Book Review: Norwegian Wood

    

    For the first time in a very long time, a book has touched me. As I just finished this book, my mind has been attached to the characters and their impression on me. When I first bought the book, I carried a very minimal expectation. I was hoping the novel would be straightforward and not as gripping as it turned out to be. But to my blissful surprise, the novel proved me wrong. 

    The story is simple, and not complicated to understand at all. The youths especially will develop a liking to the story and some of us can relate to it too. The tale is told by a teenager Watanabe, who has established a peculiar type of relationship with the people around him. Each of the people he associates with has its own story, each has its own philosophies, each has its own personality. 

    Yet, the narrator is never content. Melancholy is a serious thing. He has complicated relations with the ones he adores the most. At times it's difficult for him to choose, what he really wants. The narrator is all over the place. He seems to be drifting around absently without realizing the true essence of his movements. The dilemma is real here. And Mr. Murakami displays that confusion as if it were our own. It puts us at the edge of our seats, hunting to know what might happen next. 

    The tragedy is portrayed in a raw fashion. No detail is sugarcoated and used as a way to somehow glamorize the book. Its intricate turn of events surprises the reader at some point. I, myself have stared at the wall wondering how'd that happen? The story grips you in such a way. The writing/translation is smooth and easy to read. Heavy moments in the story are written with such simplicity that it makes the tale tenser. 

I've read a handful of books this year, but this one certainly tops the list. 

Do give it a read.    

Chapter 1

Part 10 

(End of chapter 1) 

What happens when dreams die young? Feat. Sushant Singh Rajput

    I always wonder what happens to that dream; that person; that moment when the soul decides to go after something but couldn’t achieve it. A dream; a passion to go after something is one of the most charming things a human can do. Especially in this junky modern society where everything is cheap except for unadulterated realizations. Amid this, to gather a source of contentment, hope, a passion for something, is feasibly the only way one can maintain their sanity. But what happens when that dream dies young? What happens to that passion which dies halfway on the finishing line? What becomes of that young jubilation which could have been achieved?

    Maybe you know by now, this piece can be relevantly dedicated to one man who died on the way to achieve his dreams. He had prepared a to-do list before he reached to his last breath. But the latter breath arrived soon and took him away, while on the course to achieve that young jubilation. Dear Sushant Singh Rajput, I wish the few dreams that you were contented with, gave you the warmth which almost felt like your late mother’s hug. I wish your passion burned so hard that toxic people around you couldn’t fight that fire. I wish the reveries, to which you lived through were as magical as one feels deep in the state of euphoria. Before your light died, I hope your brighter as sunbeam's passion scattered all over the barren field. A field only you knew existed. A field of loneliness, a field of betrayal, a field of toxicity, a field of resentments. You shined so bright that something cast an eclipse on you.  

Sushant ticked 12 out of his 50 wishes

     But what of your unachieved whims? What of the innocent ideas that kept you up at night? What about your passion for astronomy? What about songs you loved? What about spreading some light and smile in this crappy milieu of ours? What about Sushant? What about…? What about…?

    I am not going to say “I miss you,” or “please come back,” I see such comments everywhere on social media and I find that rather cringy. Following his account now and liking his posts now and wishing he wouldn’t have killed himself is just whack. Because you wouldn’t have given a shit if he was living and suffering. Had he came out with his depression, you would have told him “just another celebrity craving for attention,” So don’t give me all that crap. As Anne Frank said, “Dead people receive more flowers than living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude,”

    What happens of the person who has so much life left in them, dies? What happens of the life inside of them waiting to be lived? It dies with them. The dream dies with the person. Sushant didn’t just sacrifice his breath, he sacrificed his dreams because somehow this vile world grips your neck so hard that not even your dreams can pull you back.        

The need to escape

 

       

    Very recently, the word “escape” has become my favorite. I am unaware of the reason for this sudden likeliness, but it certainly awakes an adventurous, wild, and almost too good to be a true sense in me. Maybe because this word holds such gravity that flashes a deep meaning into our lives. We feel our lives, by all means, and the components that surround us are caged. We are surrounded by physical and mental attributes that sometimes weigh us down. Be it family expectations, our own expectations, education, moral behavior, this weird compulsion of being serious and not enjoying life. I mean, what the hell is that? A life spent not being crazy is indeed a life wasted or worse, lived a life with boredom.

            So why do we fantasize escaping? We often talk about getting away. I often see teenagers posting on social media about moving to a different place by changing their names, hoping to change the course of their life and trying to escape the life they have been given. This phenomenon is common among us human beings, we tend to get away from a problem rather than stick by it and face it. We can say that it is like culture or something that we have been accustomed to. We sometimes get so bored and frustrated with our routine life that we see no other option than to run away from it. The problems, the stress, and the complexity of this life can get the better of us. Why do you think people take drinking or drugging habits? Why do you think people try to travel as much as possible? Why do you think youths play video games all the time? Because these activities will help them forget about their boring life for a while. It certainly is not easy to be up and running in this modern society. We all have our baggage to carry, throughout our lives, we try to rest that baggage. Throughout our lives, we look to lighten the load.

            But hey, it gets better. Life has much more than just getting a degree, getting a job, and dying. I think it all comes down to our mindset as well. How we view and perceive our life also makes a huge difference. If no matter what happens in your life, you view it as being a pessimist then your life is going to suck. How often do you see a poor family sharing a laugh and being happy over dinner? What do they have to be happy? It’s all about the mindset. So, by changing your mindset you can change your life. And who knows, you might not need to escape.