Norwegian Wood

By: Haruki Murakami

Narrated by: John Chancer

From the bestselling author of Kafka on the Shore: A magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, “a masterly novel” (The New York Times Book Review) blending the music, the mood, and the ethos that were the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love.

Now with a new introduction by the author.

Toru, a serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before. As Naoko retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

Stunning and elegiac, Norwegian Wood first propelled Haruki Murakami into the forefront of the literary scene.

Critic reviews

“A masterly novel.... Norwegian Wood bears the unmistakable marks of Murakami’s hand.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Norwegian Wood...not only points to but manifests the author’s genius.” —Chicago Tribune

“[A] treat...Murakami captures the heartbeat of his generation and draws the reader in so completely you mourn when the story is done.” —The Baltimore Sun

“Vintage Murakami [and] easily the most erotic of [his] novels.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

More Murakami please

Haruki Murakami is one of the most interesting writers I've had the good fortune to be exposed to. Norwegian Wood is NOT my favourite and by no means gives the listener the full picture of his ability to create worlds where the tricks of thinking become a reality played out with excruciating intensity. The novel gives you an idea though and is well worth a listen to get the idea.
More Murakami please Audible!

My least favorite Murakami book

Norweigian Wood lacked the fantastical elements that other Murukami books excelled at. It missed the surreal and endearing characters that moved his other plots along. This book focused more on relationships with a college age boy- so there of course was alot of meaningless provocative scenes.

The best by Murakami

I am an avowed Murakami fan, and Norwegian Wood is the best of his works I have read. I would describe it in an elevator as a Japanese “Catcher in the Rye,” only better. Murakami gets into the “interiority” of his characters, makes you feel for them. It’s no wonder the protagonist and narrator Toru Watanabe earns the devotion of the female characters. He listens to them and is empathetic. I understand Murakami became a “rock star” in Japan, mobbed at airports, etc., after the publication of Norwegian Wood, I can imagine young Japanese women demanding their boyfriends and lovers read the book, and to act like Toru. Hell, I want to act like Toru. Great job, Mr. Murakami. Excellent narration by John Chancer in the Audible version.

beautiful story and good narrator

this is a beautiful story and has a good narrator. I was glad I read it!
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A modern classic

This is one of my favorite Murakami novels. I didn’t expect it to be because I love him for his wild and improbable characters, but Ahn Hung Tran’s film adaptation was so amazing it got me on a new Murakami jag (not to mention a crush on Midori Kobayashi). Seriously, though, female characters are often a problem in Murakami’s novels, but I think this one is particularly great in its plurality of memorable and convincing women.

John Chancer’s reading left a lot to be desired. To some extent it’s probably a matter of taste, but I found the narration of 1Q84 much more effective (probably because of the use of both male and female readers), because Chancer is particularly grating when reading women’s dialogue. Compare his rendition of Midori’s speech with Kiko Mizuhara’s portrayal of her in the film—deceptively self-possessed rather than hysterical. I’m listening to The Big Sleep now and find the reader much more effective reading women characters because he doesn’t raise the pitch of his voice.

I gave the story a 4 because in the end I found Toru’s self-absorption and passivity to be too extreme for me. I would have preferred if he had matured out of it more. Perhaps the author meant to make a point that way, but the novel started to lose me when I realized how profound and hopeless Toru’s self-pity was.