Tuesday 31 January 2012

Norwegian Wood, Chapters 10-11

Just a little note: I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out today, and since I don't really know how I'm going to feel afterwards I'm not sure how good at commenting and arguing in favour of Norwegian Wood I'm going to be. Most likely I'll just be grumpy and in pain, but if I'm all asleep and stuff then I'll get round to saying things soon. You probably didn't need this explanation, but I like commenting!!)

Well... These last two chapters of Norwegian Wood brought both fully expected (Naoko's suicide) and utterly WTF (Reiko and Toru sexing!) moments that we will deal with properly and sensibly and nobody will say 'what the HELL was that with the sexy sex?!' Because I know what it was, and I'll explain it to you in a bit! And then, oh, Midori! Murakami got all romantic and stuff, and it was lovely.

Was anyone, in any way, surprised by Naoko's suicide? I think it was built up to well enough, not only in chapter 10 (she's gone to an actual mental hospital... she's not doing too well...) but, really, throughout the entire book. I think that we all knew it was going to happen, but Toru had somehow convinced himself that it wasn't, and so when it did, it was a huge shock for him. Such a huge shock that he had to go and be a bum because he couldn't face the realities of everyday life anymore (not that he was doing so great with them before). I just have to question whether or not he really loved her though- did he love her as a person, or did he just feel the need to protect her, and to try and save her from the fate that took Kizuki away from them? Did he just love her because he didn't know if he could deal with another loss of that magnitude, or did he really just love her? (You don't have to answer these... but if you have any answers, then great!)

Naoko's death left Toru in such a messed up position though, mainly because of the nature of his relationship with Midori. Because, let's face it, they love each other, and somehow complement each other, and I can't even tell you how happy I was when they declared their love for each other, because I really think that Midori was what Toru needed to lead him back to life, or at least to living in a way that was somewhat bearable. But, of course, this is all complicated by Naoko, because even though he doesn't really love her (or at least I think so), he is somehow entangled in her life, and doesn't quite know how to free himself from that kind of obligation to her. Her death should really solve this, only it doesn't and he actually goes the other way- feeling guilty that he loves Midori, and thinking that was a factor in her death (God, that boy's self-centred...). So, they're in a bit of a pickle. But can I just...
"There is a decisive finality to what exists between Midori and me. It has an irresistible power that is bound to sweep me into the future... What I feel for Midori is a wholly different emotion. It stands and walks on its own, living and breathing and throbbing and shaking me to the roots of my being."
Siiiiigh! I think "I am Heathcliff" from Wuthering Heights just got some competition for a description of love. And I can already predict that some of you are going to be like 'oh, Toru's not good enough for her', and he kind of isn't; except that the way he acts towards her pretty much fits her definition of love, and, well, she's getting everything she wants, and he's getting the most amazing character in the book. Fair enough deal, I'd say!

Anyway, in order to get Midori, Toru has to do something about all his feelings about and for Naoko. And, and here's where we get to perhaps the single weirdest moment in the book, the way he does this is through having a good time with Reiko. I'm not going to lie- when I first read this bit, I was literally like 'WHAT?!?!' and, actually, I was kind of annoyed. I mean, did all the women have to want to have sex with Toru? Are there no other men in Japan?! But, I thought about it a little (using all my English degree skills) and I kind of thought that their sexing was a kind of an end to his relationship with Naoko, and the beginning of a hopeful future with Midori. Because Reiko was so close to Naoko, together they were able to put her to rest, and effectively made a bridge between Naoko and Midori. What I mean is, if Midori had been the first person Toru had sex with after Naoko's death, then his entire relationship with her would have been marred by the shadow of Naoko. Because he instead had sex with Reiko, which was all about Naoko, he was able to put her to rest and can hopefully start afresh with Midori. OR, it was just weird. I have to tell myself that the former is true, just so I can consolidate that event into my whole experience of the book.

So... there's probably loads I've missed out, but I can't remember many more things because I read the last two chapters in a rush in a super long bath (that really wasn't meant to be that long) because I wanted to find out what happened! I enjoyed Midori's screening of and anger with Toru, and I was concerned at Toru's catatonic state because of bloody Naoko (RIP). One of the most interesting things for me was how Toru gained a greater insight into his actions, and how he actually stepped outside of his head for a minute to think about how his actions might affect others:
"Whenever I get involved in something, I shut out everything else. But then I began to think about how I would feel and the tables had been turned and Midori had moved somewhere without telling me where or getting in touch with me for three weeks. I would have been hurt- hurt badly, no doubt... What a terrible thing it is to wound someone you really care for- and to do it so unconsciously."
And I slow-clapped him for not being a psychopath (psychological rather than murdery). And, of course, Reiko brought all her wisdom with her:
"'I mean, that was such a sad little funeral! No one should have to die like that.'
Reiko stretched out her hand and stroked my head. 'We all have to die like that sometime. I will, and so will you.'" 
Death is death is death, and they're still alive; and even if sometimes that's all they've got to hold onto, it's still a lot.

So, you could say I liked Norwegian Wood an awful lot. No, it wasn't a happy book, and it never made me laugh (don't be silly!) but it had an awful lot of soul, some really fabulous writing (you don't even want to know how much I've copied out of it) and some truly memorable characters. I think it ends with a great deal of hope, hope that Toru can start to really live, hope that he'll be such a good husband for Midori, hope that Reiko can live the rest of her life with as much sanity as anyone can in this crazy crazy world. Those who haven't been able to deal with life have departed it, and those who are left have to figure out how to carry on the best they can. It's an incredibly human book, and deals with the darkest side of humanity, something that we don't necessarily want to think about, but which, whether or not we do, still happens. I am a little bit in love with Murakami now, and want to read all of his books ever! And maybe I just will.

21 comments:

  1. Yeeah right around the time he was saying how he suddenly realized how similar in body type Reiko and Naoko were, I was like "wuh-oh." But dude, hilarious: "Are there no other men in Japan?!"

    Apparently not.

    You and your poor wisdom teeth! I'm so sorry! But at least it'll be done and you'll have them out. And I seriously just realized I assumed people in other countries somehow didn't get their wisdom teeth out. Like it was something only Americans needed to have done. Hm.

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    1. And I *like* Toru! I'm still a bit 'gaaaah!' by the whole sex thing, even if I can justify it symbolically.

      Dude, my mouth hurts so much! But I agreeee it's better to have them out than, well, you know, in! Also, the cheek of it! We probably invented Wisdom teeth! Or something... LOL AT MY PATRIOTISM

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  2. Love the point you make about Toru feeling like he needed to protect Naoko and that was where most of his love for her came from. Yes, yes and yes! And yeah, the Toru Reiko sex scene was weird. Even if it was a way to get closure from Naoko's death, still weird.

    Hope your wisdom teeth removal-ness goes well and if you are on a lot of pain meds that you leave funny comments for people. I was grumpy and in pain and didn't leave my bed for over a week (I was on a lot of pain meds). Meanwhile Boyfriend ate steak the night of the surgery. Hopefully your recovery is on the "steak-eating" side.

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    1. He doesn't love herrr and he never did! Dude, the sex was totally weird. Just bananas. Like, I see where it's coming from in the context of the story and symbolically and stuff, but if it was a real life scenario, it would be so so so weird.

      I don't have any pain meds! Or at least not strong ones, because the NHS apparently doesn't hand them out just like that :( - just ibuprofen and antibiotics for me! I definitely won't be eating steak tonight (seriously, the Boyfriend must be like a superhero or something!) but yeah, I hopefully won't be in bed for a week either! Although that does sound nice right now...

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    2. Yeah in real life that scene is extra weird. And wrinkly.

      They won't give you pain meds?? Those sadists! Although I was mostly in bed for the week cos of the pain meds more than the pain. They made me a bit loopy. Boyfriend wasn't so much a superhero as the rest of us were eating steak and he wanted in. More stubborn than anything else.

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    3. Dude, all my pain meds did was knock me out and then I woke up again when they wore off. NOT HELPFUL.

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    4. @Red- The surgeon said that the side effects of strong painkillers is basically worse than just having the pain-and from your story, I'm going to say that's true! I'm still in total admiration of the Boyfriend, stubborn or not- it took me like an hour and 10 minutes to eat half a bowl of pasta tonight :'(.

      @Alice- Shit! Well that's not very useful!

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    5. I'm still reading this book (Naoko reminds me of my recent ex, who I'm still very much in love with; she recommended this book to me). But I just wanted to express my sadness that they didn't give you any painkillers...that's dumb because they really do help with the pain(if they knock you out, you can just take half a pill instead). Here in the U.S. they usually give them out for wisdom teeth, and I consider our drug laws strict...I can't even get any for my back pain which I've had for 5 years!

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  3. So happy to hear you liked this one! I agree the characters are quite memorable and the writing is beautiful. When I read it I was surprised by Naoko's suicide at first, but then I got to thinking how prevalent suicide was in the novel and how common it is in Japanese literature that the shock didn't last very long.

    Good luck with your teeth! When I had mine out I slept for two days, hopped up on pain meds. Not awesome, but not the worst thing in the world.

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    1. Man, I was so unsurprised by Naoko's suicide. I was just like '... yep, that was bound to happen', even though I was kind of sad about it.

      I WANT TO SLEEP FOR TWO DAYS! How to make this happen..?

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  4. I love that you loved this book. I was so on the fence the whole time that it was hard for me to pinpoint the elements I liked, but you reminded me every week in your posts. :)

    I think you're right about Toru never loving Naoko. He somewhat says that in the internal conversation with Kizuki, about how he will never do what Kizuki did and abandon Naoko...because he's stronger than her and she needs him. Maybe she knew that he didn't love her and that she was in some ways a burden for him...and maybe that motivated her suicide a little bit. Just like humans and life in general, it's not very clear.

    I like your explanation of the Toru/Reiko abomination, but I think those sorts of justifications only work in book world. It was upsetting for me because it didn't strike me as a healthy activity for either of them, psychologically. Casual sex is not generally useful for healing emotional wounds. But in book world...maybe that's exactly what it was useful for. The rules could be different there.

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    1. Awwwww- that's so sweet! (pssst- get off the fence and into my corner- it's SO lonely over here!)

      It's not clear, and that's kind of something else to like about it- it means that we can go over it and analyse it and all kinds of other good things like that! I think definitely they were intertwined with each other, and in a really unhealthy way that wasn't going to make either of them happy... I don't know. It's hard.

      Toootally only works in book world. In the real world, I'm still basically like *horrified face* but I still sort of like it as a symbolic act. And since it's not real life, I guess that's ok!

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  5. Yikes - I hope your wisdom teeth procedure went down smoothly and that you are gently nursing a bottle of vicodin as you read this comment.
    As others have mentioned, I slow clapped for Toru as well... until we got to the Toru/Reiko scene, where I was pretty much covering my face and reading through my fingers again... but your explanation makes much more sense. It would have brought them both closure, so I accept it much better with your explanation in mind. :)

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    1. Ah goody! As I've said in other comments, I honestly do see that it's really weird! I was freaked out when I read it! And then I thought about it and I really do think it makes sense in the story context.

      My teeth sockets hurt so bad! I need some vicodin, even though I'm not entirely sure what that is!

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  6. I'm glad you ended up liking the book. I feel like the two of us are in the minority on this one!

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    1. TELL me about it! I've made my peace with it and I feel very zen about it all now... mostly...

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  7. I like your explanation of the whole Toru/Reiko debacle but... I still don't think them getting together can come of any good. Maybe for Reiko it will be a very positive thing, since she is trying to reenter the world. But for Toru it can only hurt his relationship with Midori, which is really the only positive thing he's got going by the end of the book.

    I didn't end up loving Norwegian Wood, but I don't think it will be my last Murakami book (I have Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on my TBR).

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    1. I'm not sure if Reiko and Toru doing it is even something Midori has to know though, and they're kiiind of not really going out when he does it- she says to him that, once he's finally holding her, she wants him to be holding only her, and I think that, through expelling his feelings about Naoko through sex with Reiko, he can do that, and be the man who Midori wants/needs.

      The sex is still fucking weird though.

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  8. Glad you enjoyed it so much! I did not... but then again, I'm persnickety like that. And I agree with you, I don't think Toru really loved Naoko, I think he was just obsessed with her because he felt guilt over Kizuki's death, and that was a way to be close to him via her.

    Anyways, if nothing else at least this book led to lots of great discussions!

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    1. Riiight! Discussions are awesome, even if I went away from them muttering and being cross that everyone didn't agree with me... not really. Well, kinda. Hehe

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  9. I agree with you, I think the sex act between Toru and Reiko is a psychological closure of their relationship with Naoko. On Toru's part, I think it's actually sex by proxy since he had unrequited sexual tension with the now-deceased Naoko. As for Reiko, perhaps it's safe to assume she wanted to test herself if she was ready for intimate relationship after 7 years of isolation at the sanatorium. I have only watched the movie version, so I'm wondering why parents and relatives are virtually non-existent for Toru, Naoko and Kizuki throughout the story. And I wonder what the main reason for Kizuki's suicide is. I guess suicides and casual sex have historical and unique attributes within the Japanese psyche.

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