Norwegian Wood vs. South of the Border, West of the Sun

Norwegian Wood

www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Wo...

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.

South of the Border, West of the Sun

www.amazon.com/South-Border...

Hajime has arrived at middle age with a loving family and an enviable career, yet he feels incomplete. When a childhood friend, now a beautiful woman, shows up with a secret from which she is unable to escape, the fault lines of doubt in Hajime’s quotidian existence begin to give way. Rich, mysterious, and quietly dazzling, in South of the Border, West of the Sun the simple arc of one man’s life becomes the exquisite literary terrain of Murakami’s remarkable genius.

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Norwegian Wood
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South of the Border, West of the Sun
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Pros

Cons

Pros

  • Thoughtful exploration of memory and desire
    × 1
  • Engaging, well-developed characters
    × 1

Cons

  • Slow-paced narrative
    × 1
  • Ambiguous ending
    × 1
  • Limited action, heavy on introspection
    × 1

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