Hi everyone, I just finished reading Norwegian Wood, and, overall, i really liked the book. It’s been my first Murakami novel. Particularly, I enjoyed the melancholic atmosphere, the rhythm of the story, the deepness into topics like loss and loneliness… In general, I’ve felt emotionally moved by this book. I love being able to empathise with “depressed” characters in novels, and I really think Murakami did a great job there.
However, and as many other readers on the net, I found the male gaze quite evident throughout the story. Also, the depiction of some sex scenes took me out a bit. Especially >!the one between Reiko and the 13yo girl… Ignoring for a moment the age gap (overall really weird to write a scene like that lol), I really don’t like when the only queer representation in a piece of media is as bad as this one (girls/women having sex to please the straight male part of the audience, depiction of a queer character as a predator…)!<.
So, I would like to read your recommendations of other books that share the great aspects of this novel, but with better construction of female characters. Also, good representation of LGBT+ characters would be a huge + for me. I would love the main character not being straight!
Thank you all in advance 🙂
by GreenStain11