Kazuo Ishiguro: Norwegian Wood (Complete Translation)

Author: (Japanese) Haruki Murakami
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: The author of this book, Haruki Murakami, has won almost all major Japanese literary awards. The book has sold over 7 million copies in Japan and has been translated into multiple languages, gaining popularity worldwide. This "100% love novel" has been reprinted more than ten times by Lijiang Publishing House and has also been beloved by Chinese readers. It can be said that the plot of the novel is ordinary, the tone is slow, and the mood is gentle, yet between the lines, there surges an irresistible wave of impact, stirring strong emotional tremors and resonance in the readers. What does the novel want to tell us—life and death? Death and sexuality? Sex and love? Honesty and sincerity? It is hard to answer at once. After finishing the book, one only feels their entire body and mind immersed in boundless ice water, traveling through a stormy journey, as if experiencing the silence after a storm, the dizziness of coming down from a drunken state. It is an emotional, gentle, slightly melancholic, and 100% love novel.
The protagonist, Watanabe, narrates his love entanglements with two girls in the first-person perspective. Watanabe's first lover, Naoko, was the girlfriend of his high school classmate, Tsutomu. Later, Tsutomu committed suicide. A year later, Watanabe unexpectedly meets Naoko and begins a relationship. At this time, Naoko has become quiet and shy, with beautiful, crystal-clear eyes occasionally flickering with an elusive shadow. The two walk aimlessly day after day on the Tokyo streets, moving forward, backward, or side by side. On the night of Naoko's 20th birthday, they have sexual relations, but the next day, Naoko disappears without a trace. A few months later, Naoko writes a letter saying she has moved into a mental health facility deep in the mountains. When Watanabe visits her, he finds Naoko has begun to exhibit the fullness and beauty of a mature woman. That evening, though they share the same room, Watanabe restrains himself and, before parting, promises to wait for Naoko forever.
After returning to school, Watanabe starts a relationship with Midori, a younger classmate, after an accidental encounter. Midori is the complete opposite of the introverted Naoko—"like a little deer leaping into the world with the morning light of spring." During this time, Watanabe is deeply troubled and torn. On one hand, he cannot forget Naoko's lingering illness and tenderness; on the other hand, he finds it hard to resist Midori's bold confession and charming vitality. Soon after, the news of Naoko's suicide reaches him, and Watanabe travels aimlessly, lost in despair.
Finally, encouraged by Reiko, Naoko's roommate in the same ward, he begins to explore his life thereafter.