Kafka On The Shore

Wow. DNF at page 121/384. Stopped at the cat scene.

I do not love every book of Murakami's (we do have a slight problem with sexism here, Mister), but this one just takes you with it and doesn't let go. I love the magical worlds that he creates. Definitely one of my favourites.

WOW!

Feels like a feverdream

Magical setting. Haven’t read anything in my life quite like it. Sometimes some scenes that could have been left out. Still great writing style that I quite enjoyed.🐈

I would just say it started off so well, lost me in the middle and then I was so freaking annoyed by the end of it. I do not recommend this book to anyone. It may be a classic but it is just not my cup of tea.

I may change my rating for this book once I watch some explained YouTube videos down the road. This is purely based on my reading of the physical book while simultaneously listening to the audiobook. Heck, why should I? This is what I honestly feel directly afterwards. Wow, I did not positively respond to this and I was surprised. In actuality, several of the scenes got to me. They were really triggering. These really stood out and stayed with me after I finished the book. I guess I had my fair share of these kinda stuff but I'm still taken aback. I think that book would be more whimsical without all the graphic and taboo depictions. We're they all needed? I don't think so. Maybe the author wasn't going for whimsy? Probably. But it presented itself in a "cute" manner, 80% of the time. Half of this book where the namesake is the main protagonist is basically a weird coming of age story. This tackles issues like dealing with loss, finding your place in the world, discovering yourself, facing your problems and all that YA jazz. The other half of the book was definitely more charming and much more gripping and enticing. It also has less of a gross out factor but this is present in both. The chapters switch stories until they intersect later on. My favorite character is Mr. Hoshino. I found his role and arc really enjoyable. As someone with a rather long-ish living experience, I feel that I might have connected with the story more if I read it earlier in life, but alas I'm old enough to know alot of things better. I felt plenty of times that I was reading Disney-fied Book of Revelation mixed with a half-baked, money grab, philosophy tangential textbook. There is plenty of music to be discovered here. I was just disappointed that they are mostly by white male artists. I only remember Prince and Stevie Wonder as the only POC legends. Also, no women singers if I recall correctly. There is enough discussion about white male musicians. Let's not celebrate them as much. End Rant. Back to the story, it was made purposely vague. Plenty of things are left unanswered. Most of the things actually. I mean, I can appreciate this because the discussion will give this book many, many lives but also, many people might get less of the author's intended message. He would be guilty of one of the many sins discussed on his very own book. Would that be irony? I'm not sure. Overall, I do not recommend this book after my first read. However, I may revisit this later this year.

"Some men talk with stones, and some sleep with other men." but in all seriousness, I loved this.

A fantastic and partly odd coming of age story. Haruki Murakami writes in great style I really enjoy. He weaves in the fantasy elements so delicatly in the real world and this with a very precise prose. I wonder though how much is lost in translation. If you enjoyed 1Q84 read this. Very much the same.

tiesam nezinu ka jutos par so gramatu, maybe es neiedzilinajos pietiekami also tw par loti divainam temam

Super weird and metaphorical, but kinda totally loved it. It was hard for me to score it, so I was thinking about my score for some days. I'm pretty sure I'd give it something between 4 and 4.5. Every chapter, new layers or metaphors and/or weirdness were added to the story and it definitely doesn't follow any conventionality. A lot of questions are coming up in the book and 99% are not answered by the author, but left open to be interpreted by the reader. Although this might sound deterrent for some people (including me), it totally made sense for the story and the book to do it in this way, and works really well somehow. Murakami is always surprising me, creating completely surreal worlds in real-world environments without making it feel too much "out of place". I think this is a love or hate kind of book and I wasn't too sure which side I'm on (although I must say I had a hard time putting the book down). Lastly, I came to the conclusion that I loved it. 100% recommend if you like Murakami and it is also a great first to Murakami if you want to check if you're into his writing.