Norwegian wood

"At thirty-seven, Toru Watanabe at last feels ready to come to terms with a love affair that obsessed him in his student days. Almost twenty years before, he and his teenage lover Naoko battled the shadow of death that threatened to overtake them. As Naoko sinks deeper into the abyss of mental despair that will ultimately cost her her life, Toru is inexorably pushed to find new meanings and a new love in order to survive. This haunting love story, told with a relaxed, humorous style, is alive with the fumbling tenderness and confusion of youth. Amid the impersonality of today's society, the dilemmas of love and final reaffirmation of life touch deep-rooted chords, which is one reason for the novel's outstanding success in Japan." -- dust cover front flap