It has been two days since I finished reading “Norwegian Forest”. This book is too depressing and easy to fall into pessimism after reading, but the interpretation of loneliness can be deeply rooted in people’s hearts. As I have said before, everyone in the world is lonely. Neither the protagonist in the book nor we in real life can escape the loneliness of the moment. Today I just want to talk about how Murakami faces loneliness.
In the postscript of Norwegian Forest, Murakami said, “This novel was written in southern Europe for only three months. During this period, there was no telephone to bother me. The first half was written in Greece, and the second half was written in Rome. When I was in Athens, I stayed in a low-end hotel without a table. I went into a noisy bar every day, played the same song 120 times on the CD player, and kept writing the novel.” The song he played was John Lennon’s, “Norwegian Forest” is also his song, from which we can see that Murakami likes Lennon’s music very much. Murakami is really a music enthusiast, preferring jazz and running. Later, he wrote a book about himself, “When I Talk about Running, What I Talk About”. There is a theme in the book: “No matter what the world says, I think my feeling is correct. No matter what others think, I will never disturb my rhythm… others can probably prevaricate, but my mind cannot muddle through.”
Readers who have read “Norwegian Forest” will be familiar with this attitude to life, because he is the lifestyle of the hero Watanabe and Yongze. Many writers have said that don’t judge me with my works, but since Murakami has repeatedly described this concept, we can’t help but conclude it as Murakami’s attitude towards life.
In the Norwegian Forest, Yongze said: “Mr. Watanabe, like me, is essentially interested in himself, what he thinks, what he feels, and how he acts – in addition, he has no interest in other things, so he can consider himself separately from others.” In fact, this should be the feeling of Murakami, who can avoid loneliness if he is interested in himself. The people around you will always leave, and the things you love will also lose interest. Your open-minded life will become confused with the geographical transformation, and the people you love will have different feelings sooner or later. Therefore, we have no choice but to find the fun of ourselves. The so-called interesting soul needs you to feel interesting to be interesting. The sense of humor you pretend to others often brings you double loneliness.
Yongzejun is a person with a goal. When others enter a new environment and are complacent, he is determined to learn multiple languages. Because his goal is to become a diplomat, he is only interested in his own future. So, he doesn’t care about Chumei’s feelings and works with all kinds of girls, but Chumei loves him with warm love like the sun. She hopes that he can mature through the world, but she commits suicide before he can change his mind. Later, Yongze called Watanabe and said that after Chumei’s death, he felt a little sad. Watanabe never spoke to him again.
Yongze once told the transitional side of a sentence: “Don’t sympathize with yourself.” The subconscious of this sentence is to be cruel to yourself, don’t indulge in sadness, don’t stay in your own world all the time, and go out to have hope. The difference between Watanabe and Yongze is that Watanabe still has a pure land in his heart, which is the place that no one else has ever visited, and that is the pure love for Naoko. Naoko doesn’t really like Watanabe. He is just a kind of emotional sustenance. As Wu Bai sings, “Is I just a sustenance of your feelings, filling the gap of your feelings?” This is written in the tone of Watanabe. The fact is that Watanabe’s love is a responsibility, a memory of the good years that have passed away. Naoko has gradually become abnormal after the death of his sister and Muyue. He is too sensitive, Too considerate of others. If she is a girl without any ideological burden, she may eventually get married with Mr. Watanabe. She is trapped in the feelings of 17 years old and lost forever.
Men will like the character of Lvzi, a rational and proud girl. Her hope of love is that the person can let him drive at will and give her a sense of love. If she likes a person, she will pay everything for it. As long as he orders, she will go through fire and water at all costs. If that person doesn’t understand, she will turn around and leave. Fortunately, in the end, Watanabe finally chose Lvzi, and only those who love each other can reach the end.
Watanabe and Lingzi are not in love. They are friends who can communicate with each other sincerely. Lingzi gave many advice to the transitional ruler in the letter. Extract a few sentences:
1. Don’t be so upset. Even if we let it be, the long river of the world will still flow in its proper direction, and even if we try our best, the injured person will not be spared. That’s what life is all about.
2. You don’t have to worry about who. If you think you can get happiness, then seize the opportunity in time. In my experience, there are only two or three such opportunities in a person’s life. Once you miss it, you will regret it all your life.
So, finally, Watanabe slept with Lingzi in a comforting way, and completely fulfilled her dream. This is also a way for the two people to talk to each other sincerely. Maybe Watanabe wanted to tell Lingzi that she is not gay. I suspect Haruki Murakami likes to tell readers that sex is also a way for people to solve loneliness. When you decide to go to sleep with a person, it must be mutual trust. However, many people are not aware of this, just curious and playful.
This book has a large number of sexual descriptions, which make people blush and heartbeat. It may be a portrayal of people’s life in that era. Watanabe finally tired of sleeping with many girls. Yongzejun insists on taking this as his pleasure. Everyone’s choice is the philosophy of life.
Murakami mentioned in his postscript that this novel can be dedicated to my friends who have died and my friends who have remained in the world. Maybe he wrote this novel based on the people around him. The people who left have their own stories, and the people who left should have ways to solve loneliness. I hope that lonely you can also find a way to solve loneliness for yourself. Extreme ways are never advisable. Love the world, remember its bright and bright, lonely and prosperous, and you should be happy all your life.
