What Can I Say? I'm Hopeless

One of the reasons I came to Japan was because I wanted my life to be like a Murakami novel, even if only for a year.

I wanted chance encounters which would possibly alter the course of my life. I wanted moments so surreal I couldn’t tell whether I was dreaming or awake.

I’m hopeless, I know.

Anyway, when I came here I was wide-eyed with hands clasped together just knowing that it was going to happen.

But, you know, like everything else, life tends to get in the way of living.

I focused on not losing my mind, going to a job that, on most days, is about as inspiring as working in a slaughterhouse, and just generally losing focus of why I came here.

Then in Tokyo I was wandering through a bookstore with an English section and decided to see if they had Murakami novels. Of course they did.

I have read quite a few of his books, but I still hadn’t read the one book that everyone who reads Murakami is supposed to read: Norwegian Wood.

I bought it and happened to win some kind of raffle thing, and the prize was a Norwegian Wood tote bag. Freaky right? My life was already looking more like a Murakami novel.

Or, rather, as I found out later a movie based on the book has just come out.

Anyway I started to read it on the Shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Kobe. Tearing through the Japanese country side by myself on the bullet train with misty valleys and mountains half-hidden by fog in the background pretty much demanded that I crack open this book

I don’t know that I’ve ever been so absorbed by a book. I brought it with me everywhere and finished it somewhere between Kobe and Okinawa, and the book totally made my vacation a vacation. Not to mention gave me a much needed kick in the ass to remind me of why I’m here.

I will of course never go see the movie because it’s certainly made with some ultra pretty actor and will totally strip the characters of any depth that made the novel so easy to identify with.

Then I got kind of annoyed with myself: Why hadn’t I read this before?! I’ve seen it a million times but never picked it up just because I hated the title.

Then I had a Murakami-novel moment and thought, “Maybe I didn’t read it until now because now was exactly when I was meant to read it.”

Like I said, I’m totally hopeless.

I’m not going to go into what it was about; this post is long enough and I’m not about to begin reviewing books.

But the book takes its name from this song, and listening to this song is pretty much like a book review:



My next goal is to find someone who appreciates this book as much as I do, then get absolutely shitwrecked with them as we listen to this song on a continuous loop.

Hope. Less.