Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood is a novel by Haruki Murakami first released in 1987, which is named after a Beatles song. Here's the wiki synopsis.

Interestingly enough, Murakami disliked the overwhelming popularity of the novel (It sold 2 million copies in Japan) so much that he left Japan for Europe for 5 years.

The thing about Murakami's writing, and this must also go to the credit of the English translator Jay Rubin, is that it is light and simple. There are no heavy descriptions that some writers try to toss your way, which my brain tries to catch like an oily bowling ball.

With Murakami, despite how different his characters are from me and the people I know, and how surreal or dreamlike the story may be - he still manages to conjure this sense of empathy and awe within me.

If someone were to ask me what his writing is like, I'd say it's like reading a transcript of a beautiful dream. It doesn't always make sense but when you wake up, you feel a lingering sense of melancholy that makes you wish you could have that dream once again.

9 out of 10 stars.