Norwegian Wood [Paperback]

Stunning and elegiac,Norwegian Woodfirst propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia,Norwegian Woodblends the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love.“A masterly novel. . . .Norwegian Woodbears the unmistakable marks of Murakami’s hand.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Norwegian Wood. . . not only points to but manifests the author’s genius.” –Chicago Tribune

“[A] treat . . . Murakami captures the heartbeat of his generation and draws the reader in so completely you mourn when the story is done.” –The Baltimore Sun

“Vintage Murakami [and] easily the most erotic of [his] novels.” –Los Angeles Times Book ReviewHaruki Murakami lives near Tokyo.

Newly translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin.The questions, discussion topics, and suggested reading list that follow are intended to enhance your group's reading of Haruki Murakami'sNorwegian Wood. We hope they will lead to a richer understanding of this remarkable novel.

1. When Watanabe arrives in Hamburg and hears the song "Norwegian Wood," memories of a scene with Naoko from eighteen years before come back to him. He feels these memories as "kicks" and says they were "longer and harder than usual. Which is why I am writing this book. To think. To understand. . . . I have to write things down to feel I fully understand them&quolC-