Norwegian Wood, named after the eponymous Beatles? song, is vintage Murakami, analogous to Catcher in the Rye in that it has become required reading for soulful Japanese youth. A dark coming-of-age story with more innocence and less surrealist imagery than the trippy, Oedipal (but also excellent) Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood is first and foremost about the haunting, unforgettable nature of lost love.
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A recent houseguest left a copy of this book upon his departure, and because I tend to judge books by their covers (not to mention their titles), I hesitated to give it a shot. Luckily, I had nothing else to read and I picked it up anyway. I only had to read a few pages to realize that I was in for a treat. The story of a Ukrainian widower who takes up with a scheming younger woman, despite his squabbling daughters' warnings and protests, is interspersed with yes, a short history of tractors (no, not in Ukrainian). Lewycka elicits compassion for even the minor characters without falling victim to sentimentality in what ends up being a genuinely funny novel--an impressive feat considering the inauspicious title.
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kshaffner has commented on (2) products.
Norwegian Wood: A Novel by Haruki Murakami
kshaffner, November 28, 2006
Norwegian Wood, named after the eponymous Beatles? song, is vintage Murakami, analogous to Catcher in the Rye in that it has become required reading for soulful Japanese youth. A dark coming-of-age story with more innocence and less surrealist imagery than the trippy, Oedipal (but also excellent) Kafka on the Shore, Norwegian Wood is first and foremost about the haunting, unforgettable nature of lost love.(10 of 17 readers found this comment helpful)
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
kshaffner, November 17, 2006
A recent houseguest left a copy of this book upon his departure, and because I tend to judge books by their covers (not to mention their titles), I hesitated to give it a shot. Luckily, I had nothing else to read and I picked it up anyway. I only had to read a few pages to realize that I was in for a treat. The story of a Ukrainian widower who takes up with a scheming younger woman, despite his squabbling daughters' warnings and protests, is interspersed with yes, a short history of tractors (no, not in Ukrainian). Lewycka elicits compassion for even the minor characters without falling victim to sentimentality in what ends up being a genuinely funny novel--an impressive feat considering the inauspicious title.(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)