Norwegian Wood
by Cun Shang Chun Shu · first published 1987
62% recommend34% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Murakami's most realistic, accessible novel, free of the surrealism in his other work, so it suits as a first Murakami. Readers also praise it as emotionally powerful and easier than his thick books.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
As his plane lands at a European airport, thirty-seven-year-old Toru Watanabe casually hears an old Beatles song. Suddenly, the music transports him back to his youth, to the turbulent Tokyo of the late sixties. He then remembers, with melancholy and unease, the unstable and mysterious Naoko, the girlfriend of his best—and only—friend from adolescence, Kizuki, and how Kizuki's suicide distanced them for a year until they reunited at university. There, they began an intimate relationship, which was soon cut short by Naoko’s fragile mental health, leading to her admission to a rest center. Short
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…have you read recently that you would recommend? I've asked that in the past here and was recommended The Dog Stars and The Goldfinch, both of which I enjoyed. Probably the best books I read in 2020 are Norwegian Wood (Murakami) and Warlight: A Novel (Ondaatje).
on “My Favorite Books 2020” ↗…Dance might be my favorite. I also never see anyone recommend it, which seems odd to me. An old hotel elevator that opens to a void where the Sheep Man waits for you. It's utterly bizarre. I love it. Norwegian Wood is also very good, but it doesn't have my favorite trait of Murakami's other writing: the easy surreality of it. An unseen world pushes into the world of his characters, and they underreact. In terms…
on “Japanese Writing After Murakami” ↗…"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace, pretty sure this book has changed how a generation writes. At least it convinced a generation they'll never be as good as DFW. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami, which I like to think of as a Japanese C.i.t.R. G.E.B. - power through it, soldier! "Making Certain it Goes On", by Richard Hugo. An instructional book on how to write poetry, or…
on “Ask HN: Books that changed your life?” ↗"The Magicians", "The Magician King", "The Magician's Land" - Lev Grossman. 4/5 "Inside Job" - Connie Willis. 4/5 "Norwegian Wood (Tokio Blues)" - Haruki Murakami. 4/5 "Old Man's War" - John Scalzi. 5/5 "Persepolis" - Marjane Satrapi. 5/5 Non fiction: "The 10,000 year explosion" about recent evolution. 3/5 ton of evidence for…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗Fiction: Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (I love Murakami’s novels, recommend starting with Hard Boiled Wonderland though) Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball - Haruki Murakami The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet (Surprising…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…think he is in dire need of a strict editor that cuts his books in at least half. I see we disagree on "The Unberable Lightness of Being", but that is fine, I guess. I think Murakami is at his best in "Norwegian Wood" and "South of the Border" -- in different ways. You might also enjoy "Chrome Yellow" by Huxley. For something a bit different, try: "American Essays" edited by Shaw (http://www.amazon.com/American-Essays-Charles-B-Shaw/dp/B000...).…
on “My Summer Reading List” ↗Surprised no one mentioned any of Haruki Murakami's books. Norwegian Wood made a big impression on me as a young man in my late teens. Kafka on the shore and the Wind-up Bird Chronicle are both trips. A Wild Sheep Chase is hilarious.
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Don't overlook the earlier books like Norwegian Wood, Wild Sheep Chase, and The Elephant Vanishes. Easier reading than the thick books and fun and beautiful.
on “Disappearing Act: The working life of Haruki Murakami” ↗I'd recommend to start with Norwegian Wood for Murakami. Didn't like Sputnik Sweetheart at all, and many of his other books tend to be too esoterical for my taste. But NW was esoterics-free, if I remember correctly.
on “Ask YC: Good books to take on a week away?” ↗> Norwegian Wood, The Contortionists Handbook I hope he reads both these books consecutively. These two books are worlds apart but both equally excellent. It would be an interesting contrast.
on “The best things and stuff of 2014” ↗So this may just be a question of taste, but I don't feel that 1Q84 is the most accessible of Murakami's novels. Norwegian Wood is probably a more typical entry point, or else Kafka On the Shore, or his latest book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.
on “The Running Novelist (2008)” ↗I really enjoyed Norwegian Wood. Would you recommend any particular order when approaching his other books?
on “Haruki Murakami Introduces the Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories” ↗I wrote a pretty detailed blog post about Murakami's background and how he was able to create an emotionally powerful masterpiece in Norwegian Wood: https://backtohumanity.substack.com/p/reading-guide-norwegia.... Hope you guys enjoy :)
on “Novelist as a Vocation” ↗Been a year of re-reads and some classics I never started b/c of thickness. Standouts for me were “A Tale of Two Cities” and “Norwegian Wood.” “Kafka on The Shore”, “Norwegian Wood” - Haruki Murakami “A Tale of Two Cities” - Dickens “Count of Monte Cristo” - Alexandre Dumas LotR, “Hobbit” - Tolkien “World Atlas of Coffee” - James Hoffmann…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗I never thought one day I will see people relate him with startups when I was 22 reading his novels 18 years ago. One of my favorite quote from his "Norwegian Wood" is : ""The true enemy of this bunch was not State Power but Lack of Imagination". "This bunch" was socialist university students.
on “What Startups Can Learn From Haruki Murakami” ↗