Norwegian Wood

---Book
Haruki Murakami. I've heard of this name so many times before I even met this book, Norwegian Wood, the title is same as the one that Beatles sang, which I'd like to thank the author for picking the song name for his book title. The song reminds me of the youth pure love.

I enjoyed Murakami's poetic writing very much, it feels like it was exactly the kind of style [whether for my practice of writing or my preference for romance novles] I've been looking for. Now I understand why many readers seek writers, like Haruki Murakami. There was a reason. Something...Special about the story that he delivers. It doesn't have that lightness.

Watanabe and Naoko had one common thing to share, the loss of their best friend/boyfriend, who committed suicide at 17.
They both headed off for colleges in Tokyo and when they met one day, they just walked the Tokyo street without destination and talk, which they thought was healing their feelings of loss and hurt.
They became closer and Watanabe started to date his best friend's girlfriend.
On Naoko's 20th birthday, she burst into tears and Watanabe held her, and they slept together that night.
Since then, Naoko distanced from Watanabe, far, far away..
They both had a same share, but they dealt it differently.
She was going through mentally challenging problems, because of the hurt she beared inside, and thereby, hospitalized.
While Naoko stepped back from the real world, Watanabe tried to adopt himself to campus life, where he met Midori, an independent, modern and attractive woman, who is very different from Naoko and who all of a sudden, came into Watanabe's life.

I love the each character. I could feel why Watanabe was so lonely and struggling, because of the responsibility he sensed between two very colorful, different women who shaked Watanabe on both sides, and his best friend who died. AND staying true to his feelings.
Figuring out what to do or what should be done or right must have been hard for him at the age of 20.
My favorite scenes were where Midori, wearing her sunglasses and having a short hair cut, approached Watanabe in the school cafeteria with no shyness, exchanging conversation, and where Watanabe had to look after Midori's father when only two of them were left in a hospital room in a rainy day, looking outside the window and hearing raindrops. And where, Watanabe and Naoko exchanged letters, and letters are always good way to add the romantic fragrance to already-romantic-enough novel.

The worst scene I chose was.. uhhh, I guess I'm not going to tell you, because worst scene is not worth it to tell ;; Though, I had really really worst scene and I absolutely hated it.

It's about youth, love and loss. And ultimately, it's about you, a mere human-being.

---Movie
After finish reading, I watched the movie.
In the presence of each actor, I could see the images I had for each character in them.
It felt lucky that I liked all of the casts, especially Kenichi Matsuyama, who played Watanabe. I liked his cute outlook, then I liked his authentic acts, which somehow made me believable.
But probably, I did expect alot, cause as we all know, books are usually (or always?) better than movies when novels get adopted to films. (The trailer was made even better than the actual movie, as if it's going to be a great, awesome movie, so I'm satisfied with the trailer.)

The movie didn't move me as much as the book did it to me.
I was imagining to see more of the couple walking on the dim light Tokyo street and record shop in a modern version, I guess the scenes weren't as modern as I expected, probably because the story took place in 1969.
I was also expecting to witness more of Midori and Watanabe spending time together, so-as-called their dates. I'm sure the entire mood of the movie could have been more enlightened and refreshing, if more of dating scenes were included.
Furthermore, the music that plays for the movie was quite disappointing.
I was doubting my ears if the movie I was seeing was scary or the romanatic one, because the air of the movie was pretty down and dark, all the time.
In the book, I could obviously tell Murakami had a taste for music, but the sense of music was no place to be heard in the movie.

However, the visual part was great, which I had no complaint about it. I think it grasped the first love's beautiful image visually. Whoever the director was, he shoot the most beautiful places and nature with color contrasts and the camera followed the characters' eye movements. I appreciate such details that he captured and put into one of art pieces. One more thing I truly appericate: The lines. The movie wasn't really different from the book.

"Norwegian Wood" is the love story that I couldn't  or won't forget. I really hope it stays longer to my heart, because it's beautiful and it reminds me of how beautiful love and human-beings are.