Tuesday, January 20, 2009

life is a box of chocolates

Last Sunday, I finally finished Murakami's "Norwegian Wood". The story starts with a man, in his late thirties, caught himself reminiscing of what happened eighteen years ago upon hearing the plane's pipe-in music, Norwegian Wood by the Beatles. Right then 60's Japan came back to life.

Verdict: I enjoyed it very much that I finished it faster than the other books i've read (in the last two months). Other than the male's perspective about love and life, it takes into account the little-often-taken-for-granted details of nature to the smoke that hung close to the ceiling. Really, i like writers who give emphasis to details because it allows readers to get a real-life picture of the scene.

One conversation of Toru (main character) and Midori made me think of Forrest Gump. Midori said "Life is a box of chocolates"; Then continued with, "...you eat all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much."

Forrest explained it differently: "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

Almost similar.

Curiosity immediately hit me as to who originally quote this. Norwegian Wood (book) was originally released 1987 while the English version was released 2000. Forrest Gump (movie) was released 1994, while the book 1986. Though I'm not sure if the life-chocolate analogy was mentioned in the latter.

If i were to interpret further and differentiate the two, I would say Midori took a peek at the chocolate box while Forrest randomly pick sans peeking. Seriously, i think Midori is convinced that she made the right choices, while Forrest accepts whatever outcome of his choices. I find Forrest's (or his mama's) logic more relatable because you never really know what's ahead notwithstanding the best laid plans. Ever.

3 comments:

Yumeko said...

will u be buying more of his books then^^?

amor said...

@yumeko, definitely!

Yumeko said...

yes lalaport toyosu is in tokyo bay ^^