Talk:Norwegian Wood (novel)

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[edit] "sexually liberated"?

I've read this novel. How could the character of Naoko be described as "sexually liberated"?

I agree, this phrase should be revised in order to reflect Naoko's actual character. DLS 01:59, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and changed the sentence so that it says that Toru Watanabe "develops relationships with several young people", thus sidestepping the description of being "sexually liberated". Whatever else Naoko is, she's definitely not that. --Tachikoma 00:10, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
I support the new wording. It is better than the previous one. JanSuchy 19:20, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] proposed infobox changes

Hello, I'm in the process of rereading this novel in preparation for expanding this article. I have a few suggestions for the infobox, but I don't want to be too bold and change the box without first discussing these proposals:

1. Changing the book cover image to the North American cover, which makes the Beatles link more explicit and frankly, a cover that I prefer over the UK version.

2. Removing the "preceded by...followed by" entries, because this novel isn't part of a series, and has no plot connection with either Harboiled Wonderland... or Dance Dance Dance.

Please tell me what you think. --Tachikoma 22:35, 26 August 2006 (UTC) Bold text

I agree with point 2, but see no reason to change the cover, if you really think that the North American is better, be bold and change it, probably nobody will complain :-) // Duccio (write me) 13:57, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] any thoughts on how to structure a story summary?

OK, I've begun to think about how to write a story summary, but the very fact that this novel moves back and forth in time (recollections, etc.) complicates things. Does anybody think that the story summary should be expressed in chronological order? I've written only the first paragraph as a frame for the rest of the summary:

A 37 year old Toru Watanabe has just arrived in Hamburg, Germany. When he hears an orchestral cover of the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood", he is suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss and nostalgia. He thinks back to 1969, when so much happened that touched his life...

I was looking over my personal chapter summaries and thinking that a chronological restructuring might be easier to understand for readers, though it does mean more effort to write. Any thoughts or suggestions on this? Thanks. --Tachikoma 01:37, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

--

My story summary is now on the article page! I've tried to keep to the essential parts of the story, which necessarily involves cutting out parts of the plot and telescoping details. I do hope that this will be sufficient. I've worked very hard on this, and I hope that comes through. -- (formerly under the nick "Tachikoma") Kyoko 15:50, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Major Improvement

This page has grown to such a good article in a short space of time. A little over a month ago it contained only a few sentances, and now it's a nice indepth article. Maybe somebody should reassess the class, as it can no longer be listed as a stub. --Nick San 11:01, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

The article has been reassessed, and it has jumped from stub-class to B-class. Great job, everybody! --Kyoko 19:40, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] possible themes?

I've been puzzling over what the themes of this novel are. Some of my ideas include:

  • the nature of memory
  • the idea of being true to your ideals
  • not letting yourself be weighed down by the past
  • the nature of love

But I only have some vague ideas, and I'm not sure if they're correct. Any thoughts on this? The Novels Wikiproject encourages people to add themes to novel articles, so I figured that such a section should be included in this article as well. Thanks. --Kyoko 03:33, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

You could say that music - in particular The Beatles - is a huge part of the novel. I'll have to reread it once I've finished The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and jot down some notes on the themes, so we can make this page even better. --Nick San 13:11, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I guess something could be said about the power of music to evoke a mood or reawaken a memory. The entire novel can be thought of as a flashback, triggered by hearing Norwegian Wood. There's also the time after Naoko's death, when Reiko plays several melodies on her guitar, songs that she had played for Naoko, then some classical music. Reiko makes some comment about how Naoko's taste for music never rose above sentimental tunes, or something to that effect. Could that have been a comment about the link between music, memory, and emotion? --Kyoko 23:29, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Allusions section question

Hello, I've just added an Allusions section, in which the Japanese national anthem is mentioned. I was also wondering if the scene where Naoko undresses in the moonlight could be an allusion to The Tale of Genji, where a woman slips off her clothing in a similar manner. I could be reading too much into this, though. Thanks. --Kyoko 15:41, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Accuracy of Story Summary

I've just finished reading this novel and, having read through this article, the story summary strikes me as a little misleading or inaccurate toward the end. For example: A later letter informs Toru that Naoko has taken her own life. Toru, grieving and in a daze, wanders aimlessly around Japan, while Midori — who hasn't kept in touch with him — wonders what has happened to him. misleads the Midori character here by implying that she hasn't kept in touch with him of her own will (rather she couldn't as he was travelling around); Toru calls Midori out of the blue to declare his love for her. Really? Didn't he just call as he has to explain "a million things" to her? He already declared his love for her in the previous chapter. Midori's response is characteristically (by this point) cold, yet the fact that she does not explicitly cut Toru off at that point (like she did before) leaves things open. Again this is misrepresenting the character. At this point it's the first she's heard from him since he returned. Again in the previous chapter they both declared their love for each other. Parjay 00:46, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notes

Added a Notes section, with a footnote and a link to the Beatles lyrics of Norwegian Wood. Modernist 01:37, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Song listing?

I'm thinking of adding a list of songs mentioned in the novel, but I can't quite decide if it would be prudent or not. I feel that it would be interesting and give an idea of the depth of the story, but by the same token it could be seen as non-encyclopedic, so to speak. Any other opinions? Jet Alone 20:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Japanese Title "Mistranslation"

I'm going to be nitpicky and argue that unless someone can produce a citation from somewhere about the Japanese 'Noruwei no Mori' being an incorrect translation of the phrase "Norwegian Wood," and presents the statement as a quotation or paraphrase from that source, then the portion of the introduction that says it's a mistranslation should be removed. "Wood," without the -s at the end has been used to mean forest in English, although today that usage has become somewhat archaic (not so much that it's gone completely out of use, though, especially in lyrical language). In the Beatles song there is no clear indication that it's "wood" the material and not "wood" the word for forest being used, even if most people obviously assume its the former because the latter usage of the word is uncommon. My personal interpretation, which is irrelevant, is that the word "Wood," was used in the song specifically because it had an ambiguous meaning and could invoke either sense. It's definitely worth mentioning that "mori" in Japanese translates to "forest," and not to the material "wood," because it implies something about what that does to the Japanese interpretation of the song and how therefor it would have colored Murakami's allusion toward it, but calling it an incorrect translation is an interpretive judgment call, which is not what Wikipedia is for. Somebody fix this by providing a citation and editing the language used to reflect it, or I'm going to change it how I think it should be done. Techgeist 11:00, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree with your analysis. The wikipage on the Beatles song states ""Norwegian Wood" evidently refers to the cheap pinewood that often finished the interiors of working class British flats. The last verse states that the singer lights a fire, the implication being that the singer in fact sets fire to the girl's flat, presumably as revenge for not sleeping with the singer." but it doesn't provide any sources for this 'evident reference'. Classical geographer 11:19, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:NorwegianWood.jpg

Image:NorwegianWood.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 18:18, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Claims of sexual abuse?

An editor has written in the article List of books portraying sexual attraction to children or adolescents:

A beautiful 10-year-old prodigy attempts to seduce her piano teacher, then falsely accuses her of molestation

Could someone who has read the book, please add this episode to the book's plot description otherwise the reference will have to be removed. Thanks.Tony (talk) 12:00, 26 March 2008 (UTC)Tony

[edit] Locations

The book is widely acknowledged to be set in several well-known locations; the two best-known are the dorm Toru lives in (Wakeijuku, in Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku), and the university he attends (Waseda University). Would it be worth putting together a list of locations featured in the novel? Aragoto (having login troubles) 203.112.80.138 (talk) 05:10, 15 April 2008 (UTC)