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earlover58 's review for:
Kafka on the Shore
by Haruki Murakami
We follow a 15 year old boy named Kafka Tamura who flees from his home in Nakano, Tokyo to escape his Oedipus-esque fate prophesied by his father that Kafka will sleep with his mother, be with his sister & kill his father. The second main character is an old man with permanently damaged mental abilities named Nakata & he converses with cats.
The story heavily revolves around the Greek mythology tale of the twin flame & how Zeus split the human soul in 2 & we now spend our lives searching for our other half , our soulmate. As the story progresses we are dipped into the world of dreams, unreality, which work in unison to show us a spirit personifying the American fast food icon of Colonel Sanders. The metaphysical elements in this story are rather hard to explain let alone concretely understand but like Sada said “If you can’t get it across in words, better not to try. Even to yourself”.
I don’t think enough time has elapsed for me to properly appreciate what I just read.
The book is basically a dream; it’s bizarre, ambiguous, & profound all simultaneously, it’s left up to the reader to interpret, & it’s illucid yet familiar like a fleeting smell that reminds you of a time you cannot remember. The book itself is a metaphor & with all the metaphors inside it’s like a multi-layered riddle with no definitive answers, just equally plausible suggestions. Like Hesse’s writing this book isn’t so much about what you feel when you read it but once your soul has been granted time enough to digest the feast it has been given, then you will feel the sweet pain of Murakami's nostalgia & the malady of memories; a sickness we so desperately cling onto.
“Memories are what warm you up from the inside. But they’re also what tear you apart. No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.”-Miss Saeki
Some books we read for the plot, others for pure enjoyment, others to gain knowledge, perhaps some to “indulge”. With this story the words melt off the pages & re-form within the reader as shapeless ribbons of energy that seep directly into one’s being & become a part of who we are & will be, enduring it within us right through till the bitter end.
The story heavily revolves around the Greek mythology tale of the twin flame & how Zeus split the human soul in 2 & we now spend our lives searching for our other half , our soulmate. As the story progresses we are dipped into the world of dreams, unreality, which work in unison to show us a spirit personifying the American fast food icon of Colonel Sanders. The metaphysical elements in this story are rather hard to explain let alone concretely understand but like Sada said “If you can’t get it across in words, better not to try. Even to yourself”.
I don’t think enough time has elapsed for me to properly appreciate what I just read.
The book is basically a dream; it’s bizarre, ambiguous, & profound all simultaneously, it’s left up to the reader to interpret, & it’s illucid yet familiar like a fleeting smell that reminds you of a time you cannot remember. The book itself is a metaphor & with all the metaphors inside it’s like a multi-layered riddle with no definitive answers, just equally plausible suggestions. Like Hesse’s writing this book isn’t so much about what you feel when you read it but once your soul has been granted time enough to digest the feast it has been given, then you will feel the sweet pain of Murakami's nostalgia & the malady of memories; a sickness we so desperately cling onto.
“Memories are what warm you up from the inside. But they’re also what tear you apart. No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.”-Miss Saeki
Some books we read for the plot, others for pure enjoyment, others to gain knowledge, perhaps some to “indulge”. With this story the words melt off the pages & re-form within the reader as shapeless ribbons of energy that seep directly into one’s being & become a part of who we are & will be, enduring it within us right through till the bitter end.