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Norwegian Wood

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Norwegian Wood

By: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 20 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.

©2000 Haruki Murakami (P)2020 Penguin Audio
20th Century Coming of Age Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Mind-bending
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What listeners say about Norwegian Wood

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amazing

Norwegian Wooden is true soulful story that will guide you down a truly heart breaking tale. Beautifully written and masterfully narrated.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

narrator ruined a great book

never listening to another book by this narrator. made the female voice sound so creepy and kept rushing anything that was written poetically and making it sound meaningless

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Not bad.

I only listened to this book because it is on a ‘100 books……’ poster. Haven’t read anything by the author before but from reading reviews I had the impression it may be a bit odd. However, it was just an average story, nothing gripping but it did hold my attention. Not sure about the ending though.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sad but excellent

Fantastic book, was enthralling but very sad. The voice actor did a decent job definitely worth a listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Good story, sub-par narration

Enjoyed the story, but the whiney nasal narration made every character sound petulant and unpleasant

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not sure what to think about it

The American narrator’s voice was weird, especially for women, who all sounded quite vulgar and sometimes completely puerile and/or capricious, usually stupid.
He couldn’t even bother to pronounce names properly (ex: Naoko pronounced Nay-o-KHP instead of Nah-o-Jo), which is quite unprofessional if you ask me. Just find out the correct Japanese pronunciation!
About the story… It takes place in the late sixties in a Tokyo university setting, The main character is a very ordinary guy, but everyone else around him seems extraordinary and/or crazy. Four suicides, two brain tumours, an OCD and probably autistic dormitory roommate, a cynical womaniser, a self taught child chef, a former piano child prodigy, a manipulative teen lesbian, many mental breakdowns, many sex scenes, some drafted political thoughts about communism and fascism… In the end I took it as a book about emotions, mental health, how we treat each other, and the the maturation of a boy in a society where sex seems problematic, either because it’s disrespectful and objectifies women without any regard for their feelings, or because it’s too early, or inappropriate, or not consensual, or painful, or doesn’t work… In the end, it causes hurt instead of love, and the main character seems to come to painfully realise that in the end, and chooses another path, probably more traditional.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great Story Telling

I recently came across this book through an app that I am subscribed to. I am so glad that I did. I was so captivated by the narration, the characters and all their own stories. I loved it!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

to step into someone's mind is a scary thing.

This may be my fourth or fifth Murikami book. while it lacked the weirdness and deep thought of others it took me on a warm and thoughtful journey. Overall it was a very sad love story and a coming of age novel at its core. As always his descriptions make you feel like you are there, I could hear the crunching of cucumbers and almost taste the soup. I feel like I know the characters so well I could sit and chat at length with them. I will miss them and only wish them the best.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Irritating reader

Adam Simms has some awful vocal fry. It became really grating as the novel went on.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not worth the time

What started as a promising book ended as a pretty random number of observations, leaving the reader wondering what the writer was hoping to tell us. Saved by the narrator, not the writer.

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1 person found this helpful