Norwegian Wood

They say you should never judge a book by its cover... and this is probably the book they had in mind when they said it.

"Norwegian Wood" - H. Murakami.

The title tells you pretty much nothing. Even when you know where the title comes from it doesn't really tell you much. "Norwegian Wood" is the name of one of the main characters favourite Beatles song.

See, nothing.

So how about the back cover?

"This book is undeniably hip, full of student uprisings, free love, booze and 1960's pop." - Independent on Sunday

What?! That has nothing to do with anything! That's like saying "Lord of the Rings" was full of grass, the "Godfather" was full of Italian restaurants or that "Dragon Ball" was about a whiny teenager who wanted his granddad to teach him to pick up girls... damn it... Dragon Ball Evolution sucked...

Admittedly, the book is set in Tokyo during the summer of '69 and does mention the student rebellions of the time. But of the 386 pages of story, probably only about 2 of them rely on that fact. Likewise, although 60's pop songs, the Beatles in particular, are regularly mentioned by name, there is no real discussion of the songs and as such no real significance. They could easily be replaced without much change in the book.

Probably the most misleading of the quote, however, is the image portrayed by the use of "hip", "free love" and "booze". The book has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of flower power, shagadelic love of Austin Powers.

So what is it about?

Good question.

Although it follows a far more logical path than some of Murakami's other novels and short stories, it is by no means a book that can be pigeon holed. However, if a description is required it can be considered as:

"An Emotional Masterpiece."

... and no, that does not mean a typical chick flick or a love story. It covers everything from high to low, including 4 suicides, 2 hospitalised deaths and several deep sessions of depression and whisky drinking. Despite this, it also has some of the most adorable passages in literature.

So let’s take a deeper look into some of the main issues of the book.

Let’s start with death...

The shadow of death is a constant companion throughout Norwegian Wood, the first suicide occurring within the first 30 pages, but the feel of it really starting from page one. There is a sense of inevitability about the fragile mortality of human existence which Murakami brings out effectively in several ways.

For a start, the whole book is written from the view of the main character, Toru Watanabe, who is remembering the events from 18 years later. As such, the whole story is inevitable. There is no possible element of surprise to the writer as he has had 18 years for it to sink in.

More than this, however, there is not really meant to be any element of surprise to the reader. The characters who die are all spoken of from the start in tones expected of discussions about friends no longer around. The deaths themselves are stated as fact before any detail is given.

Also, if all of that is too subtle, Murakami spells it out. As Toru says after one death:

"Death exists, not as the opposite but as part of life. It's a cliché translated into words, but at the time I felt it not as words but as a knot of air inside me."

And after another:

"No one should have to die like that."

To which the response is:

"We all have to die like that sometime. I will, and so will you."

Everything about the book echoes the hollow, subtle, silent sound of death, and it is from this sound where the book really gets its title from.

"That song can make me so sad. I don't know, I guess I imagine myself wandering in a deep wood. I'm all alone and it's cold and dark, and nobody comes to save me."

So is this inevitability suppose to bring some strange form of comfort? Some reduced form of anguish?

No.

"No truth can cure the sadness we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness, can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see that sadness through to the end and learn something from it, but what we learn will be no help in facing the next sadness that comes to us without warning."

And on that uplifting note, perhaps it’s time to look at what Murakami has to offer on another topic: Life.

"Just remember, life is a box of chocolates."

Now, you’re probably thinking you've heard that somewhere before, and indeed if you haven't: GO WATCH FOREST GUMP RIGHT NOW! Seriously, what planet have you been living on? However, it is worth pointing out that Norwegian Wood was published back in '87, 7 years before the greatness of Gump.

"You know, they've got these chocolate assortments, and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. 'Now I just have to polish these off, and everything'll be OK.' Life is a box of chocolates."

Norwegian Wood, as with life in general, is a box of chocolates. It has it's darker moments, but it also has its happy times, and you can learn something from all of them.

"I get the feeling a lot of shit is going to come your way, but you're a stubborn bastard, I'm sure you'll handle it. Mind if I give you one piece of advice?"

"Go ahead"

"Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only arseholes do that."

In summary then, how much do I like Norwegian Wood?

“I really like it. A lot.”

“How much is a lot?”

“Like a spring bear”

“A spring bear? What’s that all about? A spring bear.”

“You’re walking through a field all by yourself one day in spring, and this sweet little bear cub with velvet fur and shiny little eyes comes walking along. And he says to you, ‘Hi, there, little lady. Want to tumble with me?’ So you and the bear cub spend the whole day in each other’s arms, tumbling down this clover-covered hill. Nice, huh?”

“Yeah. Really nice.”

South of the Border, West of the Sun.

South of the Border, West of the Sun was another novel from the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, this time translated by Philip Gabriel.

Unfortunately, it lacked both the quality and quantity of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

In terms of length, it wa only 187 pages long. That was less than half the length of Dave's Thesis, with smaller pages and bigger font.

In terms of storyline, it lacked any kind of magical quality found in Murakami's other book. Although a few slightly strange pages towards the end, which did nothing to add to the book though subtly suggest things may not be quite as they seem, it was generally a predictable tale from start to finish.

It follows the life of Hajime, who seems destined to fudge up his love life. He falls in love with a girl at the age of 12, although not in a physical way, but moves away after elementary school and despite thinking about her constantly fails to keep in touch.

He cheats on his first real girlfriend, with her cousin, to whom the girl is very very close. The girl never gets over it and her entire life is ruined. He feels deeply sorry, but apparently just couldn't help himself.

After bouncing around from girl to girl for a few years, he finally settles in with a wife, has two little girls and a great business. All is well. Until the love of his life from when he was 12 pops back onto the sceen. Needless to say, he's learnt nothing, and goes about ruining another fine relationship.

And that's pretty much the entire book from start to finish.

Throughout, Hajime trys to come across not so much as the "good guy," but certainly as blameless as possible. It's never really his fault. He just can't help it.

And it's true. None of us can truly control how we feel towards any other person. But we can all control what we do. Falling for someone new might happen to the best of us, no matter what our intentions. But the decent thing to do is to talk first with your current partner. Let them know exactly where they stand. Choose either or. In a relationship all anyone can do is treat their partner with respect and honesty. If the love dies down, no one might be to blame.

Hajime's actions are therefore packed full of blame and the book basically just feels depressing, with the main character being an unlikable tw*t, leaving pain and misery wherever he goes.

"I'm not blaming you for falling in love with another woman. I'm not angry, either. I should be, but I'm not. I just feel pain. A lot of pain. I thought I could imagine how much this would hurt, but I was wrong."

You can probably give this one a miss, unless u really like this kind of thing.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

"It's like when you put instant rice pudding mix in a bowl in the microwave and push the button, and you take the cover off when it rings, and there you've got rice pudding. I mean, what happens in between the time when you push the switch and when the microwave rings? You can't tell what's going on under the cover. Maybe the instant rice pudding first turns into macaroni cheese in the darkness when nobody's looking and only then turns back into rice pudding... I would be kind of relieved if, every once in a while, after you put rice pudding mix in the microwave and it rang and you opened the top, you got macaroni cheese."

The Wind-up bird Chronicle, written in Japanese by Haruki Murakami and translated to English by Jay Rubin, begins like a bag of instant rice pudding mix and ends up with delicious macaroni cheese. It's strange, it's illogical, but it's a damn fine read.

It tells the story of Toru Okada, a happily married individual who has recently quit the job he was unhappy with and is now living the good life, cooking, cleaning, reading and enjoying jazz. The early chapters biggest worry is the disappearance of the couple's cat. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Toru's wife also does a disappearing act, ending their life together without even saying goodbye.

Where has she gone? Why has she left? Will they ever get back together? Will the cat come back? The quest to answer these questions bumps into several more along the way, the answers to most being far from straight forward, the answers to many being non-existant.

So, how does Toru go about finding his answers? He does what any loving husband would. He climbs down a dried up well and sits there for a few days...

..mmm.... macaroni cheese....

If you still need further encouragement to read the book, turn to page 11, 4 lines down, start reading from "I'm in bed. I've just come out of the shower, and I'm not wearing a thing."

And there's plenty more where that comes from.

Enjoy.

The Solitaire Mystery

Friday night, Dave opened a new book. Monday morning, he closed it again, finished.

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder.

A strange little book, with a plot that was truely bizarre.

The book is writen from the view of Hans Thomas, a boy whose mother left him 8 years ago. Hans and his father discover the mother is now a famous model in Athens and they decide to drive across Europe to find her and bring her back.

Along the way, they ask a dwarf for directions. He gives Hans a magnifying glass and points the pair in the direction of the village Dorf. There the magnifying glass comes in handy, when a nice old baker gives Hans an incredibly small book, which he conceals in a sticky-bun. For the remainder of the journey, Hans reads the small book whenever possible. It contains a wonderous story of a magical Island, filled with a pack of cards that had come alive in dwarf form, goldfish and the greatest drink ever created, Rainbow Fizz. It also contains a prophecy from 150 years ago which predicts the life of Hans with frightening accuracy.

Unlike most novels, however, the plot itself was of little real importance. Jostein Gaarder, before becoming a world famous novellist, taught high school philosophy and contributed to several textbooks on philosophy and theology. Not surprisingly therefore, the real focus of the book was it's philosophic discussions. The plot was simply a pleasent background to which to set the discussions around. It discussed everything from the meaning of life to the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Dave couldn't get enough.

Hans father tells Hans to imagine a planet filled with intelligent life forms. Life forms who could walk, talk, build houses, create complex machinary. Undoubtibly, the discovery of such a planet would be the most sensational scientific discovery the world had ever known. But such a planet HAS been discovered. It's called "Earth".

Why do we fail to amaze ourselves?

The Conjuror's Bird

Historical Fact: In an expedition to the South Seas in 1774 a new type of bird was found in Ulieta. One speciman of this bird was collected. It was described in some notes, drawn in detail and taken to England. Since it was a rather plain looking bird it was given little further interest.
It became interesting later, because no other speciman of this bird was ever found anywhere, living or dead. To add to this, the original speciman disappeared without a trace. Only the notes and the picture, along with other accounts of people who saw the speciman back then, remain to prove it had ever existed.

Given this fact, The Conjuror's Bird almost writes itself. Indeed, although it follows a fictional character, John Fitzgerald, and his quest to discover what has happened to the bird, being helped and hampered by other fictional character's, this fictional John actually does all the things the real life author Martin Davies had to do to find out as much as he could about this bird.

Only the ending of the book really deviates from real life, although even this is subtle enough to leave the reader thinking maybe, just maybe.

A well researched, well written all round pleasent read.

Well done Martin.

I Capture The Castle

3:30am, Dave finally closed the book and yawned, "Finished."

'I Capture The Castle', by Dodie Smith. Probably not quite as famous as her later novel, 101 Dalmatians, but famous enough to have been made into a movie 3 years ago.

4:00am, Dave lay in bed, still trying to decide what he thought of it. The overall plot was a very done to death poor family with no hope meet rich kind family and everything works out. The book is written as if the journal of the main heroine, Cassandra, a 17 year old, although with the nice twist that she is a wannabe writer so it can still present much more detail than the average person would usually put in their journals.

On beginning the book, Cassandra seems like an innocent enough, "consiously naive" girl and it makes for a good read. Unfortuantely, as the characters develop, Dave found himself liking the majority of them less and less, Cassandra included. The only characters who still had Dave's favour by the end where Thomas and Stepthen, the outcome for both of whom is left as unimportant.

He found himself wondering how the majority of readers felt. Would they be more understanding? Would they forgive Cassandra more easily?

Who knew?

Maybe he should go and watch the film.

Pride and Prejudice

A Classic.

Dave had always been put off by the word "classic" when it came to reading. He had no fond memories of any of the books forced upon him whilst at school. Shakespeare in particular still had him waking up screaming some nights in a cold sweat. He had therefore approached "Pride and Prejudice" with caution.

He came away pleasantly surprised. He found it much more easy to read and enjoyable than any of the books of his school years. Either Dave's English literature skills had improved considerably over the past six years or school was diliberately designed to convince children that reading was the enemy. Since it had taken him 10 minutes to figure out how to spell "literature" he was leaning towards the latter.

The book is about the Bennet family. Five children, a father who spends the majority of his time silent and reading his book, usually only offerng his opinion to playfully tease and a mother whose main goal in life was to see all her children married.

There was something oddly familar with that. Maybe if he asked his other four siblings or his parents they may be able to explain what that familarity was.

It was also pleasant to read about a time when the most serious evil possibly imagined was sex before marriage. Nowadays, you can see a film with a man brutally butchering the group of children he was expected to protect and no one batters an eyelash. In fact many saw it as Darth going soft.

What's the world coming to?