Arts & Culture

You may already know that I love fireplaces.

So, imagine my inexpressible joy when I came across the book Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way.

Filled with fantastic information and wonderful photographs, it's everything a firewood geek like me would ever want to know. And it's a beautifully designed book as well. You might not think it would be a good read – but in fact it's mesmerizing. Thanks to Joe C., a regular reader of this blog, who suggested it to me.

 Of course, for most people, this would not be the first thought when you came across the phrase Norwegian Wood. Which of us can forget the plaintive Beatles' love song Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown). Thank God the Internet is now around to clearly explain what it means. When I was an innocent and naive 10-year-old, I would listen to my older sister Mary's albums, including Rubber Soul, and sing this song over and over. I could only imagine how much fun it would "to crawl off and sleep in the bath" myself – and in fact, my ever patient (smart and beautiful, too) Mom did find me asleep there once and put a blanket over me. Not surprisingly, a lot has been written about the Beatles, if you're interested in exploring.

Did you know that John Lennon wrote the song about an affair he was having, while married? Listening to it now, the sitar portion at the beginning really does stand out and in retrospect fits in so beautifully with the direction the Beatles, especially John Lennon and George Harrison, would go. I do really like the tie-in at the end to fireplaces and Norwegian wood (I'm assuming he meant birch but I'm open to alternative options).

I once overheard a bookstore owner say that the two most popular at-risk-for-theft authors were Haruki Murakami and Charles Bukowski.

I am happy to report I have stolen neither.

I did see my friend John reading the hefty 900-page-plus 1Q84: a novel on the subway a while back (ever the wag, he claims it was directly responsible for his biceps), which got me interested in Haruki Murakami. I started with his The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which has confirmed my personal fear of wells. I then read Murakami's coming of age love story Norwegian Wood. I am fortunate that my dear friend Yuko, who is Japanese, introduced me to her family when we were at university and then took me with her on an extended visit to Japan. So this novel had an extra resonance for me personally (although it's still not as interesting to me, an avid japanophile, as the Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon).

I don't want to leave you wondering hmmmmm Murakami – isn't that the popular Japanese modern artist? Yes and no, clever, culturally sophisticated, art loving reader, but that would be Takashi Murakami. And he's pretty fantastic too, as I found out when I was in Chicago in June and saw an exhibit of his large scale works.

That's me reflected on a vinyl skim of an octopus tentacle from the Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg  at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.