####August 4, 2013 ###Participants

###Discussion ####Initial Reactions * Alice: I read it a year ago and it was my favorite book at the time. I’ve since read more Murakami, but this was a good revisit. * Austin: Great read! * Bill: This was my first time reading Murakami. * Jacky: I thought the different elements and storylines of the book tied together very organically in the end. * Jenny: I really enjoyed this book, and having previously read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, I think this book provides new insight into Murakami’s writing. * Kelvin: This was my first Murakami book, and I thought it was okay, but it could be relatable if my life was more dramatic. * Kathy: I liked it, and I think it borrowed a lot of themes from great American novels (e.g. The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye), but in a way that was more subtle/Japanese.

####Discuss how Murakami paints the relationship between life and death throughout the novel. >”Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of life.”

• Jenny: I never really thought about death that much (it’s a depressing topic!) but I think this conclusion is right because you never know when your final destination comes. Everyone dies and parts of Toru died as well. The death of Kizuki caused Toru unable to make friends, and death of Naoko made him unable to love someone again…but then again, can he have another chance with Midori?
• Alice: One of my professors gave a talk about suicide and how when his friend committed suicide, a part of him “died” and will never came back. Toru just died inside and goes in a downward spiral. Overall, it is really depressing, but he eventually accepts that as part of his life, that he’s always searching for something but will never be able to find it.
• Kelvin: Toru was just going through the motions/not really alive for a lot of the book; he always seemed dead.
• Kathy: Toru wanted to hang on with this faint life (akin to The Great Gatsby and the green light) and Naoko was his anchor. It’s not necessarily that “he chooses Naoko or Midori”. I think people are not replaceable but everyone serves a different function, even if you find “replacements”, a part of you is really gone.
• Bill: “Time heals all wounds”? This is not always true.
• Kelvin: Perhaps in the end he will end up with Midori or move on, as demonstrated by the flashback in the beginning of the novel.
• Alice: A lot of people say, “you’ll never remember what someone says to you but you’ll always remember how they made me feel.” I think this quote is very relevant to the story.
• Kathy: I agree with AC, a lot of people decide to commit suicide because they feel like they owe something to life. Kizuki and Naoko were drawn to death because they were too happy in life?
• Jenny: Naoko and Kizuki were both “normal” and extremely happy before they decided to commit suicide…why?
• Alice: Their concept of life diminished and eventually they felt nothing about death.
• Kathy: Once we start anything, we are already setting the conclusion of that. It’s kind of depressing but life or death…
• Alice: I think contemplating about death is a common theme in a lot of Murakami stories.

####Throughout the novel, a sense of duty governs Toru’s choices and activities. However, does there exist an inevitable self-centeredness to all our interactions that we can never squelch? * Jenny: Nagasawa embodied selfishness, which is awfully different from Hatsumi and Toru. * Kathy: Nagasawa may be really selfish, but he was also very clear with Hatsumi and gave her a choice. There were no false expectations. * Alice: Toru’s real friend was Kizuki and always had him in the back of his mind. Kizuki was gone so he felt obligated to look after Naoko. * Kathy: It’s a paradox: the reason why he cared so much for her was also why he cannot be together with her. * Austin: I got really mad about the places where people committed suicide, but I tried to be optimistic about it. One of the reasons why Toru had a sense of duty for Naoko was that he was betrayed by people committing suicide. Murakami painted the death of Midori’s father in a calm way. I believe the end message is to live life as you want to and let go of your duties, * Kelvin: Toru still felt as sense of duty to Midori (train tickets), and even though it was a natural death, there was still obligation in that. * Kathy: He always felt a need to protect, and it’s fascinating how that is absent in other situations. Storm Trooper embodies the lack of closure in many things in the story. * Jenny: Storm Trooper was a weird character at first but grew on me. It was his sudden drop off/lack of closure that bothered me. * Kathy: April was a depressing month: what about how Midori felt amidst all of Toru’s sufferings? * Jenny: I think the first person vs. third person point of view reflected the dichotomy between selflessness and selfishness. * Bill: Toru kind of goes into his own mental sanctuary, shows some signs of “autism”…? * Alice: I think it may just be his self-defense mechanism.

####Illness - of both the mental and physical variety - pervades through this novel. How is it depicted? * Bill: “You only get better if you open your hearts.” * Jenny: I liked the idea of the Ami Hostel at first, but then I thought, how are the patients ever going to integrate back to society? Also, Reiko’s transition to society seems glossed over? * Kathy: Reiko seemed to regress in life? I think she realized at some point that she can never go back. * Jacky: I didn’t really get a sense of what the humanistic therapy involved. The distinction between doctor and patient is blurry to emphasize that there is no clear-cut place where you might fall in the spectrum of mentally illness. Everyone in this book is a little out there, just some are more severe than others. Mental stability today is categorized by a checklist, so inherently there is a problem of making a distinction between a unique personality and being mentally unstable. * Kelvin: Super traumatic events happened to them, isolating them from society…but 8 years is overdoing it. * Jenny: Isolation only represses the demon, but I have a feeling that they might come out again? Also, are they really cured of their “illnesses”? * Alice: Psychological problems come from how detached they are from the world. * Kathy: Why do you guys think Reiko makes it farther than Naoko? * Kelvin: She has been there for a long time, so maybe 8 years is necessary? * Jacky: I’m not sure if you can evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment based on two people? In general, can mental illness really be completely cured? * Kathy: From this book, I really appreciated the fact that the path to recovery is not linear. * Billy: I agree with JC; “cured” is very subjective when it comes to mental illnesses, but people can arrive at a point of acceptance like Reiko. * Kathy: Perhaps a lot of people just need to find something else to dwell on? * Jenny: Naoko has more of an anchor to the real world with Toru caring so much for her while Reiko just has her guitar. * Austin: They need to find a clean break?

####What is the role of writing (or more broadly, narrative, storytelling, etc.) in this novel? * Jenny: Murakami’s writing was a little annoying at first, but I learned to accept his style by the end. * Kathy: His writing is a mixture of real life and fiction life. So much of Toru’s relationship is based on writing on letters rather than actual interaction. We measure how Naoko is doing based on her letters. * Alice: No one is really successful about bringing the rights words out, they’re never able to use the right words at the same time. * Kelvin: Sunday walking did not have communication at all? * Jacky: Murakami differentiates between writing and speaking: writing is more calculated than speaking. You can guard your words better through writing but it is much harder to do that through speaking. * Kathy: Those who are good at speaking (e.g. Nagasawa) are not nice to get along with; this is a contrast to Toru and Naoko. Toru living through his letters is harmful. * Austin: I disagree with Kathy, because I think Toru’s writing was actually therapeutic. Reiko processes through music, and likewise for Toru and his letter. The times when Naoko cannot communicate verbally is when she is not doing well. The sanitarium was this bubble and Reiko and Naoko had each other, Reiko left because she lost the person she communicates with, and needs to find another one. * Kathy: I think the desire to communicate is a big part of everyone’s lives in this book. * Bill: People die because they can’t communicate and everything piles up and turns inward. This is against our natural instincts. A lot of things go wrong because of lack of communication. * Alice: Naoko cannot be part of this world because she lost the bridge, and thus has problems with communication. * Austin: One of the reasons why Reiko came out because she was afraid that he might go down the same spiral. It gave closure to Naoko so you should also move on. * Jenny: There was a beautifully written passage on when Toru realizes that something needs to be done to save Hatsumi.

####Why “Norwegian Wood”? > I was very careful and paranoid because I didn’t want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I’d always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair. But in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.¹ <footer>John Lennon</footer>

• Austin: I think the whole song is about letting the bird go. “…there wasn’t a chair” means you’re not suppose to stay there, you’ve lived a good life so just accept it and go on.

####Was it a good/bad decision for Toru to “get intimate” with Naoko during her birthday? * Austin: I thought it was a bad decision: it was an important moment of her life and he took advantage without really knowing it. * Alice: I agree with AL * Kathy: Naoko says she doesn’t want to be “violated” again, she even said it right before she decided to commit suicide. * Kelvin: But wasn’t it the best feeling she’s ever had? * Bill: Toru taking up the responsibility of what Kizuki should’ve done.

####Conclusion * Alice: Find people in your life that you can trust and that you can relate/connect to. Don’t give up because it affects everyone, not just you. * Austin: Life has its hardships, make sure you reach out and process and accept things, be open to the happiness life provides you. * Bill: “Forever Young” series: the only way to stay forever young is to die, and the reason why this happens is because of the lack of communication. People are irrational but most people can deal with it. This book provides a case where people don’t deal with it, think they don’t belong to society, and shut off communication. A chain of events happens and people die. * Billy: “Bros before hoes”? Toru’s sense of loyalty drives him to the point where it inhibits him from doing what’s best for him (he always feel obligated to do things for others). What point can you make a difference and what point should you get (or not get) involved? * Jacky: I really liked the quote about death being a part of life rather than a separate entity, and I believe the same goes with companionship. Kizuki’s death drives the lives of Naoko and Toru, and Toru’s loneliness drives to him to do a lot of irrational things. You cannot extinguish the loneliness of life even if companionship is there. * Jenny: Benedict Cumberbatch - No matter how many friends you have, you always die alone. Always think about how your decisions affect others. (Tangent: HOW DID SHERLOCK SURVIVE???) Well…Benedict got carjacked, but he was smooth enough to talk his way out of it. (Full interview) * Kathy: We don’t really fully heal in a linear way, and parts of ourselves are dying as we live. While it is depressing, it is true and fine. Nevertheless, things get better even if we don’t expect it.

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<h4>Norwegian Wood The Beatles</h4>

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn’t a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
“It’s time for bed”

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn’t
And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?