A review by haniah
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious

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

3.5

feeling... conflicted. i wish i knew i was getting into a book where the story follows a boy who is prophesized to sleep with his mom and sister. that would have been nice to know before, rather than finding out midway through and being like,, oh. the writing can be beautiful, but I find murakami to be so clinical (for lack of a better word) when it comes to dialogue. Idk if its the translation or what, but every time characters interact I am just like huh people don't talk this way. ESPECIALLY when those people are women. i've said it before and i will say it again. murakami cannot write women.

that being said, it was a beautifully confusing book that continued to compel me. I was slightly disgusted but needed to finish it to see how the stories intertwined. and you know what? they barely did. the ending was so confusing, and almost unsatisfying, but it still intrigued me. so back to my original point, i feel conflicted. I think this is definitely a book you read twice, but I almost got fined by the library for having this book out for too long so it is not in the cards for me to read this twice now.