murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

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I nodded. "I think the three of us can help each other - you and Naoko and I - if we really want to, and if we're really honest. It can be incredibly effective when three people work at it like that. How long can you stay?" "Well, I'd like to get back to Tokyo by early evening the day after tomorrow. I have to work, and I've got a German exam on Thursday." "Good," she said. "So you can stay with us. That way it won't cost you anything and you can talk without having to worry about the time." "With "us'?" I asked. "Naoko and me, of course," said Reiko. "We have a separate bedroom, and there's a sofa bed in the living room, so you'll be able to sleep fine. Don't worry." ,,Do they allow that?" I asked. "Can a male visitor stay in a Woman's room?" "I don't suppose you're going to come in and rape us in the middle of the night?" "Don't be silly." "So there's no problem, then. Stay in our place and we can have some nice, long talks. That would be the best thing. Then we can really understand each other. And I can play my guitar for you. I'm pretty good, you know." "Are you sure I'm not going to be in the way?" Reiko put her third Seven Star between her lips and lit it after screwing up the corner of her mouth. "Naoko and I have already discussed this. The two of us together are giving you a personal invitation to stay with us. Don't you think you should just politely accept?" "Of course, I'll be glad to." Reiko deepened the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and looked at me for a time. "You've got this funny way of talking," she said. "Don't tell me you're trying to imitate that boy in Catcher in the Rye?" 120
"No way!" I said with a smile. Reiko smiled too, cigarette in mouth. "You are a good person, though. I can tell that much from looking at you. I can tell these things after seven years of watching people come and go here: there are people who can open their hearts and people who can't. You're one of the ones who can. Or, more precisely, you can if you want to." "What happens when people open their hearts?" Reiko clasped her hands together on the table, cigarette dangling from her lips. She was enjoying this. "They get better," she said. Ash dropped onto the table, but she seemed not to notice. Reiko and I left the main building, crossed a hill, and passed by a pool, some tennis courts, and a basketball court. Two men - one thin and middle-aged, the other young and fat were on a tennis court. Both used their racquets well, but to me the game they were playing could not have been tennis. It seemed as if the two of them had a special interest in the bounce of tennis balls and were doing research in that area. They slammed the ball back and forth with a kind of strange concentration. Both were drenched in sweat. The young man, in the end of the court closer to us, noticed Reiko and carne over. They exchanged a few words, smiling. Near the court, a man with no expression on his face was using a large mower to cut the grass. Moving on, we came to a patch of <strong>wood</strong>s where some 15 or 20 neat little cottages stood at some distance from each other. The same kind of yellow bike the gatekeeper had been riding was parked at the entrance to almost every house. "Staff members and their families live here," said Reiko. "We have just about everything we need without going to the city," she said as we walked along. "Where food is concerned, as I said before, we're practically self-sufficient. We get eggs from our own chicken coop. We have books and records and exercise facilities, our own convenience store, and every week barbers and beauticians come to visit. We even have films at weekends. Anything special we need 121
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HARUKI MURAKAMI was born in Kyoto i
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First published as Normeei no marl
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The stewardess came to check on me
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a kick to some part of my mind. Wak
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"I just know," she said, increasing
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along the path. "I'm sorry," she sa
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Once upon a time, many years ago -
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national anthem, too, of course. Yo
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for ashtrays held mounds of cigaret
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anything about the others myself, I
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"But that's impossible," he said ma
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Almost a year had gone by since I h
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eally wouldn't be any bother to you
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occupying that central position. Tr
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wiper. Kizuki had left no suicide n
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Naoko called me the following Satur
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somebody in the dorm had taken down
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answers they wanted. And so I went
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hesitation. "Not exactly fashionabl
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he said. "Swallowed 'em whole." "Wh
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and while she was putting on her st
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That winter I found a part-time job
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arrived at Naoko's room the cake wa
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trying to go on, but had come up ag
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I picked up my clothes and dressed.
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at the end I added: Waiting for you
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etter. As you say, this is probably
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Maybe this firefly was on the verge
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During the summer holidays the univ
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dust covered his desk and radio. Hi
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she said. "I had a perm this summer
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omantic company? New women in far-o
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lecture. When it was over I went to
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Watanabe, I have this feeling like,
Page 70 and 71: problems far more urgent and releva
Page 72 and 73: ain." "Shouldn't you go home and ge
Page 74 and 75: expensive school trips. For instanc
Page 76 and 77: esting on her lap. "That was the pr
Page 78 and 79: you." "I'd like that," I said. Mido
Page 80 and 81: the shutter and stepped a few paces
Page 82 and 83: "Thanks," I said. It suddenly dawne
Page 84 and 85: I nodded, swallowing a mouthful of
Page 86 and 87: "You're very clear about what you l
Page 88 and 89: "I'd go and have a look around at l
Page 90 and 91: unning away." "Even if this place b
Page 92 and 93: "It's true. Don't you think I'm ter
Page 94 and 95: different from other people's. I'm
Page 96 and 97: call," I said. 'As long as lunch is
Page 98 and 99: At 11.30 Nagasawa was ready to give
Page 100 and 101: "So find a vending machine and a ni
Page 102 and 103: the events had undoubtedly happened
Page 104 and 105: this time I am very, very calm. Cle
Page 106 and 107: We eat freshly picked fruits and ve
Page 108 and 109: to the Ami Hostel. A woman receptio
Page 110 and 111: still taste my morning coffee. By t
Page 112 and 113: PRIVATE NO TRESPASSING. A few clues
Page 114 and 115: merely a nice person but whose nice
Page 116 and 117: my question. "The first thing you o
Page 118 and 119: "What should I do, then? Give me an
Page 122 and 123: we can ask a staff member to buy fo
Page 124 and 125: "I'm sure I'll be fine." "So, that
Page 126 and 127: With Naoko gone, I went to sleep on
Page 128 and 129: weightlessness on the secretion of
Page 130 and 131: "It's lovely, though," said Naoko.
Page 132 and 133: never plays it unless I request it.
Page 134 and 135: laughing. "How many girls has he sl
Page 136 and 137: "I couldn't get wet," she said in a
Page 138 and 139: Reiko sat alone on the carpet, play
Page 140 and 141: She picked up the basketball again,
Page 142 and 143: it in hot water, taking a few days
Page 144 and 145: I said I liked him and thought he w
Page 146 and 147: all this talk about me. You came he
Page 148 and 149: have negative thoughts about her be
Page 150 and 151: draw people - or draw me, at least
Page 152 and 153: her, outside work, or sports. She h
Page 154 and 155: est side, I'd say he succeeded. His
Page 156 and 157: anana; if we got lonely, we'd go to
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Page 160 and 161: changes to be reborn in utter perfe
Page 162 and 163: feed and a garden hose. Naoko screw
Page 164 and 165: "We'll be back before lunch." The t
Page 166 and 167: used it to make a whistle. The trai
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"It feels like ancient history," sa
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"Well, it depends how you look at i
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"She was the kind of person who too
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something inside me had died. I jus
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dining hall. "Is he a doctor or a p
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"Fine," said Reiko. "But if we keep
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most. Then I'd have her play the pi
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to go on with her story. "Well, any
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and saying "There there,' and she's
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There was nothing I could say, and
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ever experienced before, never once
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Of course. I told him everything th
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everything he could to heal me, and
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night before, Naoko was the usual N
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the way, when you went to Tokyo?" "
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her body in my hands. In the darkne
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"You see what?" "Nothing. Just "I s
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I'd make lots of babies for you as
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"Hmm ..." "And I'm just spacing out
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Midori came for me at 9.30 on Sunda
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"I don't know, I've never done it w
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like the subjunctive case and diffe
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somehow to the East India Company?'
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comes we have to treat them to sush
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Watanabe." "Glad to meet you," I sa
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"No, I guess not. It's complicated,
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"I really can't say until the time
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know if I can keep going to univers
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At 1.30 she left the hospital to do
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"After I do my laundry tomorrow mor
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ed and held it by the tip of his pe
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make people get really vicious all
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worry, I'd take care of both you an
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"Will you really take me to a porno
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stolen bases. After noon I went bac
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made myself a cup of tea with a tea
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"I do." "Look, the world is an inhe
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Eventually a waiter came and took o
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"What do you mean "that kind of tal
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"You know, Toru," she said, "I have
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"I can leave," I said. "No," said H
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of loving anybody. There's always s
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"Do you know somewhere we could pla
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"Or is it that you don't like being
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anybody's said to me in the past ye
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quadrangle. I began by telling Naok
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There was no sign of Midori at the
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I sipped my whisky and soda, then s
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open a pistachio, "the whole time I
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"You know," she said, "I have this
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"There aren't any trees around here
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early." "Wait a minute, I thought y
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"Me, too," I said. "Every once in a
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situation conducive to sexual excit
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eyond the window cast a soft white
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so painful for me to write letters.
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Thinking back on the year 1969, all
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shovelling snow when there was time
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over this, and then climbed into he
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great couple." "Yeah, right!" I sai
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I went to a phone box and dialled h
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gardeners in the area and because h
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you to one of our sessions if possi
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A letter came from Midori on 6 Apri
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eginning of October." "Whew! That c
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ago. My sister helps out there thre
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even noticed that my hairstyle had
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Saturdays and Sundays: waiting on t
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of letters like this, but from Naok
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whisky. Itoh said I could spend the
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it for you soon. I went to the univ
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"I've been really lonely these past
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you don't know the answer to someth
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eak, without a sound, soaking her h
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"But really, Watanabe, you don't wa
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her bed. I had no doubts about thos
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The fourth thing I have to say is t
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Reiko wrote to me several times aft
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nails being driven into the lid of
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The wind tore along the sand beach
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However I might phrase it, though,
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On the train out to Kichijoji, Reik
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tiny flowers in the grass, the subt
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"The jacket and trousers are hers,
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her why she was burning stuff like
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stroked her hair. "Don't worry,' I
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amount of cash. So don't worry. I w
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the point. I can't forgive myself.
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"So play it terribly." I brought ou
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myself inside her. "You're not goin
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you: you'll do fine wherever you go
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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE Haruki Murakami w
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murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

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