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.

Das war das zweite Buch, dass ich von Murakami gelesen haben und wie beim Ersten bin ich etwas verwirrt. Jedoch schafft er es jedes Mal mich zu überraschen und mir einen Wtf Moment zu geben. Ich weiß nicht trotz ihrer Andersartigkeit gefallen mir die Bücher dann doch recht gut. Das Ende empfand ich als recht friedlich.

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.

I have no idea what to think about this book. I enjoyed reading every single page of it, but I am absolutely, completely confused. What really happened? What was a dream? What was reality? Whose? What does it really mean, symbolize? It bothers me because I often feel like this about myself...reading about it, too, messed me up a bit. I didn't mind the Stephen King moment at the ending, even thought that is usually not my thing. This is definitely something else.

The first time I picked up the book, I put it aside after something like 50 pages. It wasn't the book's fault. This time I was determined to get through this - and also I got pulled into the story right away. Kafka on the Shore is not a book for those readers who need tidy and illustrative endings. The world and events of the book remain a mystery in many parts which was ok for me - though I would have loved to see some of the mysteries solved, just out of sheer curiosity. There are two main characters who the reader follows in the story: "Kafka" Tamura, a 15-year-old runaway from a strange and broken home, and an old man called Nakata, goodhearted, simple-minded, illiterate and full of strange talents. Their fates get entwined in the most bizzare ways without them knowing, or even ever meeting each other, and in the end only one returns to the place they each started from. In the world of the book, reality is quite an elusive thing which can't be grasped by logical thinking. It moves on the border of what we call reality and the fantastic, partly in a beautifully mystical way, partly in a desolate dystopian nightmare. So it seems quite logical that one of the great topics for the characters moving in this world is identity and the self. I enjoyed the book a lot, and I didn't mind the many unsolved threads one is left with. The feeling that remains is that, for all the information and all the insight I gained concerning the characters, I was somehow kept outside and at a distance in the same way that one can never quite know how it is to be another person, or to see into them. Very strange.

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.