Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Kafka am Strand by Haruki Murakami

4 reviews

dsalazar's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Weird… liked it and was sucked in. A bit slow at certain parts but overall I enjoyed it especially the character building. The characters themselves were complex but the pacing took me out of it every so often. Filled with a lot of disturbing themes centered around incest and age gaps but weaved seamlessly into a broader theme of soulmates and time-bending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture

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

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kiana_hi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content

Minor: Blood and Medical content