What's after Norwegian Wood?

January 22, 2007 10:03 AM

A series of bad relationships left me a little bitter & twisted, so I've not been dating for quite a while. Reading Murakami's Norwegian Wood this weekend however has restored a little of my faith in the possibility of new relationships. What should I read next to keep me on this path?
posted by russmail to Writing & Language (20 answers total)

For Esme -- With Love and Squalor by Salinger? Maybe, anyway. Its short enough you can read it, and then say if it was a good follow-up or not.
posted by chunking express at 10:20 AM on January 22, 2007

(The version of the story I linked is poorly type-set. You can find the story in the collection 9 Stories.)
posted by chunking express at 10:21 AM on January 22, 2007

Try Alan De Botton's "Essays In Love" (Or "On Love" in the U.S.).
posted by brautigan at 10:21 AM on January 22, 2007

Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love.
posted by xo at 10:29 AM on January 22, 2007

Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love.
posted by xo at 10:29 AM on January 22, 2007

(It's that good.) whoops.
posted by xo at 10:29 AM on January 22, 2007

Two novels by the greatest French novelist of all time:

The Red and the Black

and

The Charterhouse of Parma

in that order.
posted by koeselitz at 10:42 AM on January 22, 2007

If On a Winter's Night A Traveler
posted by Miko at 10:52 AM on January 22, 2007

Great Expectations, but be sure to get the edition with the last words, "I saw no shadow of another parting form her."
posted by Kirklander at 11:32 AM on January 22, 2007

While I've not read every Murakami novel, going by the ones I have read, probably not more Murakami (though there may be many, many other reasons to read more Murakami).
posted by advil at 11:44 AM on January 22, 2007

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.
posted by logic vs love at 12:18 PM on January 22, 2007

Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera
posted by taliaferro at 1:42 PM on January 22, 2007

Life After God by Douglas Coupland
posted by slimepuppy at 1:46 PM on January 22, 2007

How to Win Friends and Influence people by Dale Carnegie. Communication is still the basis of dating/flirting/relationships (and amazing how few people are good with this) and the ideals of this book definitely apply.
posted by skimides at 2:42 PM on January 22, 2007

I like Baxter's The Feast of Love but it seems to me you're looking for an extremely optimistic book and I don't recall it being that. It's wonderfully written, for sure, and has a great premise, but ... well, my favorite books of this type (Gilmour's Sparrow Nights, Spencer's Endless Love, Roth's The Dying Animal, Burnham Schwartz's Claire Marvel, Marche's Raymond and Hannah, the writings of Leonard Cohen) are usually considered downers by everyone else, so even though I don't recall the specifics of Baxter's book, I find it hard to believe that it's optimistic.

But, like "sad songs" or breakup songs, personally, I find "harsh" love stories to be tremendously uplifting--I like to know others are experiencing a similar pain and recovering.
posted by dobbs at 4:11 PM on January 22, 2007

Oh, and you may find this ealier thread useful.
posted by dobbs at 4:13 PM on January 22, 2007

Jeez. Keep reading Murikami.

Kafka on the beach.
Wind up bird chronicles.

The first half of Winter's Tale is one of the most romantic books ever.
posted by asavage at 7:06 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Wind up bird chronicles is good, though really bizarre.
posted by chunking express at 7:46 AM on January 23, 2007

Norwegian Wood is Murakami's attempt at a 'straight' romance novel, so you'll probably be more surprised when you read his other books, as I was.

Try The Ground Beneath Her Feet, by Salman Rushdie.
posted by suedehead at 8:25 AM on January 23, 2007

The first half of Winter's Tale is one of the most romantic books ever.

What. He. Said.
posted by eriko at 5:42 PM on January 25, 2007