Asahiya and get it- leave this disgrace of a translation on the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: More is less
Review: I could go on and on about how and why I love this book. But it would be an example of the most inefficient and ineffective expression of love. This book is an example of efficiency and effectiveness that is almost in-human. You can almost feel the words and ideas form from the simplest of emotions and thoughts.
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Summary: Norwegian Wood-MUST READ
Review: Norwegian Wood was a great read. I could hardly put the book down. The author paints a wonderful storey which allows the reader to picutre each moment of the book. I still think about the characters even though I finished this book over 6 months ago. I would compare the writing to that of Women of the Silk and Memoirs of a Geisha (both great books).
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Summary: hai!
Review: im not halfway thru the book yet, but i love it very fascinating great style of writing...
Rating:
Summary: A Mirror for Readers
Review: This is my second Murakami book. The first was his Akutagawa prize winner from a while ago that did not leave enough of an impression to imprint the title in memory.
But now, this book is positively refreshing after trying to wade through the acclaimed Japanese literature of recent years! Notice how simple and unassuming the prose is, contrary to other contemporary work that doesn't make it over here for good reason. Of course, this novel has accessibility going for it. Main character Toru Watanabe is practically immersed in Western imports: he is reading "Magic Mountain", Conrad, Euripides, or Boris Vian, etc. with very scant reference to any Japanese work. Which makes it a relatively easy port to English and the translation loses little. The main strength of the book I think is the atmosphere that it creates; it is truly one of a kind, more rarefied in effect than Salinger to whom this book owes certain similarities (Toru is likened to Holden at one point). It is a world where sex is narrated often but with cleanly wantonness, a world where time is stagnant and politics recede far to the background (Midori's quip about Marxist-poseurs in a university is exquisite - also shows Toru's apoliticalness, unfortunately very common in Japan), and above all a world where men and women are disarmingly honest about life, sex, and how they truly feel. Now except for the last item, the mindset is not far removed from that of a young contemporary Japanese, like me, which explains the popularity. Many people in Japan condemn Murakami for writing "fluff", but this is not true. Afterall, the core moral is stated in the very beginning of the book, that death is a part WITHIN life and not outside it (curiously Japanese sentiment from a most un-Japanese writer - check Ivan Morris' "Nobility of Failure"), and the book is his attempt to come to grip with this unconsoling truth. That, certainly, is not a trivial lesson to live with and you will live through it, all of it, from enervating boredom down to sexual agony, with Toru. In conclusion, this book, then, is for readers who are willing to see their own life reflected in the somewhat distorted but wonderful mirror of Murakami's making. Afterall, isn't this the mark of a great novel? Oh, and to that reviewer who was so surprised by the unpuritanical ethics in a Japanese book: if reading anything by Tanizaki or the first few pages of Kawabata's "Snow Country" (why is he sniffing that finger?) doesn't convince you, consider any chapter of the Genji, or the nastier love-letters in the Man-yo Shu (the bit about the "bag" he will wear until next he sees her). The clincher is the story in Konjaku Monogatari about a man who masturbates with a suggestive looking vegetable and his daughter eats it and ... well, you take it from there. Prudish ethics has never was a forte of good Japanese literature.
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Summary: A uniquely personal and touching novel from Murakami.
Review: Written between Hard-Boiled Wonderland and Dance, Dance, Dance, Norwegian Wood is a very different sort of novel for Murakami. Set in Tokyo and in a mountain sanatorium in the late sixties, it is, one suspects that this is a very autobiographical, Murakami's gentle protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. This is the story of a college student, Toru Watanabe, trying to find himself, to grow up, to make a commitment to someone, and to be true to that commitment. The choice of the song Norwegian Wood as a title is appropriate, especially regarding the song's little known subtitle (take a look at the Rubber Soul album and you'll see it), This bird has flown. Watanabe once had (and was had by) two girls, one of whom is sliding slowly into complete mental disintegration, (this would be the bird that has flown) the other - feisty, independent, but as desperately lonely as Watanabe - lodging the claims of love, life, and a warm body against those of past pledges-pledges Watanabe views somewhat differently than the girl in question. ... First of all, this is an early effort-one would expect a bit of a shortfall in the sophistication department given Murakami's age when hr wrote it. More importantly, however, is the subject matter. This is a story of personal introspection about a romance-not about the alienation and anomie inherent to complex, inhumane, technocratic societies. Of course the elements of style Murakami would impose on these two radically different subjects is different. At it's core, this is a tale of loss. Watanabe ends up losing his love in various ways and to various degrees throughout the book till she's finally totally gone in the end. The book is about how Watanabe copes with these various elements of loss. I can understand why some fans of this author would find the book disconcerting as it is well outside the typical structure of a Murakami novel and the effects of this departure, given the extraordinarily distinct style Murakami normally utilizes, seem magnified over what would be expected from a more mainstream author. Don't let such comments dissuade you from reading this novel. I greatly admire Murakami's other work and liked this as well. It's a book that can be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone willing to accept it for what it is rahten than impose their own expectations on it.
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Summary: ido no soko ni
Review: You know a book is good when it sells so many copies it shocks the author into moving halfway across the world. It's not the selling a whackload of copies, it's the fact that Murakami was appalled that the book he called an "experiment" became his most popular work. If you've never read any of Murakami's novels before, then you won't understand how entirely -different- Norwegian Wood is from them. Murakami is a guy who writes about strange women with magic ears, men possessed by malevolent sheep, evil politicians with magical powers of defilement, teenagers who push their boyfriends off motorcycles, and cybernetic mind control. The last thing one would expect from him is a pure and simple love story, but here it is, and fortunately or unfortunately, it is one of his most intriguing and skillful works.
The story's pretty easy to understand, but the layers of meaning are not. Murakami's fascination with wells might zoom right over the heads of readers who are either unaccustomed to his narrative, or aren't paying attention to metaphor. Essentially, Norwegian Wood (yes, named after the song by the Beatles) is a love story, but one with unexpected twists of fate, tragedy, comedy, and stuffed with melancholia. Murakami might not write a very convincing 20-year old, but the slight over-maturity of the main character's voice can be ignored in favor of the insights he gives.
I wouldn't reccomend reading this book first if you're seriously interested in Murakami's works, it's not the best to represent his style. But if you aren't up for TV people or walking through walls, then read Norwegian Wood.
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