Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

72 reviews

ericispublius's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

A lot of mysteries in this piece, unraveled slowly unto the end — we walked away with some unanswered. Murakami knits a world that rhymes with ours, but is eerily different. He taps into Japanese folklore in a way that is easy to pick up for the novice

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Rape, Incest, Transphobia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Violence

i_webb's review against another edition

1.0

Unbelievably bad. Took 2 separate holds in Libby to finish and ended zooming at 2.25x speed. Writing style was so boring. Worst worst worst. Love yourself and do not read ❤️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Transphobia, Incest, and Pedophilia

rkcobb's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

from the incel intersex/trans masc oshima to the entirely too detailed portrayal of incest and rape, the winding narrative and seemingly disjointed actions of the characters were just not for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Transphobia, and Incest

lukests's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Death of parent, Animal death, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Transphobia and Ableism

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

toastgesnackt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Incest, Sexual assault, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Murder, Rape, Gore, Blood, Self harm, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Transphobia

lumari3's review

mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Animal cruelty, and Rape

Minor: Transphobia

robiinav's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Das Buch war leider absolut nichts für mich. Ich lese gerne weirden stuff, aber abgesehen von Transphobie, Ableismus, usw. finde ich vieles in dieser Geschichte unnötig oder unsinnig. Vielleicht versteh ich einfach die Komplexität eines Meisterwerks nicht, aber so oder so hat es mir nicht sonderlich gefallen - weder der Schreibstil (keine Ahnung ob das vielleicht an der Übersetzung liegt) noch der tatsächliche Inhalt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Incest

Moderate: Transphobia

sanikaaa___'s review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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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. 

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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