Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

60 reviews

sanikaaa___'s review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Dementia, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Blood, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Death of parent

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. 

---

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

lea333's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Incest, and Rape

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Death, and Animal death

niccoryan0's review

Too much weird sexual shit for a book about a 15 year old boy and deeply misogynistic 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Misogyny

mandycollaud's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, Murder, Gore, Torture, Rape, Incest, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: War and Suicidal thoughts

blackberryjambaby's review

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent

caseyreadslol's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

every mention of kafka listening to prince is meant to piss me off personally I think 

a decent magical realism road trip romp sandwiched between some of the most unbearable fake deep horrifying garbage I've ever encountered in fiction

*does absolutely nothing to escape fate past running away and barely has any sense of anguish and won't shut the fuck up about "are you my sister are you my mommy can we fuck oh shit five pages since talking about my schlong* wow oh my god I guess fate is inescapable that's wild

it is bugging me to give this such a low score when I've given higher ratings to works I find much worse in terms of prose/etc but seeing skill squandered is blindingly painful

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Animal cruelty, Violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Incest, and Pedophilia

Minor: Transphobia

toffishay's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a book! I had this copy of Kafka on the Shore for almost two years before I tackled it this month and once I started, I couldn't put it down. This is such a creative and intriguing exploration of memory and destiny, the connections that we might and how we come to be the people that we are. How we craft ourselves and are made new every day, while still being informed by all that comes before us. The way that time is used it so trippy and interesting. Time moves past us and through us. We can't get time back and we can waste our whole lives chasing it. And even with these really big ideas, at its core this is a story about a young boy trying to understand himself. The simplicity of that is what keeps the story so tight and I can see why people continue to come back to it. Some parts are tricky...definitely check content warnings and I think that some parts could have been scaled back for sure which stops me from going like up to a 5 star rating for this book. But sometimes the stars are a general guide and I would still recommend this book for sure. Hoshino is my favorite character!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Death, Gore, Incest, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Murder, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Torture, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Police brutality, and Self harm

pers1mm0n's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Rape, Incest, and Sexual violence

Minor: Misogyny and Transphobia

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.

---

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