murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

"You know, Toru," she said, "I have no idea what makes your
situation so "complicated', but I do think that the kind of thing you just
told me about is not right for you. You're not that kind of person.
What do you think?" She placed her hands on the table and looked me
in the eye.
"Well," I said, "I've felt that way myself sometimes."
"So why don't you stop?"
"Because sometimes I have a need for human warmth," I answered
honestly. "Sometimes, if I can't feel something like the warmth of a
woman's skin, I get so lonely I can't stand it."
"Here, let me summarize what I think it's all about," interjected
Nagasawa. "Watanabe's got this girl he likes, but for certain
complicated reasons, they can't do it. So he tells himself "Sex is just
sex', and he takes care of his need with somebody else. What's wrong
with that? It makes perfect sense. He can't just stay locked in his room
tossing off all the time, can he?"
"But if you really love her, Toru, shouldn't it be possible for you to
control yourself?"
"Maybe so," I said, bringing a piece of sea bass in cream sauce to my
mouth.
"You just don't understand a man's sexual needs," said Nagasawa to
Hatsumi. "Look at me, for example. I've been with you for three years,
and I've slept with plenty of women in that time. But I don't remember
a thing about them. I don't know their names, I don't remember their
faces. I slept with each of them exactly once. Meet 'em, do it, so long.
That's it. What's wrong with that?"
"What I can't stand is that arrogance of yours," said Hatsumi in a soft
voice. "Whether you sleep with other women or not is beside the
point. I've never really been angry with you for sleeping around, have
I?"
"You can't even call what I do sleeping around. It's just a game.
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