Norwegian Wood is an excellent novel. I finished reading it at lunch today, and haven't stopped thinking about it since. The novel is really subtle, and at the start, I wasn't immediately interested. However, once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Toru, the narrator is so well developed in the novel that he seems almost like somebody I have met in real life. If you haven't read it, don't hesitate - start reading it right away! And don't read any more of this post.
If you have read it, what do you think of the ending? I've read people suggesting that Toru committed suicide or similar, but I don't believe that that is the case. For one thing, he's got to live to 37 and catch a plane, as described at the start of the novel. I think the "dead centre" reference is due to Toru being dead centre of the "countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere", rather than having died. I think the ending is happy. Or maybe I just want it to be. Here's my interpretation. Toru is lost in the middle of nowhere. His old life was based around Naoko and Kizuki (plus Reiko as a link to them). They have all died or left. He is in the middle of nowhere. But Midori can rescue him from this. She is his anchor to reality and a new life. She will give his life direction and meaning - that's why he calls out to her again. If anyone in the novel is a symbol of life, it is Midori, and by calling out to her, I can only understand that Toru has chosen to keep living and to pursue happiness. Midori's silence is "the silence of all the misty rain in the world falling on all the new-mown lawns of the world". That's a positive image for me at least, pregnant with possibility.
If only I could read Japanese, perhaps I would understand better.
PS - Many thanks to my friend Jim for lending this most excellent book to me.
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18 comments:
i'm intrigued by the book.
i have just finished reading this today, after getting slowly completely immersed in it, as you described.
and i agree almost completely with your conclusion. he travelled for a month to clear his head, but returned feeling exactly the same. then he slept with reiko, whom was clothed in naoko's attire, and possessed the same physique as her. and he slept with her 4 times (which apparently is the japanese numeric equivalent of 13, and symbolic of death). he was essentially saying goodbye to naoko in a morally questionnable manner. then reiko and he parted, with the knowledge they would probably never meet again.
then we come to the last paragraph... i just don't see it as quite so optimistic as yourself! he's trying to move on - pull himself up from the inner world in which naoko was trapped (reference to "the well" also), but he's doing it too quickly. he's in limbo (the "place that was no place"), caught between the dark well and the life-affirming rooftop of midori, as you so aptly described. everyone is a blur around him. i see this moment as the same as when he returned from his month-long trip. he went away / slept with reiko to gain perspective and say goodbye, however, he still hasn't managed it.
the importance of this scene, and the optimism one can derive therefrom, is that he is CALLING OUT to midori to save him. naoko never sought to be heard (remember the night they had sex - she was talking seemingly to herself), but midori (part of life), always wishes to be heard and responded to. that is the optimism, that is him wanting to reach out as you describe.
so, essentially, it is uplifting, but that last paragraph is as hopeless and melancholic as the rest of the book. what a truly wonderful read.
and sorry for rambling so much - didn't mean to!
- chris
Toru? Or did you mean Watanabe?
Toru Watanabe is the name of the main character, they are the same person.
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I just finished reading the book, and I found it to be extremely intriguing. I hope it's not too late to share my interpretation of the story...
For one, I think that Toru was metaphorically dead. As the strings which tied him to the world got cut off one by one (as seen in the death of Kizuki and Naoko as well as the departure of Reiko), he slowly lost his grip on the world. Midori was thus the only way for him to regain his grip on reality, and to keep moving forward in life. Therefore he called out for Midori, again and again, which I see as a desperate act on his part to hold on to the last few strings of life.
As for 'dead centre', I would like to interpret it as him having lost his direction and having died inside, rather than committing suicide. Having lost his grip on reality due to the tragic fold of events, he saw the things and people around him as a blur, unable to come back to reality.
I am hoping that it would be a happy ending too! The front part really kept me entertained - I could really sink in the mysterious atmosphere that Haruki Murakami created. I think the ending was open to many interpretations though.
I'm currently starting on another book of his entitled "Kafka on the shore". It seems promising so I hope it would turn out well too! (:
significance of this scene and the optimism may be derived from this, that he invited Midori to save it. Naoko has never tried to be heard (remember the night they had sex - apparently he talked to himself), but Midori (a part of life), always wants to be heard and answered. that there is optimism that is for him like you want to achieve.
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I am hoping that it would be a happy ending too! The front part really kept me entertained - I could really sink in the mysterious atmosphere that Haruki Murakami created. I think the ending was open to many interpretations though.
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I may be very late with this post, but, I have to finnished this novel. I have read many interpretations of the ending but I feel the same as most of you about the ending of this novel. The only difference is that I believe that Toru is actually trying to enter a new world 'a new feel' to life and entering adulthood. Along with Reiko and Midoris advice it seems like he is trying to leave some facade of his life/ past and move on with 'full of life' Midori. Struggeling at the start, maybe he just does not recognise this new world yet and its Midori's help he needs?
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