Norwegian Wood

Tasty reading from beginning to end. Visiting a Murakami is like doing something you haven't done in a long time, and yet you still remember how to do it. Reading Murakami is like playing chords of a guitar song that you haven't played in a while. This, apart from maybe his memoir, is Murakami's sole piece of non fantasy, it's just a story of a college student that has some misfortunes, but the japanese writer makes it seem so much more than that. The structure, flow of the pages and the sentences made this a pleasant and light read. The plot twist at the end was not unexpected, but the easiness with which it was delivered made it even more impactful. Many bits of culture that defined 1960s Japan and its people, such as The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald or Miles Davis' Kind of Blue jazz album, made me smile and at the same time relate to the character. Undeniably one of the best best books I've read this year and a must read for everyone that is a fan of Murakami and/or contemporary literature.