amazing

Norwegian Wooden is true soulful story that will guide you down a truly heart breaking tale. Beautifully written and masterfully narrated.

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narrator ruined a great book

never listening to another book by this narrator. made the female voice sound so creepy and kept rushing anything that was written poetically and making it sound meaningless

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3 people found this helpful

Not bad.

I only listened to this book because it is on a ‘100 books……’ poster. Haven’t read anything by the author before but from reading reviews I had the impression it may be a bit odd. However, it was just an average story, nothing gripping but it did hold my attention. Not sure about the ending though.

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Sad but excellent

Fantastic book, was enthralling but very sad. The voice actor did a decent job definitely worth a listen.

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An excellent, slightly awkward listen.

The story and writing I found to be masterfully done by Murakami and it personally resonated with me. The narrator has received a lot of criticism, very harshly. His voice as Toru conveys the character really well, despite some mispronunciations and some awkward voices for the women.

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Good story, sub-par narration

Enjoyed the story, but the whiney nasal narration made every character sound petulant and unpleasant

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3 people found this helpful

Not sure what to think about it

The American narrator’s voice was weird, especially for women, who all sounded quite vulgar and sometimes completely puerile and/or capricious, usually stupid.
He couldn’t even bother to pronounce names properly (ex: Naoko pronounced Nay-o-KHP instead of Nah-o-Jo), which is quite unprofessional if you ask me. Just find out the correct Japanese pronunciation!
About the story… It takes place in the late sixties in a Tokyo university setting, The main character is a very ordinary guy, but everyone else around him seems extraordinary and/or crazy. Four suicides, two brain tumours, an OCD and probably autistic dormitory roommate, a cynical womaniser, a self taught child chef, a former piano child prodigy, a manipulative teen lesbian, many mental breakdowns, many sex scenes, some drafted political thoughts about communism and fascism… In the end I took it as a book about emotions, mental health, how we treat each other, and the the maturation of a boy in a society where sex seems problematic, either because it’s disrespectful and objectifies women without any regard for their feelings, or because it’s too early, or inappropriate, or not consensual, or painful, or doesn’t work… In the end, it causes hurt instead of love, and the main character seems to come to painfully realise that in the end, and chooses another path, probably more traditional.

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Great Story Telling

I recently came across this book through an app that I am subscribed to. I am so glad that I did. I was so captivated by the narration, the characters and all their own stories. I loved it!

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to step into someone's mind is a scary thing.

This may be my fourth or fifth Murikami book. while it lacked the weirdness and deep thought of others it took me on a warm and thoughtful journey. Overall it was a very sad love story and a coming of age novel at its core. As always his descriptions make you feel like you are there, I could hear the crunching of cucumbers and almost taste the soup. I feel like I know the characters so well I could sit and chat at length with them. I will miss them and only wish them the best.

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Irritating reader

Adam Simms has some awful vocal fry. It became really grating as the novel went on.

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3 people found this helpful