The Role Of Sex In Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood

“Norwegian Wood”, a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, is considered by many as “The Catcher in the Rye” of Asia. However, the distinction between the protagonist of each novel is still obvious. For example, if Holden Caulfield has a sour orange in hand, he will peel off its skin, take a bite, then throw the remains on others’ face and yell “it sucks!”. On the other hand, if Watanabe, the protagonist of “Norwegian Wood”, has the same orange, he will peel off its skin, take a bite, and swallow the remains on his own without a word. I’d like to put it that way. I am always curious that how come “Norwegian Wood” never appears on the official recommended booklist, since lots of teenagers are facing the similar kind of problem that the characters of this book do. Some teachers told me that this book is highly “inappropriate” for us young adults to read since it contains many “sensitive” information, like detailed descriptions of sex. I do agree that the details of love-making process are somehow controversial, but under specific context, the descriptions of sex are just too natural to be sexual. Far from being gross, the details of sex presented in “Norwegian Wood” are

He, Kizuki and Naoko(Kizuki’s girlfriend) are close friends until the unexpected death of Kizuki. At the age of 17, Kizuki commits suicide for no apparent reason. His death combines Watanabe and Naoko closer than ever, and eventually, Watanabe can’t help but falling in love with his dead bro’s girlfriend. Undeniably, Naoko heavily relies on Watanabe, but their complex relationship bothers her a lot. After a night of love-making with Watanabe, Naoko leaves for a sanatorium. Watanabe visits her there twice, and gets acquainted with her roommate, Reiko. Months after the second visit, Naoko feels life unbearable and hangs herself in a forest. Instead of attending her funeral, Watanabe and Reiko sing the song “Norwegian Wood” to memorize