Norwegian Wood

Watanabe muses that looking back on 1969 feels like remembering a swamp. His 20th birthday comes and goes, but life remains the same, and social changes promised by revolutionaries seem “two-dimensional” when they arrive. Days pass in an endless cycle of studying, working, and writing letters to Naoko on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes, he sees Midori, but he avoids Nagasawa, not wanting to chase women.

In December, he asks Naoko if he can visit. Reiko answers, saying that Naoko isn’t up for writing but that she is doing well and he should come to Ami Hostel. He goes for two days again and spends the time helping the women with their chores and listening to Reiko play the guitar. Naoko is less talkative than before, but Reiko allows them some time alone. Naoko tells Watanabe that she still cannot have penetrative sex with him, but she uses her hands on him again and gives him oral sex. Watanabe tells her that he hasn’t slept with any other women and reiterates his wish for her to live with him. She thanks him but warns him that she might never get better and she might never be able to have sex with him. Watanabe tells her he is an “inborn optimist,” but Naoko says they should both think about the situation more. After three days, Watanabe bids Naoko and Reiko farewell, telling them he will try to visit again in March.

The year 1970 dawns, and Watanabe passes his end-of-year exams. He finds a place, a small backyard cottage in a suburb, and Nagasawa helps him move and gives him some things he no longer needs with his own move to the Foreign Ministry. Watanabe writes to Naoko, telling her about his new home, asking her again to come live with him, and stating his intention to visit in March. No reply arrives, however, and the spring passes slowly. Watanabe finds a new job and passes the time organizing his new home. He adopts a street kitten that he calls Seagull. One day, Watanabe realizes that he hasn’t spoken to Midori in weeks; he forgot to tell her that he was moving. When he calls, her sister tells him Midori is too angry to talk to him. Watanabe feels guilty. Midori isn’t his girlfriend, but he recognizes they have a special connection, and it was wrong of him to move without telling her. He writes a letter of apology and mails it.

Finally, in April, he receives a letter from Reiko saying that Naoko isn’t well. Although she is trying her best to recover, she has been experiencing a relapse and is unable to write because of hearing voices. She says that Naoko has spent much time in therapy, but she might have to be moved to a hospital if she doesn’t improve. After reading the letter, Watanabe sits on his porch thinking of nothing, feeling “completely drained.” He is filled with a violent hatred for spring and his life, and he spends three days “all but walking on the bottom of the sea” (247), feeling separated from everyone and everything.

He finally receives a letter from Midori inviting him to lunch on campus, which pulls him out of his slump. He reflects that he had assumed that Naoko was recovering and that they would soon start a life together. Reiko’s letter broke his “fragile hypothesis,” and he wonders how long he can wait for Naoko. He thinks he is not like Kizuki; he won’t abandon his responsibility to Naoko, but he feels conflicted.

When he meets Midori, she is shocked by his appearance and the amount of weight he’s lost. She asks if he’s been having too much sex with his mysterious girlfriend, but Watanabe tells her he hasn’t had sex in six months. He says, instead, he has grown up. She apologizes for waiting so long to write him, saying she wanted to get “even” but admitting it was childish. He tells her she is his best friend, and he doesn’t want to lose her.

After lunch, they go for coffee and then to a bookstore. They drink more coffee and play pinball at an arcade. Finally, Midori tells Watanabe she has to go. She gives him a letter, telling him to read it when he gets home. He opens it on the train. Midori wrote the letter while Watanabe was buying them drinks. She says he hasn’t listened to anything she said all afternoon, and he failed to notice the new hairstyle she’d been trying so hard to grow out. She had brought her toothbrush and pajamas, hoping to spend the night at his new apartment, but instead lied about having to meet her sister. She tells him that she isn’t angry, just sad. Watanabe is “locked up in that little world of [his]” (253), and Midori knows she cannot get through to him. She tells him not to speak to her in their next class.

Watanabe calls Midori as soon as he gets off the train, but there is no answer. Back home, he tries to write her a letter but cannot find the words, so he writes to Naoko instead. He tells her about the new school year and says he often thinks about the last time she touched him. He sees Midori in class, but she refuses to speak to him. April and May pass in a haze of loneliness. Watanabe writes to Naoko, Reiko, and Midori, but without reply. He starts a job at an Italian restaurant and befriends one of the other servers, a quiet young man who likes art, music, and literature. However, this new friend is Watanabe’s only companion, and the loneliness weighs heavy on him. He finally receives a letter from Reiko. She says that Naoko has been moved to a hospital and is still unable to write letters. She gives Watanabe Naoko’s new address and asks that he continue writing to both of them.

In the middle of June, Midori finally starts speaking to him again. She invites him to lunch at a department store restaurant, and afterward, they walk on the roof in the rain. Watanabe admits that he has been in a deep depression and says his sadness has been worse without Midori. She asks if he has considered how sad she has been without him, and he admits it never occurred to him. She tells Watanabe that she is in love with him and broke up with her boyfriend to be with him. Watanabe tells her that he loves her, too, but because of the “complicated” situation with Naoko, he “can’t make a move” (262).

Midori says that she is “a real, live girl” who wants to give herself completely to Watanabe (263). She warns that she is a “real bargain,” and someone else will snatch her up if Watanabe hesitates. He promises that he does love her, and reassured, Midori says she can wait for him to sort out his situation. They kiss in the rain and then return to Midori’s apartment. They clean up from the rain and get into bed, where they kiss and talk. Watanabe says they cannot have sex until he has made things right with Naoko. Instead, Midori removes her panties and invites Watanabe to masturbate into them.

Back in his own apartment, Watanabe contemplates the developments with Midori. He thinks there is nothing about the day that he would take back; he has been in love with Midori for a long time, and he is relieved to admit it finally. However, he is also sure that he still loves Naoko, even if it is a “twisted” love. Wondering what to do, he writes to Reiko for advice. She replies a week later, saying that “the natural think to do is give yourself” to love (268), but advises him against telling Naoko for the time being. She says that people will get hurt no matter how hard Watanabe tries to prevent it, and he must focus on making himself happy.