Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Kafka på stranden by Haruki Murakami

90 reviews

toastgesnackt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Transphobia

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

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

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

Twórczość Murakamiego nie jest mi potrzebna w życiu. Tobie prawdopodobnie też. Być może nikomu nie jest potrzebna.

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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

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

Moderate: Transphobia and Death of parent

abyss65's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

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

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

Minor: Cursing

minisaucisse's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Murakami is a wierd dude who only write women to give sex partners to his male characters. The story is sometimes tedious but in general interesting, minus the moments when something ludicrously illegal and amoral happens and everyone is okay with it. This makes the message of the book very muddy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism and Transphobia

Women are useless and a transperson is used as a plot device ?