10. Norwegian Wood. Haruki Murakami. Sober, superb, sensual and sad. Murakami gave me a really nice welcome during my first days in Canada, so I'm surprised it has taken me 11 years to pick another one of his books. He is praised as a genre bender, so I'm already salivating at the tought of going exploring completely different territories with him.
Norwegian Wood get's you deep, deep in the athmosphere of every scene, the small details are what make this a great book; and the best part is that that he does it not using a narrator, but through the main character, which in turn you can identify with for a number of reasons, making his sensibility your sensibility.
It reminded me of course of my own youth, how different company got you to completely different worlds day after day, how your body and your life was lighter and able to move with the flow more easily. It also reminded me of so many streets and parks in Kyoto and Tokyo. Would it be too easy to compare this book's tone and pace with Banana Yoshimoto's, just because both are japanese? the book has a slow part near the end, and I think setting the beginning in Germany was confusing and unnecesary, the whole book I kept wondering how Naokoto got to Germany because I tought that's where the episode took place. Overall, a greatly crafted portrait of love, pain, and finding the sense of self.
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