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Dec 17, 2009

Vanessa rated it:

Few books have infected me with boredom-induced ADD, the desire to gnaw my own foot off at the ankle, and the state of mind you might experience if forced to sit upon a nest of hornets while watching your home being burglarized, but this was one of them. It took me until page 70 to stop wanting to hop up and rearrange the spice cupboard or my sock drawer every few sentences, but then the feeling returned at page 243. Only 224 pages to go! From then on, my hatred and resentment of this book prog More...

72 comments like (108 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Joel rated it:

When I awoke, I realized I had slept through the night. But had it been a dream or not? It was impossible to tell. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth and shaved, paying special attention to my neck. When my face was again smooth and slightly pink from the razor, I went into the kitchen for breakfast.

I washed down an English muffin and jelly with two cups of strong black coffee, no sugar added, and walked out onto the balcony. The sun was still creeping higher in the sky, struggl More...

16 comments like (38 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Kelly rated it:

No wonder Kafka on the Shore was on the New York Times "10 Best Books of 2005" list. It's one of the most engaging and magical pieces of literature I've read. Reality is unclear. The book presses the boundaries of what exists around the characters versus what exists in their minds. Powerful forces guide the characters--some known, some unknown. Odd things happen within the context of everyday Japan. Mackarel rains from the sky. A metaphysical overseer appears under the guise of Colonel More...

1 comment like (52 people liked it)

Jun 15, 2011

K.D. rated it:

Definitely a page-turner! Once you start, you just keep on reading. Well, why do we stop reading a book? I think we can group the reasons into three: (1) Natural - work, eat, toilet, eyes are tired, other distractions, etc; (2) Boredom - the book or its part is boring; and (3) Need to Digest - sometimes I read a phrase or an idea and it is either hard to understand so I read several times or too beautiful that I want it to sink in and I want to remember it forever.

For my first Haruki More...

10 comments like (29 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2010

mp rated it:

Not a complete dis-appointment, but probably not worth the time I spent reading it either. Especially when it took me 200+ pages to get into it and some of the chapters were a chore to get through.
Most of the things which I love about Murakami's writing are missing in Kafka on the shore. I missed the endearing humor which I had so enjoyed in Hard-boiled.. and A Wild Sheep Chase. I missed the music of the words which brought to life the prose of Norwegian Wood. I missed the splendid descrip More...

33 comments like (19 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2011

Odai rated it:

تتقاعس الكلمات في وصف أسلوب الرواية العظيم ....هاروكي موراكامي اسم لم أقرأ له من قبل ياللخجل....أحتاج لبعض الوقت كي أستفيق من تأثير الرواية الأفيوني وما فعلته بي من خدر ونشوة ثقافية تغلغلت أحداثهاالى فكري المتواضع اذا ما قارنته ببراكين الكاتب الثائرةالخلاقة.......رواية هاروكي تتضمن ثلاثة أحداث تسير في خط متواز ولكنها تتقاطع في نفس الوقت .....انقلابه على السرد النمطي حدث جلي بحد ذاته....... جمع من خلالها المتناهي واللامتناهي في صور جلية.... قسم أشخاص الرواية الى عالم اتسع للجميع فمحدودية الف More...

11 comments like (15 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Shovelmonkey1 rated it:

I thought this book was brilliant - probably my favourite of all the Murikami books i've read so far. Is it cowardly to admit that Johnny Walker scared the living bejesus out of me? Definately a candidate for the weirdest book character ever. I liked this book so much I bought a copy of it for my best friend for his birthday.

6 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jeff rated it:

Really?
What just happened? Who? What? I’m sorry, what?

This is how it starts:
“You’re going to love this book.” Someone says to someone else. “I loved this book, and I know you’re going to love this book.”

Someone said this to my friend, and she read the book, and she thought, “eh.”

But there were more people out there. They love this book! This book is the book that will change everything! If they were to build a time machine and travel back i More...

4 comments like (21 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Naomi rated it:

Magical! A beautiful weave of metaphysical, philosophy, and wonderful characters that are both 'global' and 'Japanese'. Oedipal theory put to music, Hegelian subject given a body, Beethoven symphonies come to life. Murakami is obviously someone who thought deeply and originally about his world and theories he comes in contact with. Much like Kafka and Nakata and many of those they meet including some of the kitties. This was one of those books that totally engulfed me. It was a trial having to p More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2008

Martine rated it:

I could write a one-sentence review of this book, saying that it features Beethoven, talking cats and obsessive love and that therefore I couldn't but love it. Or I could write another one-sentence review, stating that it's Murakami and that therefore it's inherently good and interesting. Both of these statements would be true and more or less complete, but all the same I think I'll go into slightly more detail.

Kafka on the Shore is a story about a fifteen-year-old bookworm who calls More...

0 comments like (27 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2010

Greg rated it:

Murakami's novels are always a little hard to get through, because they are rather long, and more often than not, very little actually happens throughout them. They are full of a myriad of tedious details, illogical plot twists, and unbelievable happenings. However despite all of this, I find them to be amazing novels that affect me on a level very different than the average book. Kafka on the Shore was no exception, and listening to it in audiobook form only helped to enhance the experience.
More...

2 comments like (15 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Julian rated it:

Having read and loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, this is a book I wanted to like more than I ultimately did. The surreality adds up to very little here; if I'm going to get sick reading (spoiler!) about a guy eating the hearts of cats, there'd better be a very good reason. Male-ego-centered sexual self discovery just isn't enough. I picture a Sigmund Freud action figure sitting on Murakami's desk while he wrote this.

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jul 18, 2011

إبراهيم rated it:

هذه رواية ملحمية، وراااائعة فعلاً ... يجب أن نشكر المترجمة "إيمان رزق الله" فالترجمة جعلت النص وكأنه مكتوبًا بالعربية :) رحلة في البحث عن الذات في جانب منها ورحلة في عالم غرائبي مدهش وشيق في ناحية أخرى مزج بينهما الراوي ببراعة وإتقان
.
حسَّنت أيضًا هذه الرواية من علاقتي بالأدب المترجم بشكل عام، وعرفتني على الأدب الياباني الذي يبدو أصيلًا وأصليًا هو الآخـر ...
لا أحب أن أضيَّع على القارئ استمتاعه باكتشاف عوالمها، ولكنها ممتعة وشيقة فعلاً
.
تتميز رحلة البحث More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Walter rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jul 15, 2011

Odai rated it:

تتقاعس الكلمات في وصف أسلوب الرواية العظيم ....هاروكي موراكامي اسم لم أقرأ له من قبل ياللخجل....أحتاج لبعض الوقت كي أستفيق من تأثير الرواية الأفيوني وما فعلته بي من خدر ونشوة ثقافية تغلغلت أحداثهاالى فكري المتواضع اذا ما قارنته ببراكين الكاتب الثائرةالخلاقة.....رواية هاروكي تتضمن ثلاثة أحداث تسير في خط متواز ولكنها تتقاطع في نفس الوقت .....انقلابه على السرد النمطي حدث جلي بحد ذاته.... جمع من خلالها المتناهي واللامتناهي في صور جلية.... قسم أشخاص الرواية الى عالم اتسع للجميع فمحدودية الفكر لأشخاصه More...

7 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 04, 2011

Ben rated it:

So, yeah, I don't really understand this book.

It is not often that I admit a book has defeated me intellectually; upon the rare occasion that it happens, however, I will admit it. This review is, like any review, a meditation on the unique experience I had reading the book, but it is also ruminations about why I feel that Kafka on the Shore is a mountain whose summit I never reached.

I'm starting to suspect that I have a penchant for magic realism. On one hand, the term smac More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2009

erry rated it:

The drowning girl’s finger
Search for the entrance stone, and more
Lifting the hem of her azure dress,
She gazes
At kafka on the shore

At beginning, reading this book just like we read two different and not connected stories. It’s about Kafka, a 15 years old boy who runs away from home either to escape from a gruesome oedipal prophecy and to search for his long missing mother and sister. And an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affl More...

13 comments like (9 people liked it)

Oct 29, 2008

Christina Stind rated it:

My first Murakami book - but definitely not the last. Loved it so much all the way through, it's an amazing book and I just want to read more Murakami to see if it's all this fantastic. Just fell completely in love with this book. I already want to read it again - I think some parts of it will be even better when you know what comes... And I don't think you can get the entire story and all it's elements in just one read. This is a book to read over and over and to ponder during and afterwards.
More...

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2008

Olly rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

Donna rated it:

There is something so intriguing and mesmerizing about Murakami’s books. I can’t put my finger on it, nor can I fully explain it in simple words in a short review. Murakami isn’t just a book, it’s an experience. His characters are quirky, interesting, looking for answers, and wise beyond belief:

“That’s why I like to listen to Schubert while I’m driving. As I said, it’s because all the performances are imperfect. A dense, artistic imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keep More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2009

Dottie rated it:

I've just finished Kafka on the Shore and am left a bit at
sea to extend the metaphor a bit.

First off, I set out relatively well and even that first encounter with the recurring conversations between Nakata and the cat didn't faze me which for those who know how I tend to balk at fantasy or magical realism, etc. may surprise some folks.

The book came close to getting the heave-ho at one point but I refrained from actually hurling it at the wall. Still, while there More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Jun 07, 2007

ryan rated it:

Just finished this on the train ride into work and its now one of my favorite of Murakami's. Kafka on the Shore reads like a cross between the languid, repetative, dreamlike atmosphere of The Windup Bird Chronicle and the converging dual story narrative of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

The main first-person story is that of Kafka Tamura, a 15-year-old runaway fleeing from an Oepidal prophecy, but by running away just sort of vaguely winds up fulfilling it instead. More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2011

Kevin rated it:

This book like many of the novels of Haruki Murakami is about a young man discovering about himself. This time it is through the eyes of a fifteen year old who has run away from his dad in the city of Tokyo to the small town of Takamatsu, where he spends his time at a local small private library where he meets Oshima who looks after him, and the owner of the library, Miss Saeki. This is the story of how he finds about the past, and discovers something magical.

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 13, 2011

Yuki rated it:

I hate this story.
First, I hate his idea of karma, which I think the story is about.

I also hate how he writes. He likes to add details that don't really enrich the story, as well as lots of foreign references as if he wants me to know how much he knows...
I also hate that the main character is a teenager, and how he separates his story so the chapters alternate between the main character and another story about a mentally disabled old guy which I suppose will come toget More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2011

Nojood rated it:

على الأقل اثنتين من الصديقات ينتظرن هذا التعليق
كانت قراءة هذا الكتاب تجربة فريدة بحق. تتحدث الرواية عن شخصين أحدهما في الخامسة عشر والثاني في الستين. وحين تقراعن الاثنين لا تملك إلا أن تتساءل هل أخطأ الكاتب في اختيار شخصياته؟ فابن الخامسة عشر يبدو لك كبير جدا بينما يبدو لك ابن الستين طفل بريء لم يتجاوز سنوات عمره الأولى. وبالرغم أن حياة كل منهما تختلف كليا عن الآخر إلا أن الرابط بينهما قوي (لا أزعم أني فهمت هذا الرابط حتى الآن). وتنتهي الرواية بدون لقاء حقيقي بينهماومع ذلك يظل القاريء More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2010

Mrs. Crane rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Lausº rated it:

Hay una parte de este libro en la que habla sobre Aristófanes, un dramaturgo griego que decía que el mundo antiguo estaba formado por tres clases: hombres-hombres, hombres-mujeres y mujeres-mujeres… pero un buen día los dioses los partieron a la mitad y desde entonces los seres humanos están buscando desesperadamente a la mitad faltante. Hago referencia a esto, porque creo que en un principio, Murakami escribió dos historias… por un lado tenemos a Nakata, el cual durante su infancia sufrió un mi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2007

Iris rated it:

I can't say this book is one of my favorites, but I can't say I hated it. This wasn't one of the books that I would want to read in one sitting.

Murakami writes in many different points of view; he begins with first-person, then switches to third-person omnipresent, and sometimes even uses second-person narration. From the two protagonists of the novel, Kafka Tamura and Nakata, Murakami uses the different narration depending on which character he describes. When describing Kafka, he u More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2007

Matthew rated it:

in the swirl of madness, i flew into this book with high expectations, and to a certain extent, they were not quashed. although, yes, you see but three lonely stars from me for this book. but wait, we're getting a head of ourselves. this was, and i suppose is, a murakami. i have only gone as far in as this one and the wind up bird, but somehow i feel like i may not be too far off by making sweeping statements about his view on the human psyche. one has to be prepared for metaphorical metaph More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 04, 2007

Jamie rated it:

This book was sort of like a modern-day, Japanese version of Through the Looking Glass meets Lord of the Flies meets Cather in the Rye/To Wong Fu, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar and some slightly more dense romain-a-clef...Joyce or something, maybe and a dash of Dahl, too. (Mix in a bit of Sophie's World (you learn philosophy, Keats and a bit of Beethoven with out even trying so you'll sound propetually smart at cocktail parties!)
So...women are men, mother's are lovers, sisters are p More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

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