Norwegian Wood is, so far, my favorite Murakami.
It took me a while to remember who it was who first recommended Murakami to me, back in 2005. Of course, it was Paul. Paul is an old internet friend of mine. He lived in New Jersey, worked in a music store and studied literature. We would talk a lot about music and books, after discovering our tastes were kind of similar. He was a very interesting character: even though he was 100% gringo (he would rather be called gringo than american), he knew as much about latin music as I did.
Sadly, we've completely lost touch. Now that I think about it, Murakami may have been the last recommendation he made to me.
One thing I liked about Norwegian Wood is that, unlike all other Murakami's I've read, it doesn't resort to explicit magic, —sheep gods that take control of people, cats that speak, people that communicate in dreams or magical coincidences—, yet it manages to achieve the same magic effect as the rest. This allowed the story to reach me more strongly than the others (though I would say that Wind-Up Bird Chronicle comes close); I felt strongly identified with some of the characters, more than in other of his novels. I find it a bit ironic that lack of this, one of Murakami's defining characteristics, allowed me to enjoy this book more than the other four I've read by him, but that's just the way it is.
I must also disclaim that it connected to me strongly because of personal reasons, things that I'm going through right now, so my reading may be a little subjective.
All in all, Norwegian Wood is a beautiful tale about love and growing up, which I would recommend.
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Last update: 2008-03-23 (Rev 13873)