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A review by himpersonal
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I had sworn to take a long break from Marukami. While I LOVED The City and Its Uncertain Walls, almost all the other books I've read by him have been disappointing. Then this one came off my library hold list, and I thought I might give it another go. I was so mad at myself for giving in that I scanned my holds list to remove any other Marukami books on there. UGH.
My main issue is that Marukami's female characters often lack sexual and/or mental autonomy. They are often written for the protagonist's pleasure and even for the supporting characters. Miss Saeki and Sakura are completely taken by Kafka's resistance/submission to his "curse," which was a very poor excuse for him to have done what he did with them/to them. In fact, it was a poor choice of writing conventions on Marumaki's part. The whole story is written around the damage done by this curse. I think it would've been far more compelling a story to explore the relationship between Kafka and his father, rather than to write his father off the way that he was. He had almost no presence, and he served only as a prompt to explain (not even explore) Kafka's mental disarray beyond that one chapter where he woke up with blood.
Then there's Setsuko Okamochi's written confession. What reason was there to be as explicit about her dreams to a virtual stranger, other than for the titillation of that stranger, along with anyone else who reads it, including the audience???? I'm far from prude, but I felt very strongly that the sexual content here had no value other than to fulfill the male fantasies of both Kafka and Dr. Tsukayama. One might argue that Miss Saeki needed to submit in order to find her final way out, but I would argue that's bull.
And let's not forget Hoshino's prostitute. Are you telling me that there was REALLY no other way for him to find the key without her? Without that disgusting objectification she was subjected to by him and by Colonel Sanders? Yes, she's a prostitute, but I'm saying she was completely unnecesary to the story!
Another issue I had with this book was the trans character. After revealing the character as trans, Marukami kept using the wrong pronouns. (Yeah, go ahead and call me a liberal snowflake - I know I am and am proud of it. I'm also queer and proud and will stick up for my fellow LGBTQ+ people.)
The only part I enjoyed was Natako's ability to control the weather. Reminded me of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
I'm so done with Marukami. FOREVER. UGH!
My main issue is that Marukami's female characters often lack sexual and/or mental autonomy. They are often written for the protagonist's pleasure and even for the supporting characters. Miss Saeki and Sakura are completely taken by Kafka's resistance/submission to his "curse," which was a very poor excuse for him to have done what he did with them/to them. In fact, it was a poor choice of writing conventions on Marumaki's part. The whole story is written around the damage done by this curse. I think it would've been far more compelling a story to explore the relationship between Kafka and his father, rather than to write his father off the way that he was. He had almost no presence, and he served only as a prompt to explain (not even explore) Kafka's mental disarray beyond that one chapter where he woke up with blood.
Then there's Setsuko Okamochi's written confession. What reason was there to be as explicit about her dreams to a virtual stranger, other than for the titillation of that stranger, along with anyone else who reads it, including the audience???? I'm far from prude, but I felt very strongly that the sexual content here had no value other than to fulfill the male fantasies of both Kafka and Dr. Tsukayama. One might argue that Miss Saeki needed to submit in order to find her final way out, but I would argue that's bull.
And let's not forget Hoshino's prostitute. Are you telling me that there was REALLY no other way for him to find the key without her? Without that disgusting objectification she was subjected to by him and by Colonel Sanders? Yes, she's a prostitute, but I'm saying she was completely unnecesary to the story!
Another issue I had with this book was the trans character. After revealing the character as trans, Marukami kept using the wrong pronouns. (Yeah, go ahead and call me a liberal snowflake - I know I am and am proud of it. I'm also queer and proud and will stick up for my fellow LGBTQ+ people.)
The only part I enjoyed was Natako's ability to control the weather. Reminded me of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
I'm so done with Marukami. FOREVER. UGH!