Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Kafka On The Shore

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami

53 reviews

aisclaradm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is surreal, confusing, and beautiful. I absolutely adore the writing style, and much preferred it to Norwegian Wood, the other Murakami book I have read. The strangeness of the story is done so well, and the different characters and their perspectives all add such a different flavour to the overall narrative.

Overall, an amazing book that would have deserved a full 5 stars, except that the way that women are written is absolutely vile — I have never seen a clearer example of rabid sexual objectification in such an unnecessary, uncomfortable, and graphic way.

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enoemo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The way Murakami writes women in this novel (although I heard this might be true for his other works as well) is... specific, so be prepared for that. The prose, however, is beautiful. I loved the style of writing apart from some really uncomfortable or clumsy moments regarding well, women, or their behaviour, or how they work according to the narrators. Nakata was my favourite character, I have so much love for him. This was, despite its flaws, unlike anything I have ever read and I would recommend it to anyone who has carefully considered all the trigger warnings.

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plyn's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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rochellereads's review against another edition

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tib's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

I feel meh about it, I loved Nakata’s chapters and felt a bit cringe about a lot of Kafka’s (re: incest/sexual assault, etc.), and found a lot of the novel to be too pretentious/metaphory at times. it took me forever to read the second half because it just got so slow. sometimes the plot spun out of control but it was still cool in a weird way.

also I do not like the way murakami writes women/non-men!!! overly sexualized, not much substance/backstory/depth of character

Edit: upped to 3.5 stars because the writing really was beautiful

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mrej's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was surprising easy to get through which I believe is attributed to the incredible writing style. Murakami gives you a graphic and realistic insight into the mind of the characters that sometimes feels like too much and others not enough. Despite the use of fantasy elements, the story always feels grounded in our reality. I felt that the impossible and mundane events were given the same level of detail and care so I cared about both equally. I am knocking off a 0.25 stars for the graphic content that did put me off the book but an amazing book all the same.

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adibasultana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I am conflicted on how to feel about this book. It was very poetic, symbolic, and I loved the actual storyline. However every female is written disgustingly and I can’t overlook the sexual content - every sexual encounter is deeply disturbing, unethical and rapey.

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