Flashbacks

The whole novel pretty much has to do with flashbacks all throughout. Do you think this helps better establish the overall mood and tone of the book or do you think it just confuses the reader on what is going on. Personally I get confused really easily when I am reading it and I have to backtrack to try and find out what the heck is going on in the book.

Naoko's sickness

In the novel Naoko is very attached to the song norwegian wood, in case you haven't heard it here are the lyrics:

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

I hadn't read the lyrics when I first read the book because I didn't want it to affect the way I read the book since I assumed it somehow related, and I was right! The lyrics are a kind of parallel to the different relationships Toru has in the book. With Naoko when he sleeps with her when they get drunk and with Midori when they have dinner and watch the house burn down. I still don't see how this song is important to Naoko or why she likes it so much but I'm sure it will reveal itself by the end. Do you guys have any ideas as to why she might like it so much?

Numb

I think the reason Toru seems so calm, collected and cool to the other characters is that Kizuki's suicide has left him a little numb. He doesn't react the way a normal character would in the situations he's faced with. For example, when Midori tell's him she's willing to die in her home if it catches fire he just passively accepts it. Do you think this will affect him or that he'll continue to live as normally as he can?

Nagawasa

Why do you think that Nagawasa is brought up alot after Watanabe speaks about Kizuki? Do you think he is just trying to show the different types of people he associated himself with or just to show that he is innocent compared to other people around him?

Storm trooper

I think it is really interesting how Toru spends so much time focusing on his roommate and tells the readers everything about it him so we feel like we know who Storm trooper is. Why do you think the author does this? Do you think the other wants you to feel like you know everyone?

Kizuki's Suicide

It's pretty obvious that both Naoko and Toru were both deeply affected by Kizuki's suicide but so far Toru has avoided talking about it. In the novel he focuses so much time describing his relationships with other characters and he even talks in detail about characters that play a much smaller role in his life (like storm trooper) so it seems weird. Do you think he'll finally get to talking about Kizuki or that he'll just avoid the subject throughout the novel?

20 year gap

Do you guys think Watanabe is a reliable narrator? He takes time out of the beginning of the novel to explicitly mention that he has trouble remembering Naoko but at the same time despite the 20 years that have gone by he seems to remember much more than a normal person would be expected to. So far he seems reliable but do you think perhaps we should take what he says about his college days with a grain of salt?

xoxo, ya girl tina

Norwegian Wood

Do you guys think that the way Haruki Murakami set up the book so that the main character is in the airplane thinking about the past is effective in creating the scenario of the story? Like with the use of all the imagery and the flashbacks.