Reviews

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

ellacusso's review against another edition

4.0

i think i read this book at just the right time in my life, and for that reason, I was really able to appreciate it. otherwise I probably would've taken it too literally and thought of it as a creepy oedipus sex fantasy.

bgirard342's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

calvinrydbom's review against another edition

Well that was interesting

dknippling's review against another edition

5.0

A boy goes on a legendary journey to find himself, in a world where such things are no longer allowed, while a second man goes on a different legendary journey, to force the world to allow it.

Confusing but wonderful, a page-turner that's so straightforwardly written that you may not mind going, "What is even going on here?!?" repeatedly. I've read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and liked it; it has a similar structure, so I was expecting something of a similar nature. Nnnnot really. Kafka on the Shore is even less easy to explain, or to understand.

Nakata's story reminds me of several Japanese legends/folk tales I've read about cities of cats, although I can't remember much more than "a town full of cats is awkward to escape." I suspect that if I'd read Natsume Soseki, who's mentioned in Kafka on the Shore, Nakata's story would make more mythological sense.

Recommended for fans of Kafka!

teoru's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

Det här var en bok väldigt olik någon jag läst förut. Tankarna förs till serien Lost, det händer många saker som är övernaturliga,  och du väntar på att allt ska få en naturlig förklaring. Men i slutet inser du att det var resan som var det viktiga.

Den är väldigt gripande och lyckas föra med sig en hel del budskap i sin bisarra historia. Vad jag fick med mig var hur ditt förflutna kan binda dig. Saeki var fast i sitt förflutna, och Kafka lät sitt förflutna driva hans framtida handlingar. Nakata hade inget förflutet alls, men var således rätt hjälplös i världen. 

I slutet knyts allt ihop med att Kafka lämnar bakom sig en framtid befriad från minnen till att med hjälp av Saeki inse att minnen kan vata ett sätt för andra att leva vidare.

macklefrackle's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

lilmisstati's review against another edition

3.0

My coworker and I decided to do a "favorite book swap." I let him borrow Bright Lights, Big City, and he let me borrow this massive journey of a book. I can't say I enjoyed the journey. This book was kind of like an extremely long teeth cleaning, it feels longer than it actually might be, but in the end you feel better. I definitely am happy that I read this, but it's very different from the books I usually find myself reading.

sescheitler's review against another edition

5.0

Quietly intense, introspective, beautiful, funny, thrilling, haunting. A sort of metaphysical, magical realistic, fate contemplation. I prefer novels from which I learn about how the world works, how the mind works, how nature works. I learned a lot from Kafka on the Shore.

iagonizing's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the beginning and was intrigued but then the plot just started going everywhere. Like I understand that not all things have to make sense and I'm at peace with that, in fact, that's what I most liked about the novel. It's just that you can only read about the physical manifestation of the protagonist's 50-year-old mother licking the last drops of semen from the tip of her 15-year old son's penis so many times until it gets old.

namieslesbiana's review against another edition

5.0

mi querido murakami somos tú y yo contra el mundo nadie va a entenderte como yo y nadie me va a entender como lo haces tú somos una sola persona