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With Norwegian Wood Murakami, best known as the author of off-kilter classics such as the Wind Up Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard Boiled Wonderland, finally achieved widespread acclaim in his native Japan. The novel sold upwards of 4 million copies and forced the author to retreat to Europe, fearful of the expectations accompanying his new-found cult status.
The novel is atypical for Murakami: seemingly autobiographical, in the tradition of many Japanese "I" novels, Norwegian Wood is a simple coming of age tale set, primarily, in 1969/70, the time of Murakami's own university years. The political upheavals and student strikes of the period form the backdrop of the novel but the focus here is the young Watanabe's love affairs and the pain (and pleasure) of growing up with all its attendant losses, (self-)obsessions and crises.
The novel is split into two volumes and beautifully presented here in a "gold" box containing both the green book and the red book. Young Japanese fans became so obsessed with the work that they would dress entirely in one or other colour denoting which volume they most identified with. And the novel is hugely affecting, reading like a cross between Plath's Bell Jar and Vizinczey's In Praise of Older Women, if less complex and ultimately less satisfying than Murakami's other, more allegorical, work. He captures the huge expectation of youth, and of this particular time in history, for the future and for the place of love in it. He also saturates the work with sadness, an emotion that can cripple a novel but which here underscores the poignancy of the work's rather thin subject matter. --Mark Thwaite
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. Book is in good condition with 389pp. Seller Inventory # 011855
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Book is in very good condition with 389pp. Seller Inventory # 017389
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Collectable - Good. First Edition. Good 1st impression 2010 Vintage cloth-bound edition, lovely cover illustration. Corners pushed, several blotches to cloth cover from previous water exposure and stain, tight and unmarked. More Murakami 1st's available. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 089058. Seller Inventory # 089058
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. First Edition. Good+ 1st print Vintage Modern Classics clothbound edition. Some water-related surface marks, with blotches to left edge of front cover next to spine, also to base of spine and lower rear of cover. Internally some age-related discoloration to pages, corners pushed, tight and unmarked. More Murakami available. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 086823. Seller Inventory # 086823
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Collectable - Good. First Edition. Good+ 1st printing 2010 Vintage Modern Classics clothbound hardcover. Some water-related discolored patches around edges of front and rear covers, and to upper spine, otherwise tight and unmarked throughout. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 087814. Seller Inventory # 087814
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition Thus. First Vintage Modern printing, hardcover, has a mild lean to the binding, bumps to the spine ends and cover corners, light rubbing to the cloth, faint sunning to the spine and edges, and some slight smudging to the edges of the text block. Overall, a solid, Very Good copy. Seller Inventory # 205481
Book Description Condition: Good. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Seller Inventory # wbs2350302177
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Collectable - Very Good. First Edition. VG- 1st impression 2010 Vintage cloth-bound edition, lovely cover illustration. Corners pushed, some uneven toning to pages due to paper used, otherwise VG and unmarked, without marks or patches to cloth boards. More Murakami 1st's available. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 088982. Seller Inventory # 088982
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Collectable - Very Good. First Edition. VG 1st impression 2010 Vintage cloth-bound edition, lovely cover illustration. Corners a little pushed, minor surface spotting to fore-edge of pages, otherwise VG and unmarked, without marks or patches to cloth boards. More Murakami 1st's available. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 089059. Seller Inventory # 089059
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Collectable - Very Good. First Edition. Near Fine 1st impression 2010 Vintage cloth-bound edition, lovely cover illustration. Corners a little pushed, shop sticker label to lower rear of board, otherwise VG and unmarked, without marks or patches to cloth boards. More Murakami 1st's available. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 1-2 kilos. Category: Fiction; ISBN: 0099528983. ISBN/EAN: 9780099528982. The photos provided are of our own book, further photos may be arranged upon request. Inventory No: 090898. Seller Inventory # 090898