Haruki Murakami Resources - norwegian wood

norwegian wood (ノルウェイの森, Noruwei no Mori)

First published in Japan by
Kodansha (1987)

Published in English in 1989 by Kodansha English Library (Japan) - Translated by Alfred Birnbaum

Translated by Jay Rubin, UK - Harvill Press 2000, US - Vintage 2000

US Edition:
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Vintage (September 12, 2000)
ISBN-10: 0375704027

UK Edition:
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Vintage (17 May 2001)
ISBN-10: 0099448823

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But who can say what's best? That's why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My experience tells me that we get no more than two or three such chances in a life time, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of our lives.

excerpt available on the Random House site

synopsis

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

articles

Norwegian Wood in perspective

reviews

Rubber Souls - An early novel by Haruki Murakami, about late-60's love, owes a debt to the Beatles By Janice Nimura from The New York Times

Wikipedia page on the novel

Librarything page for the novel

Random House review and reading list topics

GETTING TO THE PULP OF HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NORWEGIAN WOOD:
TRANSLATABILITY AND THE ROLE OF POPULAR CULTURE - a thesis submitted by JACQUELYN L. ZUROMSKI at the University of Central Florida

NEGOTIATING PLACE: MULTISCAPES AND NEGOTIATION IN HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NORWEGIAN WOOD - a thesis submitted by KEVIN DAWSON GLADDING at the University of Central Florida

Kamikaze characters by Paul Quinn from The Times (UK)

Interesting essay by Eyglo Dada Karlsdottir

Tunnel Vision - Steven Poole delves into Haruki Murakami's masterpieces - May 27, 2000 - The Guardian