--Norwegian Wood（Full Translation）

Author: (Japanese) Murakami Haruki; Lin Shaohua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-02-01
Features: The author Murakami Haruki has won almost all major Japanese literary awards and has sold over 7 million copies in Japan. The book has been translated into multiple languages and is popular worldwide. This "100% romance novel" has been reprinted more than ten times by Lijiang Publishing House and has also been favored by Chinese readers. It can be said that the plot of the novel is ordinary, the tone is slow, and the style is mild, yet the words overflow with an irresistible wave of impact, stirring strong emotional tremors and resonance in readers. What does the novel want to tell us—life and death? Death and sex? Sex and love? Honesty and sincerity? It is difficult to answer at once. After finishing the book, one merely feels their entire being immersed in boundless icy water, wandering in a stormy journey, as if sensing the silence after a thunderstorm and the dizziness of coming down from a heavy drink. It is a heart-stirring, gentle, slightly melancholic, and 100% romance novel.
The protagonist, Watanabe, narrates his love entanglements with two girls in the first-person perspective. Watanabe's first lover, Naoko, was once the girlfriend of his high school classmate Kikuzo, who later committed suicide. A year later, Watanabe encounters Naoko by chance and begins a relationship. At this time, Naoko has become quiet and shy, with beautiful, crystalline eyes that occasionally flicker with an elusive gloom. The two walk aimlessly day after day on the Tokyo streets, drifting forward, backward, or side by side. On the night of Naoko's 20th birthday, they have sex, but the next morning she disappears without a trace. A few months later, Naoko writes to say she has moved into a mental institution deep in the mountains. When Watanabe visits her, he notices Naoko has begun to exhibit the fullness and beauty of a mature woman. That night, though they share the same room, Watanabe restrains himself and, before parting, promises to wait for Naoko forever. Soon after returning to school, Watanabe starts a relationship with a younger girl, Midori, who is the polar opposite of the introverted Naoko—"like a little deer leaping into the world bathed in the morning light of spring." During this time, Watanabe is torn between his lingering memories of Naoko's delicate illness and tenderness, and his inability to resist Midori's bold confession and enchanting vitality. Soon, the news of Naoko's suicide reaches Watanabe, and he loses his mind, traveling aimlessly. Finally, encouraged by Reiko, Naoko's roommate, he begins to explore his life thereafter.