Kafka on the Shore
Ratings646
Average rating4
Don't know why, but I can't give anything less than 5. Story didn't make sense yet it made sense somehow, strangely made me connect with characters very deeply. Would love to read it again... Brilliant !
Unique balance between real and surreal in this smoothly flowing story.
And throughout, meaningful metaphors, themes about human existence, its challenges and views on life sprinkled.
I don't know what I've just read but it's a clear 5 star for me and that's the best I can describe the book.
Base rating: 5 stars
-1 star for how crude the book gets
-1 star for the totally inane decisions the characters make
+1 for the heart-warming and life-reaffirming ending
= 4 stars
Kafka on the Shore is a treatise on memories and how dangerous yet valuable they can be. It has so much wonderful wisdom hidden in the most unexpected of places. You have your standard Murakami elements in this book: talking cats, metaphysical occurrences, precocious and insightful characters, a winding yet satisfying plot.
I read books for two reasons: either for entertainment or for their thought-provoking/informative nature. Kafka on the Shore fulfills both these roles marvelously.
The story is confused, difficult to follow and overall pointless. The book was quite a disappointment. Some scenes are well written, hence 2 stars instead of one, but they are just bright spots in a desolate landscape.
Nakata steals the show here. I often found myself quickly reading through Kafka's journey just to get back to Nakata.
Surprised this isn't a movie.
Stopping after 100 pages, think this will be my last Murakami. Gotta give credit to Hardboiled Wonderland and Wild Sheep Chase, but so far this is kind of a continuation of his earlier stuff blended with narrative structures found in Wonderland and mixed with the ethos of later works like Norwegian Wood. 100 pages in and I think I'm just tired of thin and utilitarian writing for female characters as has been a theme in his works as well as a tiring plot structure. Cool techniques so far here, but I'm gonna tap out.
This book felt like a fever dream. Surreal, weird at times, strangely addictive & beautiful.
Reading it was definitely an amazing experience and I felt completely immersed.
Murakami makes the unusual feel usual, irrationality feel rational.
I had so many emotions after reading the last page, overwhelmed by the beauty of Murakami's storytelling, its strangeness and that feeling of not having understood anything while having in fact understood.
I'm getting some sort of melancholy, even sadness thinking back at it. Like I actually lived this very story and it has now come to an end.
Definitely a great book.
This book was not for me. It was recommended as part of the Book Riot challenge this year. I already had completed the non-european novel in translation, but I figured I'd give this one a go, too because it was highly rated and award winning. I even went to the book website and read the book club/thinking questions. Let me tell you that none of that prepared me for this book.
I was constantly confused. At first, I thought, maybe there is a complex backstory for all of the characters to get to the climax of the book. Then, I thought maybe there were parallel universes or perhaps more distance in time than I originally was reading. I got all the way to the end, and I still don't know what happened in this book. Boy runs away from home. Terrible omen plays out. There is another inner/outer/universe place that is held in space time that is only accessible when some things line up. Humans suffer. Boy ends up back at home.
Along the way, we meet a 21 year old who is the fountain of all knowledge and nuance, often speaking like a wise and learned person (not sure if that is metaphor...or maybe it seems that way because our POV characters are not wise or learned?). This character seems to only serve this purpose - and to constantly try to help our hero. We also meet a character that may be the hero's mom or maybe lover in a past life? both? My favorite character in the story is Mr Nakata when he is talking to cats. That is the best. However, his story takes a turn to suck him into the madness, and then he doesn't talk to cats anymore. Only one character, a sidekick to our Mr Nakata, Mr Hoshino, seems to grow and change in the story. While the main characters are off making no sense whatsoever, Mr Hoshino finds himself, frees himself from guilt by seeing from his benefactor grandfather's point of view, and realizes what is important and beautiful to himself in life. It's such a tiny part of the story.
I was also caught off guard by the graphic and detailed sex scenes.
While all of my not getting this book is just me, sure.There is one part where I have a real problem. Our main hero goes to a cabin in the woods/mountains for 3 days. Three days! And on the third day, he is waxing nostalgic about what he “usually” does. As if anyone has a routine in a strange place with usual habits by the third day. The character's way of referencing such a short time as if it were a much longer period of time broke me out of the story. I couldn't accept it. (I know, ghosts are cool, but taking up quick habits is not okay.)
I looked up all the Japanese names in translation to see if maybe there were obvious signs to native readers, but none of them were meaningful in that way to me.
All in all, I have to say it was not for me. I was confused the whole time. If you enjoy the book, and I know you, please walk me through the metaphors I've missed.
The narration was well done with consistent character voices, interest, and pacing.
The story of Kafka feels like a long dream and a poem the length of a book at the same time. Although you lose track of the narrative at times, somehow Murakami makes that OK, and you just enjoy the words on the page.
“O universo inteiro é um pacote SEDEX em trânsito, entendeu?”
Murakami é, realmente, um gênio. Já havia tido a possibilidade de me deliciar com essa escrita enigmática, metafórica e profunda em significados quando li 1Q84, mas, certamente, em “Kafka à beira-mar” o autor atinge um ápice de seu estilo.
A história é profunda, mas ao mesmo tempo descontraída. Te faz rir nos momentos oportunos, refletir nos obscuros e, porque não, chorar nos momentos trágicos. Uma leitura destas, onde cada personagem tem uma profundidade tão bem explorada e uma complexidade tão bem atribuída, deveria estar nas metas de leitura de todos.
Recomendo demais que vocês se aventure nesse mundo de gatos falantes, peixes que caem do céu e profecias assustadoras. Espero que, assim como eu, você consiga se apaixonar pelo Nakata e o Hoshino, queira proteger o Kafka e a Sra. Saeki e, claro, queira entender e decifrar o Oshima.
Kafka à beira-mar é uma obra-prima de seu tempo, estou extremamente animada pelas próximas leituras que o Murakami irão me propiciar.
Definitely the Murakami I will remember with the most striking images in my head. So many loose threads. Would love to talk to a friend about this book.
More like a 4.5/5
Story : One kid runs away from home, because his father isn't there and he wants to find his mother and sister. On the other hand, an old man talks to cats and sets off on a journey to discover something mysterious. A lot of dreaming and a lot of sex and a lot of metaphors... I love it! Kafka's adventures are intriguing, same with Nakata's... if I think about it, Nakata was more interesting. Near the end I didn't really understand what was happening with that forest... he was dead, but not dead? Anyway, I laughed a lot of times and when someone died, some tears started to show up in my eyes.
Characters : Kafka is a teenager who wants to find himself, because he is lost and doesn't know what living means. Nakata is a charming old man, but he can't write or read, but in the end, he's okay with that and knows how to enjoy life. There are some side characters that are amazing, especially Hoshino... that man has some great jokes and one liners.
Overall : I thought this was going to be hard to understand, but it wasn't like that... I searched different interpretations and everyone picks up what resonates with them, I mean, even Murakami tells us this is going to be a methapor trip. I laughed, I almost cried and I couldn't let the book down once I started reading it... what more there is to say?
“The whole world is a metaphor”. No sentence could describe this book better. At the same time it is also a labyrinth and a collection of riddles which you are trying to puzzle together.
It describes several stories of characters running in parallel. Their interconnection is not clear until the very end and even after that, there is still a lot of place of interpretation.
That is one of the few books where the next event couldn't be foreseen at all, the whole time you can look out for clues to find out what it means.
Even after reading, the book leaves you wondering what it does mean. You can think about theories but you will never know for certain.
That characteristics is major for this book. It is for certain excellent.
How is it that every time I read Murakami I feel like I'm going through a mid life crisis...
It leads you to question everything you have ever done, or will ever do. And simultaneously answers how everything you have done and will ever do is good enough.
I hate reading Murakami, but I love to finish a Murakami book.
Kafka was amazing, the strangeness, the beautifully entwined magic, the witty dialogues... it was great.
The storyline was meh, but only because it took me till about page 450 to figure out what the hell I was actually reading...
Amazing piece of literature. I really won't write any review though as I feel like I need to read it again and put some loose pieces together. That is a really good thing!
What a wonderful, surreal, weird book. I loved every minute of it, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it's about.
Merged review:
What a wonderful, surreal, weird book. I loved every minute of it, but I couldn't begin to tell you what it's about.
Japanese magical realism. I liked it.
Though I could have done without THE CAT ABUSE. I love cats. I hate abuse. It made me hate Johnny Walker and love Tagano more, though. As was purpose, I suppose.
It could have been shorter, too. A little too long. 300 pages would have been fine.
আমি এখনো পর্যন্ত মুরাকামির এমন কিছু পড়িনাই যা ভালো লাগেনাই আর পড়া শেষে মুখে ২দিন তিক্ততা থাকেনাই। এই তিক্ততাটা খানিকটা ডিপ্রেশনের তিক্ততার মত।
বইটার জনরা ম্যাজিক-রিয়্যালিজম। গল্প যতটা আছে, সমপরিমাণ সেই রিয়্যালিটির জীবনবোধ আছে। সাধারণত গল্প-উপন্যাসের রিভিউতে গল্প বাদে দর্শনটার কথা বলা হয় স্পয়লার দিতে না চাইলে। এক্ষেত্রে সেটাও করা যাচ্ছে না।
মুরাকামি তার স্বভাবসুলভ শার্পনেস, ঘোরলাগানো ও আইকনোক্লাস্ট ভাবমূর্তি বজায় রেখেছে।
Interesting read, with a mix of suspense and head scratching surrealism that propels you through to the end. A further mix of mundane details and deep symbolism leads to piles of questions that leave you thinking about the book for days to come.
“For a fifteen-year-old who doesn't even shave yet, you're sure carrying a lot of baggage around.”
That basically sums up my feelings for this book. I love Murakami's writing style and so it didn't bother me much that not a lot happens in this book, but I still couldn't help absolutely agreeing with Oshima when he says this about the main character. It's definitely a thinking book, as is most of Murakami's stuff, but I enjoyed it in all its mind-bending strangeness.