Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Kafka på stranden by Haruki Murakami

67 reviews

euannn900's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

This book felt so poetic, beautiful and profound. I also loved the randomness. Anything that could happen did happen, as did many things that's couldn't happen. There were only two elements I felt this book lacked, a sense of urgency and emotional connection to the characters. The plot didn't feel as if it had any major consequences as the stakes weren't very high and emotionally, this book made you feel things, but it could have been devastating.

When Miss Saeki and Mr Nakata, who were both very loveable characters (particularly the latter) died, instead of being sad it felt right like it was meant to happen.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Gore, and Sexual content

kungfupanda's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Rape

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Having finished this book I don't quite know what to make of it. I think I enjoyed it, it certainly kept me reading. I found it slow but intriguing. I also however felt there was unnecessary overuse of violence and sexual content. I was wondering how it was all going to come together in the end but I felt I got to the end and had no idea what happened. I think I need some time to dwell on the book and what I think of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Violence

marsmartis's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The sex scenes become more justified the more the book advances, but it still feels like not good enough of a reason for them to be there, let alone so detailed, let alone incest and rape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, War, Abandonment, Cannibalism, and Blood

corpsepose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective

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

Ambiwalentna w odbiorze. Lekka, ale nie prosta. Po przeczytaniu mam do niej stosunek "środkowy", ale w żadnym razie nie neutralny, może nawet nieco bardziej na minus. Na pewno do ponownego odwiedzenia, być może więcej niż raz.

Mitologizacja nie zatrzymuje się na przepowiedni, być może stąd trudna w ocenie przez pryzmat zwykłego, "dzisiejszego" zestawu norm i wartości. 

Historia, zdaje mi się, o pudełkach, drzwiach i ramkach, a także o połowach rzeczy, co zgrabnie podsumowują cytat przytoczony na okładce i wspomnienie o "Uczcie" Platona.

Z prostszych obserwacji: Murakami nie umie pisać kobiet, za to ciekawa transreprezentacja. Różnice kulturowe mogą dawać się we znaki czytelnikowi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

sanikaaa___'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Dementia, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Death of parent

quixie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Incest, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Rape

iris_lrf's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

This is one of the worst best books you will ever read. Murakami will sprout some of the most deep, poetic words imaginable, but it will be right after the fifteen-year-old protagonist

fucks the ghost of his still-alive maybe-mother

. It is a perfect example of the magic realism genre, and by that I mean it makes absolutely zero sense.

The ending, too, is ridiculously vague. I suppose I should be glad there's a chance she wasn't his mother, but potentially incestuous vampirism sure is something I hadn't considered before. Also, what the fuck was that worm thing about?

 

I haven't read anything else by Murakami (and I don't intend to), but according to others, a gripping style, adamant homo/transphobia, and obsessive Freudianism are all staples of his works. And this book is no different: a modern (at the time) retelling of Oedipus Rex where the protagonist is newly fifteen, fully aware of the prophecy, and - I cannot stress this enough - actively choosing to pursue it. It's technically not pedophilia because Japanese laws are different than in the west, but still. Come on. What the hell. Oh, and his sister's in the prophecy too. I'll let you guess which part. You think this review is running a little long? You haven't even SEEN the number of content warnings I'm going to slap on this bad boy.
All that said, even with one protagonist whose only character traits are "Oedipus complex" and "teenage boy," another who is just a walking autism stereotype (I mean, a child in a man's body? Come on), and a whole cast of chronically horny sociopaths, it SOMEHOW manages to be a page-turner. Truly one of the few books that you wish with all your heart you could put down, but are forced by some external power to continue reading until your sanity finally breaks. Because trust me, it will break. For me it happened around chapter five. 
So yeah, if multitudes of

needlessly graphic incest, VERY borderline pedophilia, pointless vagueness, childhood trauma, a trans man literally calling himself a woman of his own accord, gore, violence towards animals, AND MORE

are all things you can stand, sure. Go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Transphobia, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Transphobia

Minor: Cursing

soyboysimon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Would have been a lot more enjoyable without the sexism. The way that Murakami thinks about women genuinely troubles me. He talks so lightly about serious topics like rape that shows you what he really thinks about them. The writing was enjoyable, the story was exciting and fast paced. I feel a little conflicted about the characters, some I love and some I absolutely despise. Would have been a better read without all of the sex scenes. We really don't need that much detail, its almost an obsessive amount of talk about d*ck. And ugh why is his first description of every woman how big her breasts are?!? There are also a couple of chapters that get very graphic. If you don't like gore maybe skip it, i sobbed over the amout of animal torture. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. Do i regret it? No. Will I be reading more Murakami? Also no

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, War, Body horror, Rape, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Murder, Blood, Sexism, Sexual content, and Transphobia

espea's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Gore, and Death

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and War