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A review by clairescotia
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
4.0
That was a journey. (Also, spoiler warning).
I’ve been looking forward to this book for some time and was excited for the “metaphysical mind-bender” that was promised on the cover. I was not expecting an Oedipus Rex story blended with philosophical discussions of time, fate, virtues, memory and the ghosts or echoes we leave while we’re still living. “Kafka by the Shore” is truly unique and Murakami writes from an incredibly conceptual place. It’s thought provoking and easy to fall into.
However, the chapter with Johnnie Walker was hard to read, and so was the one with Sakura. I get why these exist, I get why Kafka needs to give into the prophecy to complete the cycle and correct Ms. Saeki’s “original sin” of opening the entrance to freeze herself in time with OG Kafka on the shore. I get that Kafka has OG Kafka as a part of him until the end of the story. I get that Ms. Saeki isn’t likely his mom, but a portion of his mom’s ghost is haunting her, like the OG Kafka is with our main character. I get that Sakura isn’t his biological sister, but his chosen one, and all of these elements play into the prophecy. I get it. I liked that you can interpret the book in different ways because of how layered it is. I thought it was interesting how Kafka described being pulled into fate. It was cool. I really enjoyed all of the elements surrounding the Oedipus plot. Didn’t love him sleeping with his “mother” or “sister”, even though I don’t think they were related by blood, but by spirit. It’s still gross.
I also understand that Johnnie Walker is Kafka’s connection to the spirit/metaphysical aspect of the story. I get that Kafka probably killed him because of the chapter where a boy named crow attacks him. I liked Kafka’s small mention of his father being “Johnnie Walker”, not the famous sculptor we saw reported on the news. I liked the small details. I appreciate the depth this story has.
But there’s so much extra story I don’t understand and can’t connect to other parts of it. Why was Kafka cursed by his dad? Is it because of Ms. Saeki’s original sin of freezing part of her spirit in time, or was JW just a sadist spirit who sculpted Kafka as an affect of Ms. Saeki messing with the entrance stone? What happened to all those children on the field trip? Did they cross over and come back, and what does that mean? Why was Nakata the only one who didn’t recover? Why is sex connected to the world beyond our own for every character but Nakata? And like, what was the point of the cat soul flute?!
At the end, the soldiers mentioned how to kill someone with a bayonet TWICE and it had no connection to the end of Kafka’s journey. Like, there are so many elements outside of the story that are hard to comprehend and make sense of, which is where this book falls short for me. I know the author said it was written to be read more than once, but I wish I understood some of the elements that I noticed but couldn’t piece together a bit more.
My biggest beef is - if you’re going to make me read a chapter about some sadistic being torturing cats in front of a sweet, mentally disabled man MAKE IT MAKE SENSE! I don’t want to read that ****! I guess he kind of explains the cats as a connection to the other world, but like, it doesn’t make sense and that chapter was gross. And it’s just disappointing I had to read that even though I don’t understand is deeper connection to the story.
Surrealism is harder to dissect and understand compared to other art forms. Which is kind of the point - the novel is deeply layered and connected in poetic ways we don’t quite understand until we’ve finished it. And like surrealist art, it has mystery beyond what we can visually take in. But unlike paintings or film, it’s hard for me to grapple with the parts of the story that feel so distant from the main plot. Everything has a connection, like that one truck driver said, but some of those connections aren’t as clear as I’d like them to be.
But I liked how interactive the story felt. It was stimulating and unique.
I’ve been looking forward to this book for some time and was excited for the “metaphysical mind-bender” that was promised on the cover. I was not expecting an Oedipus Rex story blended with philosophical discussions of time, fate, virtues, memory and the ghosts or echoes we leave while we’re still living. “Kafka by the Shore” is truly unique and Murakami writes from an incredibly conceptual place. It’s thought provoking and easy to fall into.
However, the chapter with Johnnie Walker was hard to read, and so was the one with Sakura. I get why these exist, I get why Kafka needs to give into the prophecy to complete the cycle and correct Ms. Saeki’s “original sin” of opening the entrance to freeze herself in time with OG Kafka on the shore. I get that Kafka has OG Kafka as a part of him until the end of the story. I get that Ms. Saeki isn’t likely his mom, but a portion of his mom’s ghost is haunting her, like the OG Kafka is with our main character. I get that Sakura isn’t his biological sister, but his chosen one, and all of these elements play into the prophecy. I get it. I liked that you can interpret the book in different ways because of how layered it is. I thought it was interesting how Kafka described being pulled into fate. It was cool. I really enjoyed all of the elements surrounding the Oedipus plot. Didn’t love him sleeping with his “mother” or “sister”, even though I don’t think they were related by blood, but by spirit. It’s still gross.
I also understand that Johnnie Walker is Kafka’s connection to the spirit/metaphysical aspect of the story. I get that Kafka probably killed him because of the chapter where a boy named crow attacks him. I liked Kafka’s small mention of his father being “Johnnie Walker”, not the famous sculptor we saw reported on the news. I liked the small details. I appreciate the depth this story has.
But there’s so much extra story I don’t understand and can’t connect to other parts of it. Why was Kafka cursed by his dad? Is it because of Ms. Saeki’s original sin of freezing part of her spirit in time, or was JW just a sadist spirit who sculpted Kafka as an affect of Ms. Saeki messing with the entrance stone? What happened to all those children on the field trip? Did they cross over and come back, and what does that mean? Why was Nakata the only one who didn’t recover? Why is sex connected to the world beyond our own for every character but Nakata? And like, what was the point of the cat soul flute?!
At the end, the soldiers mentioned how to kill someone with a bayonet TWICE and it had no connection to the end of Kafka’s journey. Like, there are so many elements outside of the story that are hard to comprehend and make sense of, which is where this book falls short for me. I know the author said it was written to be read more than once, but I wish I understood some of the elements that I noticed but couldn’t piece together a bit more.
My biggest beef is - if you’re going to make me read a chapter about some sadistic being torturing cats in front of a sweet, mentally disabled man MAKE IT MAKE SENSE! I don’t want to read that ****! I guess he kind of explains the cats as a connection to the other world, but like, it doesn’t make sense and that chapter was gross. And it’s just disappointing I had to read that even though I don’t understand is deeper connection to the story.
Surrealism is harder to dissect and understand compared to other art forms. Which is kind of the point - the novel is deeply layered and connected in poetic ways we don’t quite understand until we’ve finished it. And like surrealist art, it has mystery beyond what we can visually take in. But unlike paintings or film, it’s hard for me to grapple with the parts of the story that feel so distant from the main plot. Everything has a connection, like that one truck driver said, but some of those connections aren’t as clear as I’d like them to be.
But I liked how interactive the story felt. It was stimulating and unique.