Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

17 reviews

mirandyli's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

A trippy combo of Catcher in the Rye and Oedipus Rex. Slow moving at times. Not sure what the takeaway was supposed to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Grief

corpsepose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective

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

Ambiwalentna w odbiorze. Lekka, ale nie prosta. Po przeczytaniu mam do niej stosunek "środkowy", ale w żadnym razie nie neutralny, może nawet nieco bardziej na minus. Na pewno do ponownego odwiedzenia, być może więcej niż raz.

Mitologizacja nie zatrzymuje się na przepowiedni, być może stąd trudna w ocenie przez pryzmat zwykłego, "dzisiejszego" zestawu norm i wartości. 

Historia, zdaje mi się, o pudełkach, drzwiach i ramkach, a także o połowach rzeczy, co zgrabnie podsumowują cytat przytoczony na okładce i wspomnienie o "Uczcie" Platona.

Z prostszych obserwacji: Murakami nie umie pisać kobiet, za to ciekawa transreprezentacja. Różnice kulturowe mogą dawać się we znaki czytelnikowi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

abyss65's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, and Rape

iris_lrf's review

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

This is one of the worst best books you will ever read. Murakami will sprout some of the most deep, poetic words imaginable, but it will be right after the fifteen-year-old protagonist

fucks the ghost of his still-alive maybe-mother

. It is a perfect example of the magic realism genre, and by that I mean it makes absolutely zero sense.

The ending, too, is ridiculously vague. I suppose I should be glad there's a chance she wasn't his mother, but potentially incestuous vampirism sure is something I hadn't considered before. Also, what the fuck was that worm thing about?

 

I haven't read anything else by Murakami (and I don't intend to), but according to others, a gripping style, adamant homo/transphobia, and obsessive Freudianism are all staples of his works. And this book is no different: a modern (at the time) retelling of Oedipus Rex where the protagonist is newly fifteen, fully aware of the prophecy, and - I cannot stress this enough - actively choosing to pursue it. It's technically not pedophilia because Japanese laws are different than in the west, but still. Come on. What the hell. Oh, and his sister's in the prophecy too. I'll let you guess which part. You think this review is running a little long? You haven't even SEEN the number of content warnings I'm going to slap on this bad boy.
All that said, even with one protagonist whose only character traits are "Oedipus complex" and "teenage boy," another who is just a walking autism stereotype (I mean, a child in a man's body? Come on), and a whole cast of chronically horny sociopaths, it SOMEHOW manages to be a page-turner. Truly one of the few books that you wish with all your heart you could put down, but are forced by some external power to continue reading until your sanity finally breaks. Because trust me, it will break. For me it happened around chapter five. 
So yeah, if multitudes of

needlessly graphic incest, VERY borderline pedophilia, pointless vagueness, childhood trauma, a trans man literally calling himself a woman of his own accord, gore, violence towards animals, AND MORE

are all things you can stand, sure. Go ahead. But don't say I didn't warn you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Transphobia, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Incest, Misogyny, Outing, Pedophilia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Alcohol, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Transphobia

Minor: Cursing

hannah_cogo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Murakami keeps his unique and brilliant writing style in this book, with a totally unique plot that keeps you guessing. but his portrayal of women has not changed, and it is clear that he really only sees women as nothing more than sexual objects. a part of me feels like most of this book was just Murakami exploring his own messed-up fantasies, as there is not a single woman in this book who is not objectified, talked about or described sexually, or has nothing to do with sex at all. overall it is overly sexual and proves that Murakami still cannot write women. at all. the only reason it's not zero stars is for Mr Nakata and his talking cats.

there are scenes where the main character rapes his sister in their dream, and he also has sex with his mother more than once. also, the main character's genitals are talked about a lot considering he is 15</spoler> it's a lot to take in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Child abuse and Chronic illness

auliarach's review

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Rape, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Death, Incest, and Violence

ford_defect's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Incest, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Minor: War and Transphobia

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Death of parent, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, War, Sexual content, Death, Animal death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Incest, and Injury/Injury detail

star_witch's review against another edition

3.75

I honestly wished I had read the trigger warnings beforehand because it was brutal. Chapter 16? It scared me for life, it haunts me in my dreams. Life will never be the same.

Ofc we also have adult/minor relationship, with sexual content and Murakami sprinkled some incest there as well. It was... It was a time not gonna lie. Hated every second of it.

And yet, despite the fact that I absolutely hated some themes of this book and I definitely think that some things could have been altered and it would still capture the story the same way without traumatizing the reader, it was an unexpectedly good book. The writing style and the way the story was told managed to hold my attention. I couldn't figure out where the plot was going so that's why I kept reading even after some of the worst experiences I had while reading a book. The characters were unique, and while we definitely have some really problematic ones, imo

*cough* Ms. Saeki and Johnnie Walker *cough, cough*

, I overall liked them and their journey. One obviously stands out to me. Oshima.

Also serious question. What is Colonel Sanders doing in this book? And Johnnie Walker too.

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It is definitely not a book I would recommend to anyone. If you would like to read it I strongly advise you to check the trigger warnings before doing so. Don't make the same mistake I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship

Minor: Emotional abuse

lara_hattingh's review

I was unaware of the brutal violence and incest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Cursing, and Emotional abuse