the book recommendation thread

I cannot suggest enough of any Haruki Murakami book. He's my favorite contemporary author, and I'm sure all the Japanophiles emos on this board will eat Norwegian Wood up.

Basically it tells the story of Toru, a college kid in Tokyo during the late 1960's. He falls in love with his dead best friend's girlfriend, a girl named Naoko who is as damaged as they come. Eventually she goes insane and moves in to a mental instuition and the rest of the book is Toru's balance between his lingering love for Naoko, a new girl named Midori and coming to grips with his own aimless lonely life in the big city. I particularily like it because Jay Rubin, who translated the book, did a really excellent job on it.

It's a good book and while Murakami has better work out there (Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Windup Bird Chronicle), Norwegian Wood is a great starting point.

Jam it back in, in the dark.