Norwegian Wood
I’m not sure if I was aware of Haruki Murakami’s prestige when I read this book, but I recall that I found it very soothing despite being an ultimately tragic read. I’m wondering if this pertains at all to Japanese cultural elements around grief, mental illness and growing up that I’m ill informed on.
Much like My Struggle I remember that much of the novel focuses on the average and banal aspects of life. Perhaps in contrast is that Murkami’s style in this novel seems to rely much more on sub-text and hidden pain whereas I believe it was Knausgaard’s expressed purpose to “speak plainly” and without restraint.
I’m also hoping to understand more about how Japan thinks about international influence, since the title of the book is in fact a reference to the somewhat well known British band that wrote it. It made me realize that I don’t understand much about western influences in Japan other than a vague notion that Japan is masterful at ingesting other ideas from other cultures, refining them, and producing a perfected version.
However, this pattern makes it hard without research to understand what originated in Japan and what is inherited since so often the thing itself becomes most coveted when made in Japan, even if it did not originate there.
If my comments on the novel are sparse here, it’s because I read this novel many years ago over a weekend or something like that, and I haven’t revisited it and I know longer own my copy. That said, I recall enough to know I enjoyed it thoroughly.