Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Kafka på stranden by Haruki Murakami

11 reviews

das_'s review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

0.5

A quite interesting mystery full of self-discovery at its core, with quite an unusual narrative that tells this story from multiple angles at once, this book seemed quite promising from the start. However, the overly casual dialogues that oscillate between intentionally inarticulate and pseudo-intellectual quickly got on my nerves, and the subsequent attempts to make light of pedophilia as well as incest were only the last straw. I'm fairly confident that this is the worst book that I've read in the past decade or so.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Grief, and Murder

jayvdw's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is a fever dream. It may not feel like it while reading, but the moment you close the book and try to really think about everything, that is the moment it hits you.

After finishing the book the first thing I did was browse the internet for almost an hour, reading and listening to different theories. The book is complex and like Murakami said: the book consists of several riddles with no answers, instead the riddles combine, and the possibility of an answer emerges. In my eyes, this means there is no one way to interpret the book. Each and every person will have their own view of the meaning and full story. 

I loved how the book combined Western and Eastern philosophy and mythology. This only enriches the fever dream-like feeling of the book. In addition to this, the book talks about many different important themes and makes you think about them. 
 
Overall, the book is wild and crazy, it brings out the magic within the mundane. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a more complex story. Even after finishing the book, it will still haunt your mind and you will wonder what it all could really have been about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Grief, and War

xadrya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore is a lighthearted game of "Fuck, Marry, Kill" between the main character, Kafka, and

his mother, father, and sister

. Naturally, when presented with such a strange dilemma, you can only do one thing: nod. And Kafka does just that, nodding at virtually every line of dialogue he can get his hands on. In any case, Haruki Murakami manages to create a genuine masterpiece that paints vivid the battle between our deepset desire for control and the fact that we simply have none. Kafka on the Shore will leave you shaking by the end; if not from its themes, then from its well-realized characters and carefully-crafted plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide

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

thenoboshow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

3.5

Prose felt like stumbling through a dream. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse

hoey_girlboss_queen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

jo_lzr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

corpseparty's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

kriziny's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

tinylittlerat's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

i’ve been told that murakami is a great and underrated writer but after reading this he’s just another kid author with an okayish book, the book was so slow that i had to start multiple other books to get me out of the reading slump that this book put me into just so i could finish it, murakami writes like he’s never met a single woman in his life and was born dr doofenshmirtz style with just his father and other men present, the way that he talks about the

oedipus complex and rape of a teenage boy by his own mother

is absolutely disgusting, when i picked up this book i thought i would enjoy it and would find the story at least a little bit interesting but the ableism and pedophilia that he has written into this book can’t be separated from the story making for a grueling and unenjoyable read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Suicide