Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood is told through Toru’s recollections of his college-aged life. But occasionally he will recall things even further in the past, such that they are flashbacks from the primary timeline of the novel. For instance, Kizuki dies before the timeline of the novel begins, so any time he appears it’s in a flashback. The flashback to the day of his suicide is particularly significant. In Chapter 2, Toru recalls the time he spent with Kizuki on the day that Kizuki would die: 

It had been a nice afternoon in May. After lunch, Kizuki suggested we cut classes and go play pool or something. I had no special interest in my afternoon classes, so together we left school, ambled down the hill to a billiards parlor on the harbor, and shot four games. When I won the first, easygoing game, he got serious and won the other three. This meant that I paid, according to our custom. Kizuki made not a single wisecrack as we played, which was most unusual. We had a smoke afterward.

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