History Literature / NorwegianWood

* TheGreatGatsby: Both Watanabe and Nagasawa's favourite novel and a theme of the novel.

* MayDecemberRomance: Toward the end of the novel.

* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Subverted. [[spoiler:Naoko kills herself, leaving Watanabe free to pursue Midori. He calls her and tells her he wants to be with her, but the story ultimately ends on a cliffhanger, leaving it ambiguous whether they ultimately got together or not.]]

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Midori is this but unusually for the trope Watanabe doesn't realise this until near the end of the novel.

* LoveTriangle

* FragileFlower

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] was made in 2010 by the Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran. It was released in December 2010 in Japan, as well as festival showings and small releases in Canada and Italy. The cast features Rinko Kikuchi, KenichiMatsuyama and ShigesatoItoi. The score was composed by [[RadioHead Jonny Greenwood]].

** Being a bit of a {{Jerkass}} and decidedly unsympathetic, Nagasawa is more of TheCasanova.

** Being a bit of a {{Jerkass}} and decidedly unsympathetic, Nagasawa is more of a {{Casanova}}.

* TitledAfterTheSong: After TheBeatles song; it's one of Naoko's favorites. Watanabe hearing a version of it on an international flight triggers memories of Naoko and kicks off the novel.

* TitledAfterTheSong: After TheBeatles song; it's one of Naoko's favorites. Wantanabe hearing a version of it on an international flight triggers memories of Naoko and kicks off the novel.

* TitledAfterTheSong: After TheBeatles song; it's one of Naoko's favorites.

* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Reiko's piano student. She lies constantly, even about things that don't matter, has a magnetic personality (to the point of successfully seducing a heterosexual woman) is sexually aggressive, and has absolutely no empathy. Reiko even describes her face as seeming painted on, with nothing behind her eyes whatsoever.]]

''Norwegian Wood'' (ノルウェイの森, ''Noruwei no Mori'') is a 1987 ComingOfAge novel by the Japanese author HarukiMurakami. The publication of this book led Murakami to unwanted superstardom in Japan; so much so that he eventually left for the United States and Germany. Fans of his works often note that ''Norwegian Wood'' as a novel is far removed from his ordinary works. It is a fairly straightforward tale of adolescent romance and the protagonist, Toru Watanabe, is very much an {{Everyman}} as opposed to other protagonists in works such as ''Literature/KafkaOnTheShore'' or ''Literature/AfterDark''.

''Norwegian Wood'' is a 1987 ComingOfAge novel by the Japanese author HarukiMurakami. The publication of this book led Murakami to unwanted superstardom in Japan; so much so that he eventually left for the United States and Germany. Fans of his works often note that ''Norwegian Wood'' as a novel is far removed from his ordinary works. It is a fairly straightforward tale of adolescent romance and the protagonist, Toru Watanabe, is very much an {{Everyman}} as opposed to other protagonists in works such as ''KafkaOnTheShore'' or ''Literature/AfterDark''.

* TheEveryman: Watanabe

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The title refers to TheBeatles song, which is a favourite of Naoko.

* BettyAndVeronica: YourMileageMayVary on exactly which girl fits which role in Watanabe's life, but one might take Naoko as the Betty and Midori as the Veronica, at least at face value.

A [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] was made in 2010 by the Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran. It was released in December 2010 in Japan, as well as festival showings and small releases in Canada and Italy. The cast features Rinko Kikuchi and KenichiMatsuyama, and the score was composed by [[RadioHead Jonny Greenwood]].