karladmd's review against another edition
3.0
I think I'm really done with Murakami. His books are really not for me. I appreciate the creativity and storytelling, but it's so out there. So hard pass on his other books
ablotial's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third Murakami book that I've read, and in my opinion it is by far the best of the three (also read [b:1Q84|10357575|1Q84 (1Q84, #1-3)|Haruki Murakami|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359439026s/10357575.jpg|18160093] and [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872639s/11275.jpg|2531376]).
There are a lot of similarities between the three Murikami books I have read - most especially the use of sex and the idea of another world parallel to the real world that we know. But of course, the plots are quite different.
This story follows two main characters, a fifteen year old boy who calls himself Kafka runs away from home to escape a curse, and a mentally challenged older man named Nakata who can speak with cats and is coerced into killing a man to save a few kitties. Their lives, seemingly very separate at first, end up intertwining (of course).
This book did a much better job of pulling me in than the other two. I can't help but wonder if a big part of that is the translation quality -- in the first two books I read, the writing felt choppy and the dialogue stilted and unrealistic. This book had a much more natural feeling flow to it. I wonder if I were able to read them in the native Japanese if my opinions would differ so much about the different books.
It's interesting though, because one of my complaints about the other two are the things that were never explained, and this book has just as many! I could go on and on, and yet somehow I am unbothered by these questions and they did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.
I got similar recommendations for [b:Norwegian Wood|11297|Norwegian Wood|Haruki Murakami|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924361s/11297.jpg|2956680] when I said I was giving up on this author. Maybe I'll give that one a try, since this one worked out for me.
There are a lot of similarities between the three Murikami books I have read - most especially the use of sex and the idea of another world parallel to the real world that we know. But of course, the plots are quite different.
This story follows two main characters, a fifteen year old boy who calls himself Kafka runs away from home to escape a curse, and a mentally challenged older man named Nakata who can speak with cats and is coerced into killing a man to save a few kitties. Their lives, seemingly very separate at first, end up intertwining (of course).
This book did a much better job of pulling me in than the other two. I can't help but wonder if a big part of that is the translation quality -- in the first two books I read, the writing felt choppy and the dialogue stilted and unrealistic. This book had a much more natural feeling flow to it. I wonder if I were able to read them in the native Japanese if my opinions would differ so much about the different books.
It's interesting though, because one of my complaints about the other two are the things that were never explained, and this book has just as many!
Spoiler
What really happened to Nakata and the other children in the field that day? Where does the entrance stone lead and why are only certain people 'chosen' to go there? Was Miss Saeki really Kafka's mother? I also wonder if she was the teacher from "the incident", since the letter was left unsigned. Was Sakura his sister? If so, how did she and Miss Saeki end up separated after they left? What did talking with cats have to do with the entrance stone (since Hoshino suddenly got the ability there at the end) and could Miss Saeki and Oshima's brother also talk to cats since they traveled to that place also?I got similar recommendations for [b:Norwegian Wood|11297|Norwegian Wood|Haruki Murakami|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924361s/11297.jpg|2956680] when I said I was giving up on this author. Maybe I'll give that one a try, since this one worked out for me.
ana45_luis's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
savii's review against another edition
5.0
He gently rubs my ear. "The world is a metaphor, Kafka Tamura," he says into my ear. "But for you and me this library alone is no metaphor. It's always just this library. I want to make sure we understand that."
To rate this book 5 stars means clubbing it with the other books I've rated 5 stars, which feels like a sin. Kafka on the Shore deserves a shelf of its own.
No review that I or anybody else writes will ever actually be able to encapsulate this surreal story and its eccentric characters for what they truly are. It's not us, it's the book.
This is one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful books I've ever had the pleasure to read. At 2 am, when I finished it, there were millions of thoughts crisscrossing in my head, coming and going too fast to make any sense of them. I was and still am, pretty overwhelmed.
When you read this book, you feel as if you've rediscovered a part of yourself you had kept hidden deep, deep down all this time. So many realizations and epiphanies, significant or not, flood you that you feel as though you should write them down somewhere, otherwise, they'll be lost forever.
Murakami's writing is so unreal. It's out of this world. He is such an oddity and deviates from the norm like it's nobody's business. His nonconformity is refreshing and worth experiencing at least once.
When I turned the last page, I felt isolated and alone. I felt as if I was the only one on this planet and nobody could understand the plethora of emotions I felt. I wanted to encapsulate that overwhelming feeling here but at 2 am, when I thought about my review and what I'll add to it, the picture painted was still incomplete. You can't get the Murakami experience just by reading a review, you have to experience it for yourself.
I can't fathom how a human sat at his desk and wrote this. How is it even possible? Is Murakami even human?
Kafka on the Shore is a book I'll be returning to each time I feel alone and lost. It has opened a yawning chasm in my mind and my curiosity has been sated and whetted at the same time. Kafka, Oshima, Mr Nakata, Hoshino and Ms Saeki have collectively dug a hole deep into my heart, firmly entrenched themselves there and now refuse to leave until the end of time itself.
I find it incredibly hard to believe that even though I started reading Kafka on the Shore five months ago, I still remember the day I read the first page just as well as the events that have occurred today.
So many pages, words and conversations left a long-lasting impression on me that I don't know what to quote and what not to.
In the end, I reiterate: no review will ever do this book justice and you will have to read it yourself to experience its charm.
It's perfection, from the start to the very end. No line is there just for the sake of being there. Everything has a hidden meaning, a symbolism behind it. All 505 pages belong there and are worth reading. You can tell there was an insane amount of effort that went into writing this.
Hypothetically speaking, if this was a book with Infinite pages, I think I would've continued to read it till the day I died. And if I could only read one book for the rest of my lifetime, it would be this one.
How can an end be heartstopping and painful, yet give me immense hope at the same time?
By the time you finish reading Kafka on the Shore, you won't be the same person you walked in as.
I know I'm not.
And you really will have to make it through the violent, metaphysical storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it. It will cut through your flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.
And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain, When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person you walked in That's what this storm's all about.
"Farewell, Kafka Tamura, " Miss Saeki says. "Go back to where you belong, and live."
"Miss Saeki?" I say.
"Yes?"
"I don't know what it means to live."
"Look at the painting, " she says softly. "Keep looking at the painting, just as I did.
Tl;dr
Thank god I'm not in the habit of annotating books. This would've been tiring otherwise. And I'd run out of markers.
yack's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
athoffman18's review against another edition
4.0
A very strange but enjoyable book. To those who enjoy JD Salinger or Kurt Vonnegut, I think this would be a good book. This book does not have a traditional "ending", it really leaves you to think of a lot of things yourself, and figure out the ending on your own.
This story is really two tales in one, the stories VERY lightly cross each other. If you truly enjoy a book that will cause you to really think and speculate as you are reading then this is a very good choice.
This story is really two tales in one, the stories VERY lightly cross each other. If you truly enjoy a book that will cause you to really think and speculate as you are reading then this is a very good choice.
lelasjohnson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
stjohnswarts's review against another edition
4.25
i think i need to read this at least 2 more times to really understand what was going on (particularly with the johnnie walker stuff? huh?) but what i found most compelling in this read was the theme about how responsibilities begin in dreams. and the parallels drawn between labyrinths and intestines and how the things outside you are a projection of the things inside you and vice versa.
cestmoi's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5