Reading, Writing and Feeling

Somehow I guess I had overlooked Norwegian Wood, the Murakami novel that is now a film in Japan. But I did, so I got a copy and read it straight through in two days.

Trying to figure out what it is about his writing that I like, I came up with this: It goes down easily, like a smoothie. Most of the time, that is.

Then there is the punch in the stomach, where he delivers plot elements, usually the death of a beloved character, that is hard to take. He writes about these deaths with rare eloquence: "...no truth can cure the sorrow we feel from losing a loved one. No truth, no sincerity, no strength, no kindness can cure that sorrow. All we can do is see it through to the end and learn something from it..."

I do have an editor's criticism. Only in places where his description s people or places go into too much detail does my mind begin to wander and my eye skip ahead until he finds his way back to the narrative. Here, his writing needs to be tightened up.

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The other novel I read is a different genre altogether: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson. Like Murakami, Larsson is masterly at drawing a character, particularly a female character.

The protagonist in this book -- a computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander -- is unforgettable. Lucky that she appears in his other two novels, and I'm sorry that the author died before he could write more.

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Writing as therapy, writing as a way to vent; writing as a way to heal; writing as a way to reclaim hope. These are all valid uses of the written word. Words, like moods, come and go. Sometimes, a storm blows in. Afterwards, the sun returns.

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