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** spoiler alert ** I recently finished reading the novel entitled, “Norwegian Wood,�� written by Murakami Haruki and translated into English by Jay Rubin. A brief description: ノルウェイの�� Noruwei no Mori is the original title of this novel and it circulates on the life of a struggling, middle-class university student Toru Watanabe and his relationships with the diverse people that surround him. He is both the protagonist and the narrator throughout the novel. He shares his encounters with university riots, eccentric individuals and being torn between the females who play as his love interests. Many call it a “coming-of-age�� type of novel and it consists of quite a handful of mild to descriptive sexual scenes which are most of the time passive rather than reciprocated on the part of the male lead.

The story is told in the first person perspective and Toru guides you through his experiences as a university student and gives you delineations of his convergences with two antipodal women. Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman who is seven months his senior and the girlfriend of his deceased best friend; and Midori Kobayashi, a spirited and garrulous college classmate who isn’t afraid to disseminate the deviance of her mind.

After reading so many times people recommending this book to others, I thought I’d give it a try. I’m pretty new to Murakami Haruki’s works and constantly heard endless hype on how great his stories are (however I did read on an online forum that his works in original Japanese aren’t as iridescently reputable in his own country). Setting that aside, I still decided to read it and I found both a love and hate relationship with this novel.

I enjoyed reading over and over descriptions about the backdrop of several sequences in the novel such as the rooms in the dormitory and the forests in which a certain sanatorium was pleasantly set. Murakami (told through Toru) successfully put forth into words the character’s deep and troubled conscious into the open. Although I personally think if there would be a common theme here it would be the angst and constant contemplative nature of each character. I would have to admit I’m a rather tenacious reader, even to the point I want to detach myself, my mind is inevitably embodied into each of the characters as if it were my own experiences and encounters being written and immortalized on page. However, that’s not the case, my depression never ran as deep as the characters yet the strength of these characters�� sufferings invisibly wove itself into my subconscious and pulls my thoughts along with their own.

If there was a character in this book that kept me interested and embraced me and made me think twice about my disaffection it would be Reiko. She’s eldest woman in Toru’s life who played a role in influencing his perspectives on a gamut of issues throughout the intermediate part until the end part of the novel. She’s gentle and wise, her words inspires both Toru and those around her, unfortunately it didn’t reach a certain character who decided to commit suicide in the end. I sympathized with her past and was inspired she was able to look towards the future despite having common doubts which I believe all humans possess, she was the pillar of strength in this novel (well for me at least).

I’m going to be severely blatantly at this point, I disliked both Watanabe Toru and his love interest Naoko. I’m not going to attack Murakami’s writing style (he has an incredible way of weaving words into your heart) but I will comment on this particular character, Toru. He’s a rather passive character three fourths of the time throughout this series and I seem to be only one bothered by it. During most of the sex scenes, he’s usually on the receiving end and is unable to reciprocate evenhandedly with his partners in action. His actions were mostly catalyzed by others and rarely did he act on his own. I suppose that it was to emphasize his character as “struggling�� and underline his “soul-searching self�� but it was difficult on a variety of levels for me to see his virility. I won’t be too harsh and say this was monotonous in the continuity of the novel but most of the time he imprinted that image in my mind through his actions and I lost interest in him altogether and patiently waited for other characters to enter the text.

From what I’ve read online Matsuyama Keni’chi will play the role of Watanabe Toru in a live adaptation opposite Rinko Kikuchi as the introspective Naoko. I truly admire Matsuyama Keni’chi ever since his role as Negishi Souchi/Johannes Krausser II in the hilarious film adaptation of a comedic Anime entitled, “Detroit Metal City.�� However, Matsuyama Keni’chi has garnered public attention for his role as Detective L (Lawliet) in the popular Anime/manga: DEATH NOTE in the Fuji TV live action version. I’m a self-proclaimed Anime addict ever since I was four years old, I’ve seen numerous Japanese animated series and movies to date and will continue even when I grow older because I can’t seem to shake it off and yes, I love it. I’ve seen a number of times in Anime, the sequences in Norwegian Wood. Perhaps that may be the reason why it didn’t impact me as strongly as it did other readers, I had the lingering memory of the countless Anime series in which quite many reflected Toru’s situation. Self-realization, suicide, unrequited love that is not reciprocated, confusion, doubt, capricious character and sudden developments that were “unforeseen�� are quite common contents in the plots of the diverse Anime series and movies I’ve seen in the past.

If you’re like me and tend to empathize tenaciously with the characters you read or watch about, this book is filled with angst and unsolved mysteries that both leave a residual effect long after you’ve finished reading this book. For many they call it a love story told in an eccentric perspective, however like I’ve mentioned earlier, I’ve encountered many similar even more dramatized and unconventional love stories that were so inimitable that it left a resonating nonplussed feeling that lasts even till this day. No offense to those who truly found this novel amazing, it was a great read but I don’t know if I’ll remember it particularly since I disliked the lead character that much, however Reiko’s character will remain in my mind years from now.

For me, it wasn’t a love story like most have described it. It was more of a person coming to the epiphany that in life, death is a part of it and not the opposite as the main lead did mention in the novel. Nothing is what it seems, rather. However I didn’t fall in love with it. I loved Murakami’s writing style but this particularly novel didn’t touch my heart as I hoped it would. It’s a great read but I’m not sure if I’ll reread it again in the future because the angst homogenized in almost each chapter was overbearing and overindulging, however I’m not one to judge, since there may be people who lived a part of lives in that manner or even longer. I look forward to reading all novels by Murakami Haruki and plan to do so before the end of March. Until then, this is my walk through Norwegian Wood.