>>52
I'm nearly the opposite; I've only read Norwegian Wood and a few of his short stories. I've heard that Norwegian Wood is his most realistic novel, and that it departs from his more Kafka-esque works.

Also, the dorm in Norwegian Wood is based on Wakeijuku, a real orgnaization with a little compound and a collection of dormitories for young men going to college, located in Bunkyo-ku in Tokyo. I stayed there for a year. It was super lulzy for me reading about it in Norwegian Wood, even though Murakami exaggerated some parts, and even though Murakami stayed there (he did) years before I did (e.g., there was never anybody raising or lowering the Japanese flag to the national anthem while I was there). The most accurate part about that place was the dirtiness of the rooms...so fucking dirty