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plantfriend 's review for:
Kafka on the Shore
by Haruki Murakami
What can I say about Murakami’s writing that has not already been said? I offer my deepest congratulations to the translator for conveying his work, and I can only imagine what the original text must be like. Murakami’s writing is natural and intuitive, but also abstract and poetic. It’s plain but elegant, just like the women he writes.
That all said, Kafka on the Shore is low on my Murakami totem pole. I disliked most of the characters, save for Nakata and Hoshino—the titular Kafka got on my nerves, and I almost detested Miss Saeki. When Murakami goes metaphysical and magical realism, things usually get good. I regret to say Kafka on the Shore did not match the bar that Sputnik Sweetheart, which I read first, set.
The first few chapters are the most compelling, which usually is not the case with the Murakami novels. I wish he had elaborated more on the mass fainting, the strange UFOs, the lights, and the consequences that Nakata faced. Nakata and Hoshino were the true stars of the book, I thought, and I would read it again and again if only to solve some of the riddles embedded within it.
Kafka on the Shore is, however, my recommendation as the first Murakami book to read. It sets up his dreamworld very well. As a later novel, the style is firmly established, and the themes are well-placed. It is, without a doubt, an excellent novel, written by an excellent author.
That all said, Kafka on the Shore is low on my Murakami totem pole. I disliked most of the characters, save for Nakata and Hoshino—the titular Kafka got on my nerves, and I almost detested Miss Saeki. When Murakami goes metaphysical and magical realism, things usually get good. I regret to say Kafka on the Shore did not match the bar that Sputnik Sweetheart, which I read first, set.
The first few chapters are the most compelling, which usually is not the case with the Murakami novels. I wish he had elaborated more on the mass fainting, the strange UFOs, the lights, and the consequences that Nakata faced. Nakata and Hoshino were the true stars of the book, I thought, and I would read it again and again if only to solve some of the riddles embedded within it.
Kafka on the Shore is, however, my recommendation as the first Murakami book to read. It sets up his dreamworld very well. As a later novel, the style is firmly established, and the themes are well-placed. It is, without a doubt, an excellent novel, written by an excellent author.