Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami (2000 English Translation) - Pretty good, a surprising amount of suicide within the story.
My first time reading a Murakami novel. I find Toru Watanabe to be quite passive; at times when it feels inappropriate to be so, whilst at others it can come across as an attempt to make him seem "wise beyond his years", and despite knowing the book is set during his University years, I found myself surprised when reminded that for the majority of the book he's only 19. At times I also felt as though I was about to begin reading a smut novel, though adult scenes are largely fleating and handled with some care. It's surprising to have a number of women smitten with the main character, but perhaps a milquetoast young adult as a hard find and in high demand in late 1960's Japan.
The final chapter, 11, is a shock, but not an unexpected one. The details we, the reader, and Watanabe recieve about the event which occours only answer a handful of questions; despite this I finished the book satisfied, and feelings as though perhaps answering more questions would have felt forced.
I think out of all the characters, I liked Reiko the best.