Not having a job means I spend most of my day at home applying for possible roles, fully knowing I will never hear back from any of them. To be quite honest, this has brought me a lot of anxiety and stress – I know I only just graduated, but my life has always been planned by yours truly and, this time around, I can't plan much and it's a really weird feeling.
Anyway, back to what I was trying to say; because August has been extreeemely slow, I have had time to read again – something I was missing and was hoping to get back into for a long time now. For anyone who doesn't know me, I am an avid reader, a bookworm I suppose. I have been reading ever since I can remember and books have always had a huge impact on my life and have been a source of happiness and comfort in times of need.
However, during the past three years, I didn't manage to read as much as I was hoping and I didn't realise how much I missed it until I picked up a book in Watersones at the end of July.
It will probably sound extremely cheesy, but it made me feel at home and it's safe to say I haven't stopped reading since. So, as my passion for books is back, I thought I'd talk about a few of my favourites and tell you exactly why I think you should give them a go (if you haven't read them already that is).
So, without further ado, this month's book is Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
For a start, the title was the first thing that caught my attention. As a massive Beatles fan, I couldn't walk past this book and not pick it up – especially as Norwegian Wood is one of my favourite songs.
For those who don't know Murakami, he is a Japanese writer and his books have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally.
I had heard of him before of course, but never read any of his fictional stories. The first time I picked up one of his books was last October, when my heart was broken into a million pieces and I needed something that was going to be good for the soul. People were recommending What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, so I thought I'd give it a go. However, this book was completely different from any of his novels, mainly because it's a memoir in which he writes about his love for running and how that has helped him through tough times (but that is a different review and, if you want to read a bit about it, I have it here).
Norwegian Wood is the story of Toru, a quiet and serious young college student in Tokyo, and his relationship with Naoko. I don't want to give too much away, but the story is complicated and sad, yet extremely beautiful in a way. It shows how life is not easy and relationships can be weird and messy and how, sometimes, you just have to let them be.
It's the story of Toru's first love, something I personally remember quite well. There is nothing as powerful as your first love and, whether you want it or not, you'll always remember and treasure it.
Maybe that's why this book was so fascinating to me. It described something so personal yet so distant in the past in a way that is not predictable and clichéd, but real and sharp. It also touches on mental health and how this continues to affect all types of people. But, most importantly, it shows how you truly don't know what someone is going through until something happens.
Toru's life is simple, yet it intertwines with a multitude of different characters, each one bearing a different pain. Midori, Kizuki, Nagasawa, Hatsumi, Reiko; they all seem to be parts of a puzzle too big for Toru to comprehend. I don't think I have ever read a book so raw – something I am struggling even to put down into words. It's descriptive and captivating but it doesn't focus on superficial things. The characters are ordinary and basic in a way, and perhaps that's why it feels so close to reality. No absurd story, no incredible people – just real human beings.
I read a comment on Good Reads that I think perfectly describes this book:
I was living in Japan when I read most of Murakami's books. I was in a period of transition but after reading his books, I realize I am always in a period of transition. I'll be stable when I'm dead. It is slow but life can still be beautiful.- David, Good Reads
Powerful, truthful, emotional and beautiful. This is, in a nutshell, Norwegian Wood.
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