Norwegian Wood

When the Beatles song of the book’s title plays over an airplane intercom, Toru Watanabe is reminded of Naoko, his first love. Brought together by a traumatic shared experience, the couple find solace in an intense, complicated relationship in which they cocoon themselves from the rest of the world. A beautiful exploration of love, sexuality and grief, the nostalgic narrative is a departure from the author’s typical magical realism and yet it remains distinctly Murakami.