Kafka On the Shore By Haruki Murakami (No Spoilers)
Quick Review
3.5 stars out of 5
Sigmund Freud believed our dreams held our repressed unconscious thoughts. Murakami’s book, Kafka on the Shore, takes this idea and takes it beyond fantasy. The entire book almost felt like a never ending dream sequence and a dream within a dream. The story centers around a 15 year old boy named Kafka who runs away from home to escape a curse. The chapters alternates between Kafka’s story and another story about a mysterious occurrence in a forest(sorry don’t want to spoil).
The book is a page turner up until three quarters of it. Afterwards, it becomes incoherent and seems to be going nowhere. My main gripe about the book is it almost felt like the entire thing was improvised. The beginning chapters were gripping and filled with mystery and suspense then we are introduced to useless characters named after KFC’s founder, Colonel Sanders. Sure, I could be missing the entire point. Murakami said the book is filled with riddles the reader has to interpret. However, I just became so uninterested in the story that I didn’t even care about solving it. I just wanted to finish. I also didn’t like the fact that Murakami had to keep pointing out which Greek story, philosopher, book, etc the story was mirroring. He doesn’t seem to have much faith in his reader’s knowledge.
Still, the book is translated beautifully. The style and prose poetic. Storytelling is mesmerizing and makes me curious to read Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, IQ84, and Norwegian Wood. Those three books seem to be his more critically acclaimed books.
humans are very interesting because no other creature has gone through years of evolution to be this stupid
(Source: drarna, via nalanisofani-deactivated2013011)
“what are you gonna look like when you’re 60 with all those tattoos?”
Lol
(Source: tattoosforpassionnotfashion, via nalanisofani-deactivated2013011)
Quick Book Review (No Spoilers)
*****(5 Stars) Out of 5 Stars
Highly Recommend!
Football games, first kisses, diners and drives with friends are all things we experience in high school. Whether you were the jock in the football games, the cheerleader, or the timid little wallflower sitting alone, we all experience high school differently. In this book, we hear the thoughts of a quiet, freshman boy named Charlie who writes anonymous letters to a friend. I assume the letters are for the readers (us)! It is his unique experience with his friends, Sam and Patrick, that make this book such a page turner!
This is a great coming-of-age novel that struck a cord with me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t get emotional when reading this book. The darkness that looms over Charlie throughout the novel is something that I fear many people have experienced. Even during his happiest moments, we feel a sense of wondering—“is he going to be ok?” Don’t let this shy you away from grabbing this book. It is fairly uplifting, has some comic relief, and wonderful characters that you felt like you’ve met before.
Top Books of 2011 by theReadables.
Yay for Game of Thrones at #1!
I plan on reading more books this coming year. From her list, I’m only really interested in The Monstrumologist, Looking for Alaska, and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Happy Reading! :)
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Just in case you guys didn’t know there’s a Studio Ghibli game coming out. I am so pleased about this. Look for it in January.
*DIES*
I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS A VIDEO GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I’m buying this!!!!!!!
My inner child just came out!!!!!
So reminiscent of Spirited Away, Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I’m screaming like a little girl.
Time to get into bed & read & try to stop feeling sick at the idea of work tomorrow… #harukimurakami #kafkaontheshore (Taken with Instagram)
This book is beautiful. I can’t stop reading it.
Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey
All my friends tell me I should move on
I’m lying in the ocean, singing your song
Ahhh, that’s how you sang it
Loving you forever, can’t be wrong
Even though you’re not here, won’t move on
Ahhh, that’s how we played it
And there’s no remedy for memory your face is
Like a melody, it won’t leave my head
Your soul is haunting me and telling me
That everything is fine
But I wish I was dead
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side
All my friends ask me why I stay strong
Tell ‘em when you find true love it lives on
Ahhh, that’s why I stay here
And there’s no remedy for memory your face is
Like a melody, it won’t leave my head
Your soul is haunting me and telling me
That everything is fine
But I wish I was dead
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
But that there’s no you, except in my dreams tonight,
Oh oh oh, ha ha ha
I don’t wanna wake up from this tonight
Oh oh oh, ha ha ha
I don’t wanna wake up from this tonight
There’s no relief, I see you in my sleep
And everybody’s rushing me, but I can feel you touching me
There’s no release, I feel you in my dreams
Telling me I’m fine
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
I’m scared that you won’t be waiting on the other side
Everytime I close my eyes
It’s like a dark paradise
No one compares to you
But that there’s no you, except in my dreams tonight,
Oh oh oh, ha ha ha
I don’t wanna wake up from this tonight
Oh oh oh, ha ha ha
I don’t wanna wake up from this tonight
(Source: lanadelrey.com)
