Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Kafka On The Shore

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami

396 reviews

wodahs's review against another edition

slow-paced

A cat was brutally murdered.

A lot of sex scenes with a 15yo boy, whom a girl he randomly met on a street let him stayed at her apartment (she's 20+) gave him a hand job then told him she wished she was his sister; he also had sex with a 50yo lady who is his mother. Also had multiple sex scenes with women who are asleep.

There's absurdism styles in stories but this one is just fucked up.

Content Warnings

thlad's review against another edition

3.75

funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

sleepy_yoshi's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Trigger Warning: If animal cruelty/abuse makes you squeamish then I highly recommend finding a summary of chapter 16 that just hits the key points if you decide to read it. Even as someone who is not a highly visual reader I found this chapter grotesque.

I immensely enjoyed this novel, but having said that there are parts of it that I loathed. I loved the magical realism and how seamlessly it was woven into the story. There's something about the writing and how surreal things are that sucked me in and kept me turning page after page. I enjoyed the abstraction of reality and surprisingly enjoyed that the puzzle is left up to one's own interpretation for the most part.

But on the other end of the spectrum there are parts of this novel where I rolled my eyes, visibly cringed and wondered if I was even reading the same author. There are scene's that go into an absurd level of detail, often very awkward or crude, detail. Some of the characters feel more like vessels to spit out philosophy than they do actual people or are simply tools for the plot and feel paper thin. The biggest thing though is definitely the way sexuality and the commentary around it is written. The writing of this book is damn near lyrical, until it comes to sexuality and women and the jarring crudeness of that contrast sticks out like a sore thumb.

I hate the notion of "Its great if you just ignore x, y, and z", but that's legitimately how I felt about this. It is what it is. 4 Nakata's out of 5.

Content Warnings

bella613's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging mysterious

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Oof this one is a lot.
This is so well written, and so deep. But it's one that I find hard to connect with and uncomfortable to think about. Murakami is always exploring depressive/traumatic taboo in his novels but this one takes the cake of any I've read so far. It was extremely difficult to read chapters 16, 29, and 39. I would put a huge TW on those particular chapters. If you haven't read Murakami before, then go into it like you would a horror genre. He does not write horror, but he sure isn't afraid to get icky.
Also, after finishing, I'm still not really sure how some of the pieces connect or if they are even supposed to. The beginning was very five-star for me but it went in a different direction than it appeared to be headed at first.

I didn't love the experience of this book but it is still good, if that makes sense. It's hard to say I recommend it because of the content (

incest, rape, murder, violence, and weird fixation on the main chatacters genitals.

) but if you can handle it and want to get into it, then it's one to take your time with. I would not suggest it as a first by the author. But if you like his other stuff then definitely read this!

My favorite bits include the idea of a lighter shadow, conversing with cats, and the less-human inner self taking the form of a crow.
My least favorite parts include the entirety of the three chapters mentioned above.

Content Warnings

hayleylizz's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My first time reading a book from this author. It was a captivating read, very weird and at times got pretty disturbing. It's kind of like a slice-of-life that gets strange, I don't know how else to describe it. My favourite character is the old man that can talk to cats.

Content Warnings