A review by _danichuu
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

2.5

Spoiler I really wanted to enjoy this. I thought the main through line of trying to escape fate but still ending up succumbing to it was interesting. But every Kafka chapter felt like a slog because I had to hear about this 15 year old’s genitalia in every section. Even when there was nothing sexual happening. It happened so much that I was just exhausted by the end of this. 

I know that’s Murakami’s shtick but it just felt so excessive in this book. I’ve read one of his other novels and a short story and they both obviously include sex as a random topic but it didn’t feel like it happened enough for me to be dreading the next one. 

Also didn’t love listening to someone describe in detail a man murdering cats. And I know the whole story was this Oedipal situation. But you’d think once you convince yourself a woman is your mother you wouldn’t want to have sex with her so many times???
Like I though he was gonna do it once on accident and stop. But no. Mans was allll about it. 
Not even going to go into his assaulting his sister. Even if it was in a dream it still felt so gross and like it was just tossed in at the end to wrap up the prophecy.

This was just not the book for me. If this book had been all about Nakata I would have loved it. His chapters are the only thing that got me through. 
But Kafka really made me want to stop reading this so many times.
 
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