Quotes from book
Norwegian Wood

Name: Norwegian Wood
Author: Haruki Murakami

Haruki MurakamiOriginal title ノルウェイの森 (Japanese, 1987)

Norwegian Wood is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

“What happens when people open their hearts?"
"They get better.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“What makes us the most normal," said Reiko, "is knowing that we're not normal.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“What a terrible thing it is to wound someone you really care for and to do it so unconsciously.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I have a million things to talk to you about. All I want in this world is you. I want to see you and talk. I want the two of us to begin everything from the beginning.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for them to be hurt.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Don't feel sorry for yourself. Only assholes do that.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“A gentleman is someone who does not what he wants to do, but what he should do.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“When you fall in love, the natural thing to do is give yourself to it. That's what I think. It's just a form of sincerity.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“So what’s wrong if there happens to be one guy in the world who enjoys trying to understand you?”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Not that we were incompatible: we just had nothing to talk about.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I don't care what you do to me, but I don't want you to hurt me. I've had enough hurt already in my life. More than enough. Now I want to be happy.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Every once in a while she'll get worked up and cry like that. But that's ok. She's letting her feelings out. The scary thing is not being able to do that. Then your feelings build up and harden and die inside. That's when you're in big trouble.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I really like you, Midori. A lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
“Like a spring bear,” I said.
“A spring bear?” Midori looked up again. “What’s that all about? A spring bear.”
“You’re walking through a field all by yourself one day in spring, and this sweet little bear cub with velvet fur and shiny little eyes comes walking along. And he says to you, “Hi, there, little lady. Want to tumble with me?’ So you and the bear cub spend the whole day in each other’s arms, tumbling down this clover-covered hill. Nice, huh?”
“Yeah. Really nice.”
“That’s how much I like you.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Loving another person is a wonderful thing, and if that love is sincere, no one ends up tossed into a labyrinth. You have to have more faith in yourself.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Which is why I am writing this book. To think. To understand. It just happens to be the way I'm made. I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Variant: Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.
Source: Norwegian Wood

“The others in the dorm thought I wanted to be a writer, because I was always alone with a book, but I had no such ambition. There was nothing I wanted to be.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I guess I don't really understand you yet,' I said. 'I'm not all that smart. It takes me a while to understand things. But if I do have time, I will come to understand you -- better than anyone else in the world ever can.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“It's good when food tastes good, it's kind of like proof you're alive.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

“I wondered if she was trying to convey something to me, something she could not put into words - something prior to words that she could not grasp within herself and which therefore had no hope of ever turning into words.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

Similar authors

Haruki Murakami655

Japanese author, novelist 1949

Yasunari Kawabata44

Japanese author, Nobel Prize winner None

Yukio Mishima60

Japanese author None

Kenzaburō Ōe43

Japanese author None

Kazuo Ishiguro76

Japanese-born British author None

Makoto Kobayashi (physicist)3

Japanese physicist None

Kanō Jigorō19

Japanese educator and judoka None

Daisaku Ikeda25

Japanese writer None

Cesare Pavese137

Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator None

Marcel Proust41

French novelist, critic, and essayist None