Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Adult Fiction

An odd but readable novel taking place in Japan in the late 60's. Toro Watanabe is at university, living a solitary and lonely life. He is a private, self-sufficient kind of guy. His desire for privacy is partly his personality, and it is also partly due to the fact that his best friend committed suicide when they were both in high school without any warning or indication that something was wrong. Needless to say--this has a profound effect on Toro--on his self of self-esteem, motivation, goals in life and most importantly on his ability to connect to the people around him. Toro, who is ultimately quite a sane individual, seems to attract individuals who are emotionally damaged. This is Toro's bumpy coming-of-age.