Kafka on The Shore By Haruki Murakami

Kafka on The Shore By Haruki Murakami - Review

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Күн бұрын

A review of Kafka on The Shore By Haruki Murakami.
Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle-yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.

Пікірлер: 35

@PinkysStudio Ай бұрын

I read Kafka on the shore when I was 17 and have really vivid memories of being absolutely transfixed and not being able to put it down. I read a lot of Murakami's books during that period and Kafka on the shore was my favourite book for a long time but now I'm 31and have read a lot more I'm not sure how I feel about it. The only Murakami I've read recently was Hardboiled Wonderland and the end of the world which I couldn't really get into. I think I'm just going to have to read it again ! And The wind up bird chronicle which I remember loving too.

@onourpath 5 ай бұрын

I've read several Murakami books, and your description of his writing being as smooth as butter is so exactly spot on. My favorite is one of his lesser-known books: After Dark. It takes place in one 24-hour period, and the chapters are divided into hours. It's about two sisters -- one who can't sleep and one who can't wake up. I found it amazing.

@ianblackmore-allen163 5 ай бұрын

When I was in my twenties I went on a Murakami binge. I loved his writing so much I named my cat Haruki! Now after years of reading other stuff I'm thinking of returning to him, I wonder if my opinions will have changed... I'd certainly be keen to hear what you make of the 'old man hanging out a little too much with a young girl' trope that I remember from Wind Up Bird....

@kuroihitsuji872 5 ай бұрын

My favourites are A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance.

@AnonymousAnonposter 4 ай бұрын

I bought A Wild Sheep Chase this month, but the book is way back on my list at the moment, I hope to read it around September.

@wendyfairfull8967 5 ай бұрын

I like Murakami; I’m a sucker for magical realism. As far as the way he writes about women-he writes like he’s never met one of us. My favorite is Kafka on the Shore. My least favorite is Norwegian Wood.

@thefantasynuttwork 5 ай бұрын

I feel very similar to you overall about Murakami. Nice review bro

@epilouge 5 ай бұрын

I just started KOTS today and I looked for your review and oh my was I surprised to find you’d posted it pretty much the same time I started it!

@erinh7450 5 ай бұрын

So far, I've only read two of his short story collections and one non-fiction (about running), and did like (but not love) them. The problematic bits I think weren't as noticeable (but there) in the short stories because they don't last long! I've gone back and forth about trying one of the novels, because of all I've heard in this vein - I think in novel length I'd be annoyed. So it's good to hear this review from someone who acknowledges it; maybe this is the novel I should try (look forward to hearing about the Wind-Up Bird).

@flufftronable 5 ай бұрын

I loved the wind-up bird chronicle so insane

@larrycarr4562 5 ай бұрын

IMO his best…

@QuasiLumius 5 ай бұрын

Just got the same exact copy today and Norwegian Wood and the Windup Bird Chronicles. I’ve never have read anything from him but the books looked to good to pass up.

@dennisbento7440 5 ай бұрын

Not exactly Jane Austen, is he? Gee Andy-I have these three novels on my Kindle as I bought them when they were quite inexpensive. I guess I will start with Kafka. Thanks for the warning.

@andreluissoriano 5 ай бұрын

I’ve read a lot of Murakami when I was in uni. I didn’t find the women/sex writing off-putting, probably because his works are surreal, and I might have taken the weird women/sex writing as part of the surrealism. I love Norwegian Wood. Read it 3 times already. Loved Kafka also but I literally cannot remember anything about it. I’m planning to read Dance, Dance, Dance. They say it’s one of his best.

@Shelf_Improvement 5 ай бұрын

I dnf'd The Wind Up Bird, but maybe I'll try something else he's written.

@tine5278 5 ай бұрын

I`ve read them in my 20s, I have had pretty much the same impression as you describe. 1q84 starts intriguing but then it gets boring and repetitive. And this sexuality thing is really unbearable, all this obsession with pregnancy and menstruation. I liked "the wind up bird chronicle" tough, looking forward to your review.

@AnonymousAnonposter 4 ай бұрын

These are the hallmarks of boomer writers. Stephen King and George Martin who claim to be good and progressive guys love self insert in their works in weird sensual scenes and focus too much on the same things you said.

@nenad_pn Ай бұрын

I don't know if it is about the translation, but Haruki Murakami's are like children books.

@danhamilton7990 5 ай бұрын

I loved the windup bid chronicle the best Again I would like to recommend 2 of the best dystopian novels Appleseed by Matt Bell and The windup girl by Paola Bacigalupi

@BookFinch 5 ай бұрын

On my TBR list.

@taravincent9699 5 ай бұрын

Interesting review. Haven’t read anything from this author but I have seen reviews on 1Q84. (Q teen eighty four i noticed some people saying-which makes me wonder what the author calls it.) 🤷‍♀️ Please keep posting-I love all your reviews! Glad to have found your channel.

@mareeabee8293 5 ай бұрын

Murakami ranking! 1. Kafka on the Shore 2. A Wild Sheep Chase 3. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki 4. Sputnik Sweetheart 5. After Dark 6. Wind/Pinball 7. Underground (the Om Shinrikyo gas attack accounts; nonfiction) 8. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (memoir) 9. After the Quake (short stories) 10. Killing Commendatore (warning at strong pedo vibes, but not even as bad as another listed below) 11. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (just try-hard and hecka boring for me; symptomatic of chaotic earlier Murakami as opposed to the Kafka on the Shore-level quality) Really hated: - Dance Dance Dance (the pedophilia is strong with this one) - Norwegian Wood (liked it fine in high school when I was a horny idiot and didn’t recognize manic pixie dream girls for what they are). On recent reread, gave it away to a friend. Couldn’t bring myself to finish: - 1Q84 (LOLL at this book. I really wanted more cultish content, because that’s what I was there for.) Read in high school and enjoyed, need to reread: - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Leaving this comment was fun, I hadn’t realized I’d read that much Murakami but I certainly do like his books in a certain mood. I hope you enjoy!

@rororeads 5 ай бұрын

Legend! Thanks for sharing :)

@AnonymousAnonposter 4 ай бұрын

This was by far the book that took me the longest to finish in years. It was the first book I read this year and the first book I read written by him. It's a dense book and I think anyone who is just mindlessly turning pages is reading it the wrong way, there are metaphors within metaphors in this book. Metaphors, memories and labyrinths are the core of the work. Since then I have read four other books by Haruki Murakami and none have been as complex and mindblowing for me so far.

@EmersonRocha-bc6xh 4 ай бұрын

where did you get this edition?

@ZM0th 5 ай бұрын

First: That’s an amazing book cover. Where did you get it? Second: have you read romance descriptions of male characters? They are much cringier!

@rororeads 5 ай бұрын

I got it from Amazon of all places. They had these special edition hardbacks at the time of 10 pound each, so I snapped up a couple. I get what you mean about men in romance novels…however, those novels are trashy (deliberately so) from the start, you go into those novels knowing their trashy and cringy, and they are written in a trashy way all the way through. Murakami’s writing is so good that when the trashy stuff happens it feels even more out of place.