India is under lockdown due to the Corona Virus and now I’m back at home, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, attending online classes (extra online classes for me, to sync the lateral entry problems -_– )
I just wanted to upload a post about a book which I read in the month of February. Even though my website is a nature-travelogue, I’m writing this book review on “Norwegian Wood” by Haruki Murakami since it took me on an emotional roller-coaster which was a mental travel for me (so, in my defense, this qualifies as a travelogue). I’ll keep the book review in the least exposing way possible so that it would’nt have spoilers but instead be a motivational boost for you all to just go grab the book and read it. And if you’re one of the humans who have this book in their TBR pile, I’d suggest you to drop off everything else and just start bingeing on Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. But make sure that you come back, read this book-review of mine and comment a high-five.
I always had a cup of coffee beside me and a plate of junk food too while reading Norwegian Wood as it made me emotional and I am someone who needs to eat when i get emotional. So, let me tell you, I gained weight after reading this book, and also shed away enough tears to remain the dehydrated mess I am.
Apart from my other blogs, you’d find this one to be different. It’s because I have a personal attachment to this book now as it changed the way I perceive things. The book revolves around youngsters fighting depression. When the word ‘depression’ is used anywhere, most people look away. They find it to be either a silly little thing in the victims’ heads or that they should be stronger and fight it better.
I am not a person who has clinical depression. But this book was an eye-opener for me. I always used to think that those suffering from depression can come out of it if they try hard enough, stay physically fit and try to include positive thoughts. However, that’s not the way it works. Depression is like cold claws choking your throat and pulling you down into deep waters. You try to swim away but the more you struggle, the tighter the claws get and finally you realize that your limbs have gone numb. So, now you’re stuck. Reality and thoughts seem to lose their boundaries soon, it enters into an oblivion. And there arises the question “What’s the point of life?”. It seems nihilistic. But the book taught me about positive nihilism. How the small things in life matter. How those make big differences. This is what I found the characters in the book to be doing to just live their life- they found optimism by focusing on the little things.
The story is gripping in a way that your own personal experiences pop up in your subconscious and forces you to deal with your haunting past. It makes you want to search answers in the coming pages of the book. But all the while, you realize that your own mind is the biggest teacher. The book acts like a tool to help this teacher.
Norwegian Wood has helped me reflect on my past traumas and how to deal with panic attacks. I want everyone who is dealing with their personal problems to read this book and find salvage. The climax of the book is what you believe yourself to be. That is what the main character does.
In the end, the book is about you.
PS: I became a Beatles fan after reading Norwegian Wood and listening to their song. Just, made me fall in love with the concept of being in love.
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice methods and we are looking to swap techniques with others, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested.