Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

[crimson comet]

BR duration: <t:1688616000:D> - <t:1693454400:D>
BR leader: @deft terrace
Link: #buddy-reads message

[dusk flax]

@umbral lily are you going to retry this book here?

[deft terrace]

@umbral lily @weak lintel @tight onyx @late hull @quasi ridge @daring sage @signal bay @clear token @surreal nebula @jolly mulch @somber shell @quiet bane @clear token

Hello! Welcome to the BR for this book, my first time leading one of these so let's hope everything goes well. 😄

[dusk flax]

I’m sure you’re going to do great. I’m thinking I might swap The Silmarillion by Tolkien for this this month. I’ve wanted to read it for a long time.

[deft terrace]

I hope so! I'd be curious to know where all of you first heard about the book? I believe for me it was on Instagram where some book-related creator (who's name I now forget) posted a reel about how this was an absolute classic everyone should read, and I added it to my list and only now just got to it.

I'd also like to make clear that I did already start the book a while ago, but didn't get much further than the first few bits, and it was a long time ago so I've mostly forgotten the details. It'll be nice to revisit it!

[weak lintel]

Hmm I started a long time ago, I think over 4 or 5 years. I like checking Japanese authors so I was extra curious of Murakami and Ishiguro who are famous ikr be West. But idk I started this book and never finished. Didn’t really like the protagonist. So I’ll try to finish this time

[dusk flax]

I think I heard Murakami’s name floated around university with some theatre friends back in like 2009, but I wasn’t serious about reading literature back then—not for a few more years. But the name’s always stuck with me. I’ve read a couple of his other works:

. After Dark (about two years ago)
. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (first book read of this year)

Murakami is odd and weird. He makes me think in ways that could only come from some of my wildest fever dreams.

I need to figure out which Murakami bingo card to use. I should retroactively craft cards for the other two I’ve already read, then keep a collection for his works.

[deft terrace]

I've heard he's a little bit weird, but I seem to remember the book had a very relaxed vibe to it, where it was - at least for the first few chapters - really comfortable to read in a weird way

For those looking for a way to read the book, it exists on Internet Archive for loan in their digital library. It's free and entirely legal, and that's probably where I'll start reading it, though I have a physical copy on order for later on.

[umbral lily]

Yes! I think I'll just skip the chapter that I hated -- but yeah!

[dusk flax]

Excellent. This starts in a few days though so that’s good. Trying to make some progress on my other books; I don’t know why I start a million books every 1st of month

[daring sage]

A long time ago now but I remember some bookstagram friends of mine had been really into Murakami and when I’d asked which book would they recommend to start off, most suggested either this or Norwegian Wood (which was my first Murakami)

Having read more of his works, I’ve figured his books seem to have two different courses/categories? Like we have books like Norwegian Wood on one side and others with more magic realism like 1Q84, Hard-boiled wonderland etc (which I prefer more of and Kafka on the Shore seems to fall on this category)

[signal bay]

I first heard about it because i saw a video where Merphy napier hated it

[dusk flax]

Lol I saw that video. I’m like 25% in line with Merphy nowadays

[umbral lily]

We should do a Murakami marathon

One book after the other

Cuz I wanna read the others too LOL

[clear token]

im in

[dusk flax]

Spicy… why are you blowing up my TBR plans

Publication order… or….

[umbral lily]

Okay let's space them out over long periods of time

One book person season maybe? Though I know 1Q84 is long

I say this as if I didn't drop out of the past couple of BRs I was in

[dusk flax]

let’s see if spicy finishes this book

[late hull]

I can't even remember where I first heard about this book I'm just going to guess it was when everyone was talking about murakami...which seems to be a lot of the time...so ig that doesn't help

[wet cliff]

i tried to do that once.. chronologically

[dusk flax]

How'd that go?

[wet cliff]

I dnfed 3 books lol

[dusk flax]

xD

[umbral lily]

Which ones

[wet cliff]

wind (though i forced myself to sort of finish it later), pinball - gave up reading it chronologically and tried reading wind-up bird chronicle lol

[wet cliff]

technically kafka on the shore too... but i'm giving it another chance lol

[dusk flax]

Yeah I’ve read and heard that Wind and Pinball can be skipped (perhaps even recommended) and go directly to book three of the series: Dance Dance Dance.

[wet cliff]

yeah i heard Dance Dance Dance is good but i don't trust what people say anymore at this point

[dusk flax]

I’ve seen DDD rated highly by a ton of people with various tastes so I do kinda expect it to be good. But I also like Murakami; he’s certainly… controversial and kinda awful

[wet cliff]

yeah this is his last chance LOL after this one i probably won't read any of his other works anymore

[dusk flax]

Resting your fate on a bunch of cats?

[wet cliff]

yes for now LOL

[umbral lily]

[dusk flax]

Yes, spicy?

[deft terrace]

So we're starting tomorrow! You guys ready?

[signal bay]

No

[dusk flax]

😂

[deft terrace]

Alright day 1! Some notes for chapter 1:

|| Quite an ominous start to the book in my opinion, our main character deciding to run away from home seemingly spurred on by this "Crow".
There's a few questions here though that it'd be cool to talk about! ||

Some questions for ch 1:

1. || Who is the "boy named Crow"? Does he exist or is he a figment of the main character's imagination? ||
2. || What does the sandstorm metaphor mean? ||
3. || We're told his 15th birthday is the perfect time to run away, as before would be too early and after would be too late. Why might this be? ||

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts!
@umbral lily @weak lintel @tight onyx @late hull @quasi ridge @daring sage @signal bay @clear token @surreal nebula @jolly mulch @somber shell @quiet bane @clear token

(I won't be pinging like this all the time, and might not ask questions, this is just a reminder for day 1 and to kick off some discussion 😄 )

[wet cliff]

i also reacted to the announcement..

[deft terrace]

Oh hey!! I just copied all the users I tagged in the original post, maybe I missed you then also

But welcome!! If I ever do other tags I won't miss you

Actually looks like I missed a few more

[deft terrace]

@wet cliff @celest owl @daring sage @bronze minnow
Looks like I missed you from the original tag, but this goes for you too :)

Welcome to the BR 🥰

Oh Hanzy I didn't miss haha

Sorry this is tricky on mobile without the user list always visible

Sorry about double pings

[bronze minnow]

Fun questions! curious if we're focusing on only the prologue (The Boy Named Crow) or prologue + ch. 1 when answering the questions to make sure i'm not spoiling anything incorrectly

[deft terrace]

I've read prologue + ch 1, I forgot it was two different parts

[wise dew]

I've read prologue +
ch 1, I forgot it
was two different parts

- quacke_

[deft terrace]

Accidental haiku? Haha

[bronze minnow]

I feel like chapter 1 || goes straight into the meaning of “life is a marathon, not a sprint.” The entire chapter was intense. ||

1. || I think Crow is created by the main character’s imagination, just based on the repetition of referring to him as “the boy named Crow.” Also because the narrator mentions in the prologue that “[Crow’s] totally awake. As always.” seems to me that Crow isn't an real human and never needs sleep🤔 The main character also mentions he has “zero friends'' and closes himself off at school, so it's hard to believe he has such a close and understanding friend (Crow) that exists in reality ||
2. || I see the sandstorm metaphor as man vs. self and the internal conflict he experiences with his life. Maybe a grain of sand represents a small worry he’s had, but eventually it all builds up and becomes a storm. He tries to prevent it from getting in because otherwise he’d suffocate (metaphorically) ||
3. || Prior to his 15th birthday, he might not have felt that he learned enough from school to figure out life, and the search for him would be of greater priority based on how young he was. After 15 would seem too late because at that point he'd be in high school and forced to plan out his life accordingly (uni, career goals, etc) especially as someone in the upper class ||

[clear token]

I read the book a long time ago...

[deft terrace]

That 3rd point is interesting, || that is a bit more pragmatic than I imagined. I figured maybe there would emerge some other reason later on, something related to "what [main character] did" (another section that I'm keen to know the answer to). But it very well might just be perfect timing in a more pragmatic sense ||

[bronze minnow]

Ya 😅 || Definitely! Are you referring to something in regards to legality? Like being charged for a crime as a minor vs. an adult? || Looking forward to reading more

[deft terrace]

There was || a passage in there somewhere about something our main character "did" and how it wouldn't be possible to stay after that. I think so at least. Might have to do with legality but I don't know how Japan works in that regard. But you might be on to something! ||

[tight onyx]

God I am struggling to find a copy of this I'm still in the BR but I'm just on hold for the moment.

[dusk flax]

Fortunately we have all through august too

[deft terrace]

If you wanna start off it's available for loan on Internet Archive's library

https://archive.org/details/kafkaonshore0000mura

My physical copy will arrive some time this week but until then I've been reading this one

[late hull]

1~ || At first I thought he did exist but going into chapter 2 I'm starting to think he is some sort of figment of the main character's imagination or something like a shadow self maybe ||
2&3~ || I'll have to come back to these questions after rereading these parts, I need to sit on this a while longer before I can answer those with my thoughts ||

Chapter 1-2~ || I have little to no idea what is going on other than this boy is running away but I am interested to see where the story is going to take me. I went in with very little to no expectations. Also the class just collapsing in the forest what is going on..? Could it have been some weird fume or gas that didn't affect the teacher in time or..idk ||

[late hull]

Chapter 4~ || Ngl I'm more interested in the class mystery than the actual main character at this point idk what it is but I just don't love reading his chapters? ||

Chapter 6~ || Okay so after that incident Nakata could talk to cats I still have barely an idea of what's going on but I am getting more interested as this is starting to link together. Perhaps the person the cat was talking about who also had 'half a shadow' was Kafka or that librarian considering the info from last chapter. I suppose we'll find out ||

[deft terrace]

Just got my physical copy! Much easier to carry on now :)

[deft terrace]

Yeah || World War 2 top secret mystery investigation is a lot more exciting than 15 year old runs away from home lol, but we'll see - I assume in some way these are connected? ||

[quasi ridge]

@deft terrace I realized have overcommitted to too many books this month & next month🥲 can you please remove me from this BR?

[deft terrace]

Not sure I am able but I'll see if I can! No worries :) glad you were with us for the period you were 😄

[quasi ridge]

I guess I’ll unfollow the post and request not to get tagged? I guess that’s enough? 🙂 thanks so much! Hope y’all enjoy murakami

[signal bay]

you can also uncheck the post in #buddy-reads

it will make it easier for the br leader since thats the source on who to ping

#buddy-reads message

[deft terrace]

Thanks :) 👍

[deft terrace]

Chapter 5: || This is probably the chapter I remember best from my first attempt at this book – this library just felt so cozy to me, just the type of location I would want to be in myself. Just gave me a nice feeling whenever Kafka (as we now know his name to be) is in it. I don't really have a spot like that, do you guys? ||

|| So far in Kafka's arc it seems we've been introduced to four characters who might matter – Kafka, Crow, Sakura, and Oshima – and this library seems to have quite a central part at least in this chapter. I wonder how things will shake out later on? Also, Crow seems to be missing from this chapter. ||

Chapter 6: || At first I thought this was a third arc we have to keep track of (between Kafka and the children-collapsing-in-the-woods-arc, but Nakata talking about his "accident" sounds a lot like the aforementioned collapsing story, so I suspect they're connected and he is one of the children who collapsed. Perhaps the one who didn't wake up with the others? ||

|| I'm quite excited to see how Nakata will interact with Kafka's story arc later on, as I assume they will! So far enjoying this book 😄 ||

How are you all getting on with your reading? I've been quite slow, but now that I have my paperback copy I reckon I'll be getting quite a steady pace 🙂

@umbral lily @spice saddle @tight onyx @late hull @icy current @glossy crystal @fierce grail @wet cliff @naive mirage @celest owl @austere lynx @daring sage @signal bay @surreal nebula @jolly mulch @pulsar flax @bronze minnow @clear token @weak lintel @somber shell @quiet bane
(I think that's everyone)

[daring sage]

I plan to start this today!

[spice saddle]

Same here, just finished the book I was reading I can finally start this one

[deft terrace]

Good luck you both! Eager to hear what you think, I'm sure you'll blaze past my current progress in no time haha

[spice saddle]

I just finished reading chapter 1!

1. ||Initially, I believed that Crow did exist in the beginning, like an older guy whom our main character befriended somehow. However, my skepticism arose towards the end when Crow wished him a happy birthday while he was all alone. It made me question his existence Or maybe our main character was just imagining his friend being right beside him, who knows? ||
2. ||In my interpretation, it could symbolize the challenges and hardships of life, especially considering that our main character will now be all alone?||
3. ||It seemed to me that the character regarded his birthday as a fresh start, similar to how we often choose Mondays as a symbolic day to begin something new And perhaps he believed that if a day passed after his birthday, he would lose his ambition.||
   To be honest, I'm not entirely certain about any of these answers haha. It’s such an interesting read though!

[deft terrace]

I love those answers! || The idea of the third question is very interesting, I definitely recognize that feeling of having to start something new on the "first" day ||

[naive mirage]

i plan to start it this weekend!! i bought my copy of this book yesterday

[bronze minnow]

On chapter 11 rn, my favorite character so far is || Nakata ||

[daring sage]

1. ||I really thought him to be some part of our MC’s subconscious but now that I’ve read further, I have other theories ||
2. ||I’ve annotated these bits in my book to revisit later but rn here’s what I think it means - So I always feel like anything to do with sand symbolises some difficulties, so perhaps it’s about some hardships in life that obscure your vision completely yet only with faith and trust in yourself can you ever navigate through any such obstacle that crosses your path ||
3. I’m going to come back and edit this with my answer when I’m off work

[deft terrace]

These are interesting answers – it's interesting just how || unclear Crow's exact form is while still playing such a big part in the prologue and first chapter ||

[spice saddle]

5.|| I, too, unfortunately don't have a special spot like the one described in the book, but I loved Kafka's portrayal of the library, so much so it made me want to teleport there and continue reading the book in that enchanting space Also I also loved Oshima and Ms. Saeki.|| I did start reading chapter 7, ||and Crow finally made an appearance. To be honest, I had expected him to show up earlier, as it seems he surfaces when Kafka starts questioning his actions and their moral implications.||
6.|| As for Nakata, it was indeed mentioned that he is the boy who didn't wake up, no? And I’m also excited to see how those two will meet. ||
Since this is my first Murakami book, I can't speak for all of his works, but are the out of pocket small sexual talks common things in his books? It makes me feel awkward personally.

[deft terrace]

I haven't read any Murakami but it seems that way lol... if nothing else it's an interesting way of portraying life?

In a way it isn't much different from saying our main character "was really hungry and thought the burgers smelled wonderful" to say something similar but of a sexual nature. It's just that the latter has a different feel to it for obvious reasons – but both are "human" responses to natural needs I guess?

But yes it makes me awkward as well, I hope they won't be too frequent cuz it sort of takes me out of it

[daring sage]

It’s honestly this about his writing that kinda puts me off… I’d say it’s a recurring thing (at least in most of the ones I’ve read) but like quacke said above, it’s also how he makes it a very casual natural part of human existence. I think our morals sort of don’t always accept it easily and it’s okay to feel awkward and uncomfortable

I think I’d also been more used to westernised ideologies? Or like writings where anything sexual in nature has a concrete purpose or like isn’t as simplified in a casual talk kinda thing. Now that I’ve been exposed to more of east asian literature, I’ve noticed that most writers tend to do the same thing, like sex isn’t expressed as something taboo or restrictive or phenomenal or whatever but just like breathing or eating, a natural part of life.

[late hull]

A small reading update dump incoming
Chapter 14~ || I am thankful for the different povs, I'm not loving reading Kafka's chapters still though I am really curious as to why, he too, blacked out and what's going to happen to him after this. I think I just need a break from his pov sometimes lol ||
Chapter 16~ || THE POOR CATS??? What is going on...whyyyy. Also this has been my face for the majority of this chapter just what... I think that ending is meant to be linking back to the other events which is interesting, fsr blood was involved each time they blacked out. I really want to know what is going on ||
Chapter 21~ || Oh so that was his father who died...There are still so many questions..like why did Kafka wake up with blood on him? What the hell is this prophecy thing his father was telling..and why is it...that? 💀 ||

[daring sage]

A reading dump on my end coming up too! ( just need to transfer my annotations from my ebook)

I’m taking a break after ch.16, I can’t seem to go on rn so trying to take my mind off by doing other stuff

[late hull]

This book has been pretty hard to motivate myself to read ngl Definitely take a break, read some other things and if you're ready come back to it. Don't force yourself 🧡

[daring sage]

I won’t
The story’s kinda nice though so I think I’ll come back to this soon after I get my mind off stuff. Plus, I think the extent of whatever was to happen has happened 🤞

Ch.6
||I really enjoy animal POVS
So is this guy the same kid who didn’t wake up? Did he like enter a different realm and return as a husk of a person or something?||

Ch.8
||Okay this is getting pretty interesting, I’m really enjoying this book so far, it feels a bit familiar, like the magic realism’s a lot like 1Q84. I’m getting parallel worlds or realms kinda vibes||

Ch.10
||This chapter was so cute and then out of nowhere the mention of animal abuse and aaaghhjj 😭
I wish that’s the extent of it and there’s nothing more but considering there’s a serial cat-napper (Ik it’s not a word) on the loose, I’m just hoping there’s nothing too graphic||
hanzy from the future adds: oh how wrong you were here, hanzy

Ch. 12
||Why do I feel like there’s some connection between what happens to Nakata and bloodied Kafka Tamura? I feel like the woods, the shrine are somewhat connected and maybe Crow is actually Nakata’s actual form and the one talking to the cats is a husk of the person left behind? I’m intrigued ||

Ch. 13
||If someone were to take me this far away to some middle of nowhere kinda place knowing my background of being a runaway (so basically I’ve no form of actual protection in place) I don’t think I could’ve been as calm as Tamura here ||

Ch. 16
||So this is the most difficult chapter I’ve had to read
I knew there’s animal abuse but hadn’t expected it to be this graphic || I’m taking a break

[daring sage]

||I really like the library too and the way Kafka gets to spend all his days reading is just
I don’t have a special place like that but I definitely feel that way when I’m home (either my own apartment or my room when I’d been younger) I’m quite intrigued to see how it all connects and plays out together||

[bronze minnow]

Ch. 12 || I’m really enjoying Nakata’s story and how details about his life are described in a nonlinear timeline. However, this chapter definitely infuriated me after discovering that the teacher had abused Nakata right before all the children had fallen into a trance and she had gotten away with it for so many years, continuing to teach. By the end of the chapter, it felt as though she was just like ‘glad to get that off my chest.’ Also, how can you admit that you lied to the military and doctors, then go about showing how you always noticed how closed-off Nakata was, likely experiencing violence in the home? The fact that this was such a serious crime and an important detail and she had to center the beginning of the letter around her and the dream she had of her husband?? Even though she’s an old woman , I hope that Nakata’s family gets to be told the truth and that she’s prosecuted. 😤 ||

[tight onyx]

I'm so glad I have a whole ass other month for this because I'm determined to read it

[spice saddle]

Ch15 - ||Even though it’s impossible because the whole mountain is private property but wouldn’t it be so cool if the grassland Kafka chilled in was the same place the students fainted in And big shoutouts to Kafka for carrying his heavy bag to literally everywhere, I could never ||

[tight onyx]

I'm finally starting

[daring sage]

I have finished!!
I don't seem to have many annotations from the last couple chapters but I'll share what I do have

[thick frost]

Ch. 25
||I can get the whole prophesy thing but how does someone fall in love at first encounter like that

Plus the prophesy is so weeeeird like whyyyyyy, why Murakami whyyy!!!||

[daring sage]

Ch.33
||I like most conversations with Oshima, it kind of gives more insight into what's happening and like the connections and all||

Ch.44
||So he dies ||

[daring sage]

Final thoughts:

||I really like the uniqueness of Murakami's ideas, like the concepts seem so fresh and different and his way of writing makes it all so simple and easy to understand. I liked this book for its main theme, the conscious vs. unconscious, the magic realism and while I didn't particularly like all characters, Oshima felt tolerable enough. But I really don’t like incestuous bits, prophecy or not, the animal abuse, and like all the sexual bits? Like they feel so unnecessary and discomfiting and like really, his books can be so much more without them for me. It bothers me because if not for those parts, this book (and others by Murakami) would definitely be 5 stars but then they’re not and they need to have all these weird-ey stuff. I could see a lot of similarities between this book, 1Q84, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Or at least the feeling of entering a familiar world)
I've given it a 3 because I'm still undecided about how I really feel about this book ||
Thanks for hosting quacke!

[tight onyx]

~ Chapter 13
I will add more insight later but for now I have 2 settings || and ||

[tight onyx]

Up to Chapter 14
But just to comment on Chapter 12
||The psychology professor getting the teacher's letter that basically says that she had horny dreams about her husband, got her period and then beat the shit out of a kid. ||
https://tenor.com/view/blinking-eyes-white-guy-blinking-meme-what-huh-gif-26334322

[daring sage]

that was quite a ride of a chapter when you put it that way

[tight onyx]

Oh I'm really enjoying it but sometimes things seem to happen

[daring sage]

yes
and um... a lot more may keep happening

[tight onyx]

Chapter 10 comes to mind

Chapter 10
||"I'm with my boyfriend but I'm going to give you a handjob - wouldn't it be nice if I was your sister? G'night fam, go back to your sleeping bag, I can't sleep with you cramping my style".||

I'm joking around but I'm genuinely really invested in all three of these stories that are unfolding. I'm really attached to ||Nakata ||

[daring sage]

I'd forgotten this but yes
It just got a little too weird for me towards the end despite being exposed to Murakami's other works, but oh well, I did enjoy the book sans these parts and the ||graphic animal abuse || ch.16 spoiler

[tight onyx]

This is my first Haruki Murakami book but I know that he's pretty infamous for|| out there/sexual/strange elements.||

But yeah I'm having a blast, I basically ended up bingereading it all day today

[tight onyx]

Chapter 14
||It's giving me adult centered Ghibli vibes. Though please God don't let this Johnnie Walker guy do anything to Nakata. ||

[spice saddle]

I’m halfway done with chapter 19 and ||oh my goooodddddd is this how men see feminism this physically hurts to read 😭||

[spice saddle]

25 - ||She’s definitely his mother, isn’t she ||

[spice saddle]

||Also Nakata and Kafka are definitely connected in a way||

[tight onyx]

Chapter 16

https://tenor.com/view/the-simpsons-krusty-the-clown-wth-what-the-hell-was-that-confused-gif-4720874

[tight onyx]

Update: This book is amazing. That is all.
But in all seriousness, I'm at chapter 22. I would die for ||Nakata. I have no idea where this is going I cannot believe that he killed Kafka's father, I do not care if I seem stupid but I had no idea that twist was coming and it genuinely caught me off guard.||

[late hull]

I finished this on the weekend. My final thoughts~ || Those last few chapters had me so invested, I couldn't put the book down. I liked the ending although there's still this weirdness left behind by some of this book. The mystery is really good, piecing everything together and linking it had me intrigued and Murakami did that so well but was all that sexual stuff necessary?? Like I get the metaphors being there and I respect the underlying message but Kafka doing some of the most questionable, weird shit ... just why? (I get in the dream/ subconscious state he didn't reallycontrol it but...I'll still be asking why). It took me way out of the experience when reading it, like the whole thing with his mother...and the "sister" I just really wish that had been left out. I liked Nakata's chapters much more because they were so wacky and weird and I think Murakami really knows how to make some eccentric characters. I don't dislike the book, I actually like a lot of it but it's those extra parts that have me feeling more neutral/egh about the whole thing. ||

[tight onyx]

Chapter 33
||I admit that I'm starting to get fatigued. I think I'm still enjoying this but it's hardwork to say the least. ||

[late hull]

|| Seriously, reading this really started to feel like a task after a while ||

[tight onyx]

Chapter 36
||I could read about Nakata and Hoshino forever though, I really enjoy their chapters ||

[tight onyx]

||The problem is that the plot is intriguing but the writing is... I can't really explain it outside of heavy and tiresome.||

||It's like a heavy wool jumper. Comfortable but after a while you really want to take it off because its itchy and a little too hot.||

[late hull]

Yeah I completely agree. || I think there's quite a bit of unnecessary stuff/descriptions aswell which don't help, especially from Kafka and sometimes Oshima and just random tangents sometimes that I feel didn't add to anything it gets kinda draining...I just wanted to know where the plot was going and what linked to what, etc. ||

[tight onyx]

||Kafka's half is definitely the more tiring of the story. I enjoy Oshima as a character a lot but sometimes he loves to ramble. Kafka just talks about his dick a lot. there's a lot of rambling from Hoshino but there's a bit more... charm to it? It's less rigid.||

Chapter 39
||AY WHAT, KAFKA STOP MAN this is a very Kafka dick heavy chapter Why the rape dream man... ||

[tight onyx]

All finished! What a ride. This is my first Murakami book and I don't think I'm against the idea of reading more of him. I have spent an UNGODLY amount of time taking a ton of notes about everything I thought about this including the chronology to help myself along lmao I won't post too much here unless people are genuinely down to talk about all the metaphors and stuff.
||So of course the main issue is that the writing is really... really... dry sometimes. The struggle to get to the end was very much there in some cases. I struggled more with Kafka's chapters compared to Nakata's; I actually really loved Nakata's story, his character and of course his relationship with Hoshino. Hoshino himself and his development genuinely made my heart warm. I didn't dislike Kafka's story especially as more of the subtext came to light. I didn't even mind the sexual elements too much - the only time I thought that it was pretty intense was chapter 39. I stand by one of my first observations that this is like a R-18 Ghibli story. ||

[daring sage]

I do agree with you two about ||Nakata’s chapters being so much better than Kafka’s … except perhaps Ch.16, like that was just awful and horrendous ||

Do share Vaude! I’m always interested in seeing how people analyse and like I’d love to hear read more of your thoughts

[tight onyx]

I mean if people are confused, I think this is the complete order of events or at least how I think it works. I actually had a lot of fun working this out.

||1. Hillside scene - kids fall unconscious. Nakata (body and mind) loses all his memory - Miss Saeki (body and mind) has opened the entrance stone to reunite with her lover - Kafka (the boy she saw on the shore). I think time is a bit complicated here but time also seems superfluous so. She may have also opened it BEFORE Kafka on the shore died. ||

||2. Miss Seiki loses her spirit and becomes a hollow person in this world, working at the library with Oshima.||

||3. The body of Kafka Tamura leaves his home in search of his own spirit - which he finds at the library in Takmatsura (in the room with 15year old Miss Saeki; in effect, the spirit of Kafka Tamura is really the living spirit of Miss Seiki's lover, whose body was killed in university).||

||3 cont. At this point, the real spirit of Kafka Tamura leaves his body and goes into Nakata. This is why Nakata and Kafka Tamura are both drawn toward each other, on parallel paths that eventually converge - on a spirital level - when the entrance stone is closed and things are "set straight".||

||4. Miss Saeki's spirit remains as a 15 year old girl (and appears in the room, where the body of Kafka Tamura sleeps with her - in his "dream" world).||

||4 cont. As such, Kafka Tamura's spirit has left his body (and gone into Nakata's body) and has been replaced by the Kafka on the shore's spirit - so he sleeps with what his body thinks is his mother.||

||5. Kafka Tamura's father's spirit takes shape as a concept - Johnnie Walker (it's strongly implied that Kafka's dad is not a good person or was constantly unkind to him, Kafka seems very avoidant of the idea of returning home so I'm going to err on the side that this plays a role into why he becomes a concept or maybe he's always been one??? He's compared to Eichman for Godsake.).||

||5 cont. Nakata (Kafka T's spirit) murders Johnnie Walker (the spirit of Kafka T's father).||

||5 cont2. Kafka Tamura reclaims his living spirit in the world, retains memories and escapes the spirit forest before closing of the entrance stone.||

||6. Nakata is seeking to close the entrance stone in order to free the spirit of Kafka Tamura inside him - at the expense of Miss Saeki's bodily life, as her spirit will have to remain forever in the spirit world, making her body die. (When the entrance stone is closed, no longer can your body live without a spirit)||

||6 cont. As such, Nakata's body dies since his spirit is Kafka Tamura's spirit - which returns to Kafka Tamura when his bodily self overcomes the spirit inside him (Kafka on the shore) so his body returns to the bodily world, leaving the 15yr old Miss Saeki in the forest and acting as a transporter of Kafka on the shore's spirit back to the spirit world. His body leaves to reclaim his own spirit (from Nakata).||

||7. Nakata's spirit goes into Hoshino (speaks to cats) and uses Hoshino's body to close the entrance stone. Theory 1: Nakata's spirit leaves him when he is "weak" and sleeps for long periods of time to become the concept, Colonel Sanders who guides Hoshino to complete the closing of the entrance stone mission.||

||Theory 2: While I was mindboggled for a long time I did find a really interesting article about Shintoism and where it fits into how Murakami interprets these concepts. Theory 1 is how I interpreted it the first go around but I'm not 100% sure now because of this article, I'll still link it because it's interesting https://www.flavorwire.com/529736/kafka-on-the-shore-and-the-spiritual-presence-of-fried-chicken-and-whiskey-mascots||

This is the BEST I GOT
||I'm iffy on where Nakata's spirit is, I'm fairly sure it was trapped in the spirit world (because he and Saeki both have 'half shadows')||

[spice saddle]

Woah I love this

I’m sadly still in the middle of the book but this cleared a lot of questions in my head haha

[late hull]

This is such a cool explanation of events was super fun to read through. It puts quite a bit more into perspective for me

Going to be reading that theory 2 for my morning reading ty

[daring sage]

LOVE this Vaude! It puts so much into perspective especially the way you’ve divided body vs. spirit like I couldn’t put it to words but you’ve done it perfectly

I really hadn’t thought of ||Nakata’s soul being Colonel Sanders but it makes so much sense! ||

[tight onyx]

I had a few ideas about some of the concepts that the characters are meant to represent too but that's absolutely my magnum opus

[spice saddle]

I'm finally finished ||and I'm surprised by how much I've grown to dislike a 15-year-old, something I never expected, but here we are… I really like the eerie aura the book had and the writing style. Also, the book having two different points of view, each with a distinct style, were refreshing. But sadly, this was it. I didn’t really like the characters, nor I resonated with them. Although I pretty much liked Crow, Nakata and Sakura, and Oshima & Hoshino a little bit, the others didn’t really mean anything to me. Not to mention the objectifying women, the terrible representation of feminism and the|| ||r.pe||. ||The prophecy was also out of pocket. If you ask me whether I'd consider picking up another Murakami book in the future, my response would be a definite no. 😕 Regrettably, I couldn’t like the book at all, nonetheless, it did manage to satisfy my curiosity about Murakami and his pen. ||

Thank you so much for hosting though! I really enjoyed discussing with everyone

[deft terrace]

Thanks for participating! I have been slowly hacking away at this in the background but haven't had time to put my notes in here, but I've been picking up the pace the past few days, gonna ready through some of the notes here without spoiling myself now :))

[deft terrace]

I'd love to have a place like this honestly, I study in my local library sometimes but it's not quite this place... it's a bit too busy, because a lot od high school students go there. I kinda feel like I need to find a quiet cafe or something

[deft terrace]

I never caught that but that would be amazing! I do hope that ends up being true later on

[spice saddle]

End book spoilers- ||I think my theory could be possible since after that area you can enter the dream world (?) ( Don’t know the exact word to use here haha) and the soldiers being there etc ||

[deft terrace]

some notes on the sexual language (spoilers up to ~ch 19):

|| My opinion on this has changed a bit since I went from chapter 9 to chapter 19. At first, the only sexual mention was the slightly odd one early on when he mentions Kafka m*sturbates at night to fall asleep. I noted this but didn't think it was too weird, actually thought it was kind of interesting. Sexual desires are human desires just like hunger or thirst, and it's basically the same to write "I was hungry, so I went to the coffee shop and bought a sandwich" to write "I was turned on, so I j*cked off", the only reason they're different to us, is because of the social stigma around sexuality. It was interesting to read that ||

|| But between Kafka and Sakura's incident later on, and the teacher's (who's name I forget now) vivid description of her dream... both of those incidents right now seem completely unnecessary. Unless something further on ties this back into relevancy it feels more like the auther just added it because he was horny. Kind of pulls me out of the mood of the book ||

|| Someone earlier mentioned the book had a sort of Ghibli vibe and I absolutely feel that when reading! I practically visualize that style when Murakami describes these environments, and the narrative also feels very similar to something Spirited Away-esque! But these specific parts don't really fit that, I feel like ||

[naive mirage]

started reading the book and am almost 7 chps in! so far I'm very intrigued by the backstory of the runaway teen, the mystery in the woods which relates to that old man who was talking to the cat (ngl that's how I expect cats to respond if they could converse, am pleasantly surprised) this is my second book by Murakami, although I dnf norwegian woods 😭

Kafka is so crude. || his description of Sakura wdym "the whole package isn't so bad"||

[naive mirage]

125 pages in and so far || there's still a lot of world building?!?!Nakata and the way he mysteriously lost all his memories & gained the ability to talk to cats is so interesting. Murakami's writing feels very real, very in the moment.||

one similarity between Kafka and Nakata's situation is ||'memory loss', although for Kafka it's fragments of moments at time rather than a full wipe out|| other than that I don't find anything that connects them yet || there's some prophecy he hid from sakura, unless that's somehow related to their situation?||

Kafka kept thinking if perhaps || sakura is his sister, and she said "I'm thinking how nice it'd be if I was your real sister" I found it so weird especially when she said that after giving him a hand job ||

[naive mirage]

1. || he appeared in the bus, and also in that cafe in chapter 7... i feel like he's imaginary. he seems to be the one to motivate him with that "you're the toughest 15 yr old on the planet" ||

2. ||man vs nature/conflict/self. it was very motivational maybe it was just a means to mentally prepare himself about his tough journey as a runaway? ||

3. || maybe something about the prophecy? before it was too early perhaps he wasn't prepared mentally or physically. and after would be too late... im not sure maybe he could've finished high school idk?||

chapter 12
↗️↖️⬆️↙️↘️↗️⬇️⬆️

the teachers ramblings are wild asf || not her describing her wet dream in excruciating detail ||

[tight onyx]

I'm living for this

[deft terrace]

fr it REALLY pulls me out of it

[naive mirage]

chapter 13
|| "i need Crow's help - need him to appear from where he is" & "it takes a while before Crow comes back" indicate that Crow is really just a figment of his imagination - someone who motivates him & is knows things better||

[naive mirage]

200 pages in (didn't really write detailed notes) but got 3 things to say

• || that mf Johnnie walker was a fucking psychopath. that cat killing scene, heart eating part was one of the most disgusting things I've ever read. almost threw up. ||
• murakami creates so many subplots || - like the Kafka in the cabin bit - and writes in minute detail about mundane things it's almost maddening. he almost lost me just like he did in norwegian woods when he obsessively wrote about walking and walking and walking. ||
• || i dont really trust oshima or his intentions I don't know why. well maybe cause he left a 15 yr old alone in the cabin in the woods with no humans around.... & he offered him a job in the library like what's the catch. ||

& 413 pages more to go

[tight onyx]

You got this!

[naive mirage]

on chapter 21 ||Johnnie Walker was kafka's father..... ||

did not see that coming

[naive mirage]

|| Nataka can't talk to cats anymore :((( poor man was so lost trying to find a ride ||

why the hell are || leeches and fish|| dropping from the sky

[deft terrace]

ch 18/19
|| I'm starting to wonder if Nakata's "power" to talk to cats was somehow tied to Johnnie Walker all along... and his speech in this section does seem quite a bit more intelligent perhaps? Maybe riding the world of Johnnie Walker has relieved Nakata of his difficulties? ||

|| also Oshima just keeps being more and more mysterious... 👀 oh and wtf is up with the fkn fish ||

[signal bay]

I just realised this is magical realism for some reason i never like magical realism but lets see if this book will change that

[naive mirage]

chapter 21
|| "I did the math and figured out he was murdered the same night I woke up with my shirt covered in blood" HOW is it all connected I'm dying to know what's the prophecy ||

nvm 😭 i read about the prophecy 2 pages later and it's basically || incest ||

but it still doesn't answer how it's all connected

[naive mirage]

ahhhh Kafka on the shore's || lyrics which miss saeki wrote are prophetic Miss Saeki, Nakata are described as half shadows? spirits? how is Kafka connected to all that?!?!? || this book just gets better and better. it's surreal but somehow feels realistic.

pg 328 || a book on lightning... was Kafka struck by lightning? it seems strange for miss saeki to just mention that out of the blue||

[deft terrace]

ch 21-23 ||honestly I did NOT see the Johnnie Walker-Kafka's dad thing coming???? also wtf is that prophecy||

[signal bay]

The boy named crow (before chapter 1) ||"I forget who I am, even" That sounds horrible i once woke up and for a few seconds i didnt know who i was i wouldnt do that on purpose ||

[naive mirage]

chapter 29 & 31
|| so miss saeki sleepwalks into his room and they have sex. in the next Kafka chapter, he tells her about his theory - that she's his mother - and in the same sentence says I wanna fuck u and they do have consented sex THIS time 😭 even though she could be his mother. or is his mother's age....||

Kafka and his "metaphorically" & his dick || he fell in love with a ghost... and the person is still alive but older... and he decided he wants her....|| i don't understand him at all

NGL some of oshima and kafka's talk goes over my head sometimes😬 there's a lot of metaphors dkdkdkv

chapter 32 || hoshino is a fun character. i thought he'd rob Nakata and run away 💀 he's his reactions to Nakata are so fun. ||

[naive mirage]

ive finished reading the book!! a lot happened in the last hundred pages. It'd take some time for me to organise my thoughts. i think i liked Nakata's story a lot better than kafka's...

[bronze minnow]

Reading the first page of chapter 16 after a break || WTF “severed heads of cats” in the freezer ||

[bronze minnow]

Chapter 16 || Wow. The book just took a completely different turn from what I expected . But it left me wondering, why? Why target Nakata into being the one to kill Johnnie Walker? What exactly is this flute that requires cat souls to be played? Also, I’m glad that Mimi survived, but it honestly pained me when Mr. Kawamura suffered. ||

Chapter 17 || I love the comparison Oshima makes to him and the Greek tragedy Cassandra regarding ominous prophecy because in a way it connects illogical and logical reasoning, which is seen in the world Murkami creates in the novel. 🤔 ||

|| Hearing about the heartbreaking story of Miss Saeki and the analogy of what Aristophanes said about other halves was touching and sad. Still can’t believe that her boyfriend’s killers were let off easily with involuntary manslaughter. || I also really like the quote:

|| Kafka, in everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive. ||

Chapter 18 || Noooo, I can’t imagine Nakata losing his ability to communicate with cats 😭. I have no idea what to think of the fish falling from the sky, it’s so random. || A meme to summarize chapter 18

[deft terrace]

Yeah I'm really curious as to || why exactly Nakata was the one to kill Johnnie Walker... I assume we'll find out later on, but very strange ||

[bronze minnow]

Ya || at first I was thinking he wanted to take advantage of Nakata’s ability to communicate with cats, perhaps forming a team 🤔 but all of the cats were paralyzed and unable to even speak when they were killed so I’m not sure ||

[deft terrace]

Yeah real weird...

[wet cliff]

BR has been extended!
new BR duration: <t:1688601600:D>-<t:1693699200:D>

[deft terrace]

Small quote on page 262 I thought was quite incredible: || Artists are those who can evade the verbose. || I've never really heard it put that way, but it's absolutely true I think

[bronze minnow]

Chapter 17 || Hmm, I love when I get to the part where they mention the book title in a passage on text. I don’t know how to feel about it yet after discovering that Miss Saeki’s hit single was titled Kafka on the Shore. I think it has to mean some sort of similar thinking between her and Kafka, which could mean something deeper later on. ||

Chapter 19 || Wow! Oshima really roasted those two women in the library in the most humble way possible. I mean truly, why were they honing in on a small library opened to the public that's run by only 2-3 people. Also, at first when Oshima said that they were female I thought they were joking, or maybe they were so good at debates that they came prepared with a false ID, but that really came as a shock that Oshima is actually a transgender man. Glad that Kafka accepted him and we see Oshima opening up more. ||

Chapter 20 || Wish we had gotten an update on how the man from the parking lot was doing, but hopefully he’s alive since it was mentioned that he mainly suffered damage to his eyes and teeth. Perhaps he’ll come back in a later part of the novel, but I'm not sure. I'm curious what the leeches mean, especially when it’s mentioned that “once they get stuck on you they’re hard to pull off” and can even leave a scar. I look at it as an analogy to Nakata’s murder of Johnnie Walker, perhaps trying to say that murder is like a leech and that Nakata cannot escape his crime whether it be physically or mentally. ||

[bronze minnow]

I have too much I wanna say about chapter 21 || WHAT!? Ok, this book is getting good! I have now developed a few theories based on the connections of everything and I’m freaking out! Hear me out, it’s all coming together! What if Miss Saeki is Kafka’s mom because there was a period of time, which even Oshima can’t explain where she was. And what if Oshima is Kafka’s sister (now brother), and somehow Miss Saeki asked her old friend to raise him during childhood (a bit of a stretch given I don’t recall how old Oshima is). I also love and hate (in a good way??) the comparison between Oedipus and Kafka how could a father say those things, and the DNA test was just outright rude. ||

My thoughts about Nakata referring to himself in third-person after reading chapter 21 || I always thought this was to emphasize the fact that he may have a mental condition. However, I also noticed that he’ll sometimes alternate between first and third-person when referring to himself in front of others. I feel that this could be to represent the split in Nakata (referring to chapter 6 when Mr. Otsuka noticed Nakata’s weak shadow after it was separated). I think Nakata alternates between first and third-person in his speech because he can only see himself in an external or internal view independently rather than simultaneously (idk if that makes sense). I also have a theory that Nakata’s missing half is Crow that lives in Kafka’s head only after reading the connection between Nakata’s act of murder and Kafka waking up with a blood-stained shirt. ||

[deft terrace]

|| That leech analogy is so great, I hadn't thought about it at all honestly but I love that, it makes a lot of sense! I do wonder if the fish have similar meaning? ||

[deft terrace]

also about first/third person, have you noticed || Kafka's chapters are always told from Kafka's own point of view, while Nakata's are all told from the third person? Kafka's chapters are all about "I closed my eyes", "I had a bite to eat", while Nakata's chapters are all "Nakata closed his eyes", "Nakata had a bite to eat". That's got to have some meaning later on... ||

[signal bay]

sorry but im going to DNF this book

[deft terrace]

I'm on pretty good course to finish it, didn't think so at first but I've been soo hooked the past few days

[deft terrace]

as I'm nearing the end of the book I've started to think more and more about what the book is about, and I think I've found a common thread among four of the main characters (spoilers up until ch 39)

|| Kafka is a runaway from a home where he did not feel... at home. He does not get along with his father, and finds his way into Takamatsu. Him, and the boy named Crow, continually mention becoming "the strongest fifteen-year-old in the world", changing themselves for the better. At one point he even mentions despising the body he exists in. As things continue in Takamatsu, as he interacts with Oshima, Miss Saeki, and the events that unfold around them, it seems more and more he explores who he really is and becomes more and more content with this existence. ||

|| Nakata continually feels like something is missing, and he is searching for it. He often mentions his difficulties with being unable to read, and not being very bright, and while he seems unbothered by it, I get the feeling it's part of his "incomplete" feeling. He also mentions several times how his shadow is incomplete, like half of it is missing. His search with its twists and turns is, to me, with the goal of completing himself. ||

|| Hoshino at the start of his journey with Nakata seems to be unhappy but content with his life and the way it is. As the journey goes on he seems to realize that, compared to Nakata in a lot of ways, his life really is not that bad. As well as this he seems to find himself in Nakata's journey, discovering his like for classical music and some "finer" movies. ||

|| Oshima is sort of the opposite to all three of the above. Oshima, despite being in what many would definitely describe as an unideal situation – being effectively a trans man (though it is never explicitly mentioned), and having a rare hemophiliac disease – copes with his problems to live a full life despite adversity. ||

|| There are similar things to say about other characters in the story, how Miss Saeki's life has never quite been the same since her lover passed away, and her time with Kafka rejuvinates her a bit towards the end of her life. Kafka even speaks about how there "is still time", for both him and Saeki. Johnnie Walker/Kafka's father also speaks to Nakata about needing to be killed to stop the behavior he is performing, which is definitely quite an extreme way to go about personal change, but sort of fits the theme? ||

|| In many ways I think this book is about finding a way to lead a life you are comfortable with, whether it be searching inward for who you really are (Kafka, Hoshino), searching externally for your missing piece (Nakata), or realizing that your adversities do not define you (Oshima). It's really quite amazing.||

[deft terrace]

BR is ending today! I will finish my final four chapters, and take some time to scroll up and reply to some of your previous discussions from the chapters I've gone through for the past few days, and and your final thoughts about the book :)

[bronze minnow]

Gonna try to finish today, also have a few chapters left

[naive mirage]

i forgot to post my final thoughts about the book. this is one definitely one of the books that you got to re-read a few times to fully understand, i didnt want to re-read all of 615 pages LOL so i re-read some of kafka's chapters i found perplexing to understand his story better,

when kafka says,|| "i forgive you, mother" (in his head) i realised that while forgiving miss saeki who burned her memories, he is also forgiving his mother who abandoned him. miss saeki and kafka used each other in a way- her reliving her younger days/making up for lost times", and kafka who wanted to waste away by fulfilling his father's prophecy (his dream about sakura in the cabin, too). imo, a part of the reason why he fell for miss saeki (both ghost/spirit & real miss saeki) was cause of his father's prophecy - because he feels he has no power to resist. once he let goes of his hatred for his mother, like Crow said, he was finally free of that fate & predestined life he thought he'd lead, & could also make it out of that spirit land>?? ||

interestingly, Nakata and ||Hoshino also seem to completely, blindly follow their fate which searching for the entrance stone. hoshino & nakata both found purpose - nakata to find the entrance stone. hoshino found some sense of purpose in his life, his friendship with nakata provided him with new perspective.* I think * nakata lost his cat conversing abilities when killed johnnie walker, and when hoshino kills his ugly spirit again, he gains nakata's abilities.||

i think i'd give it 4/5 stars.

[bronze minnow]

@deft terrace would it be okay to ask for 1 extra day pls 🥲 I have 6 chapters left

[deft terrace]

Fine by me! @wet cliff could we extend by 1 day to accommodate this?

I just finished the book! But it's quite late in my timezone so I'll have to give my full final thoughts tomorrow

I feel like I could go for a ||30 hour sleep like Nakata|| haha

[deft terrace]

@umbral lily @spice saddle @tight onyx @late hull @icy current @glossy crystal @fierce grail @wet cliff @celest owl @austere lynx @daring sage @signal bay @surreal nebula @jolly mulch @pulsar flax @weak lintel @somber shell @quiet bane @naive mirage @bronze minnow
(hopefully this is all the tags, if you've left the BR and still got tagged I apologize, this is the tag list I used previously with some amendments so just ignore this)

End of the BR!

Yesterday/today (depending on if we could get the 1 day extension to today, and also because of timezones I assume we kind of finished it on different dates lol) marks the end of this Buddy Read for Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore! Whether you finished the book or not in time I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying it, and I certainly did.

I'd love to hear some final thoughts on the book from all of you who haven't already shared, and I'll be re-reading some of the stuff in this channel and replying to some messages if you wanna discuss some points further.

Thanks for participating and for helping me finally tackle this wonderful book!

[spice saddle]

Thank you so much for hosting it and making me give it a chance! Even though I couldn’t bring myself to like it, it was really fun chatting and talking about the book with you all!!

[wet cliff]

yeah 1 day is fine, there's no need for an official extension for just one day

[daring sage]

Thanks for hosting quacke! I finally got around to reading the book thanks to this BR

[naive mirage]

thank you for hosting! i bought this book but never read it, this br was a wonderful opportunity to do so

[tight onyx]

Thanks so much for hosting this! I finally got to dip my toes into Murakami and I'm excited to read more!

[deft terrace]

||I had very much the same feeling about the sexual bits, the animal abuse, and incest... at first the sexual bits were fairly tame and it actually gave a somewhat realistic view into how human minds work. I mean - "I masturbated" is as human a response as "I ate food", the only difference is there's a stigma for the former. That was interesting. Then it got overboard, especially describing sexual acts in such vivid detail... For most of this book I can really envision this story as a Studio Ghibli movie, there's something about the feel of the storytelling that really gives me a Spirited Away kind of vibe. But as soon as they describe sexual acts in such detail, it starts to feel more like hentai... not a huge fan, though towards the end I was mostly just reading through it without thinking about it too much.||

[deft terrace]

||Personally I didn't really mind the writing! Things flowed on pretty well for me, I admit it isn't the best writing I've ever read but I can't say it was particularly bad for me. The chronology got a bit hard to follow especially at the end, so I was happy the characters mentioned what day of the week it was a few times. Also I just love how Nakata rubs off positively on everyone he spends time with, like Hoshino, but also that office worker he hitchhikes with in the beginning of his travel.||

[deft terrace]

I've heard this book needs to be read a few times over to properly understand it, I believe Murakami himself said ||there are a number of riddles hidden in the book you wouldn't notice on the first pass, which is the kind of book he really wanted to write.|| If I do ever pick the book up again (at some point I probably will, I really enjoyed it on the whole despite some of the iffier parts) there are a few things I want to focus on...

||I find it very interesting Nakata and Kafka are very obviously connected together, yet they never meet and their interconnectedness never really gets explained. I liked Vaude's thought about Kafka's spirit (I take it, the "original" Kafka who was Miss Saeki's love?) being trapped inside Nakata, perhaps that is it.||

||Also I feel like Johnnie Walker is a character who doesn't really get resolved. Crow (the spirit of our main character Kafka, I interpret it as) resisiting him towards the end, and taking away his ability to speak is metaphorical and ties into how Kafka is now able to resist the prophecy his father placed on him. But what happens to him? It's almost set up for a sequel the way Johnnie Walker clearly can't be defeated and he speaks about the flutes, assembling them into the giant flute...||

||Also I'm just a bit confused overall regarding all these spirits hopping around in bodies, and the fact that we kind of have two "Kafkas" to deal with... Also wtf was that slimy thing crawling out of Nakata at the end???||

[naive mirage]

so in my understanding, Johnnie walker || WAS that slimy thing that came out of nakata's body. he was evil, and even after death, he wanted control of souls (something he said while talking about flutes iirc & i think he wanted to use the entrance, but hoshino closes the stone and finally kills him ||

idt there were two kafkas..... kafka on the shore was the || song's name (written by miss saeki), & idt we were ever told what was her boyfriend's name.||

[bronze minnow]

Chapter 22 || I think there must be a relationship between Nakata’s feelings and the rain. I’ve noticed that whenever it rains, Nakata is usually in a state where he is upset, even though he may not show it outwardly. The umbrella he uses to protect himself may represent an inanimate object used to replace his missing half, which would normally protect him from these feelings.||

[bronze minnow]

Finished finally 😭 || Oh my gosh. This book took some time. I felt that early on in the book the concept was very interesting, but also at times very dull. There were times where I was on the verge of crying and times where I was like .||

|| I think the part that left me with the most confusion is Johnnie Walker Is he real or just a figment of Nakata's imagination? Is he still alive? Was he the one attacked by Crow? What happened in the end with that situation?? Also, could it be that Crow is a spirit inside of Kafka, while Johnnie Walker is one of Nakata's?||

|| Nakata's death made me feel so sad I wish we got to see him in someway shape or form living the way he wanted to, I wish he himself found out the truth in all of this. But like Hoshino, there's a lot to learn from Nakata about the way we live our lives. I suppose Nakata's spirit is now living within Hoshino ||

|| Idk what to say about....Kafka and Miss Saeki there were times when I thought Kafka was a reincarnated version of her boyfriend, but yet also....her son I feel that the moment Kafka left his house he walked right into the sandstorm that he created. But it's touching to see that once he left the forest and entered into a brand new world, he realized he had people in his life and that he wasn't alone (Oshima and Sakura)||

|| All in all, the book was like no other I've read before and I would be interested in reading another Murakami. Favourite characters would be Hoshino and Oshima because of their character and ways in which they were open, patient, and understanding with Nakata and Kafka. Special shoutout to Colonel Sanders bc he was hilarious and totally random ||

[daring sage]

Yesss! ||I feel like Murakami touches on a lot that is just plain wrong? Or just morally unacceptable like incest or even paedophilia. It's why I have this love/ hate relationship with his works because while I love the concepts, it's mixed with so much of these uncomfortable weird almost kink-like stuff and that upsets me. Like 1Q84 for instance, I LOVED it, but one of its biggest scenes (in terms of it's relation to the plot) involved something I just couldn't take. So yeah, I end up reading without giving much thought too and enjoy his works as well sometimes, but it doesn't all bode well with me at the same time ||

[deft terrace]

I don't think we ever get told it, but ||Kafka also isn't the real name of our protagonist||

Idk really 🤷‍♂️

[naive mirage]

yes exactly. that's why oshima said it's an interesting coincidence he chose Kafka as his name

[cursive sinew]

From <t:1715817600:D> to <t:1722384000:D> | Leader(s): @glossy crystal

Book Link

ID: 6638be3525f403985ccc57ad
Announcement: #buddy-reads message

[bitter arch]

[glossy crystal]

https://tenor.com/view/catshakira-cat-dance-catdance-catdancing-gif-22503034

[tight onyx]

Reread time

[deft terrace]

Nice to see someone rereading this book, last time it was a great time and I really enjoyed the book :) Hope you guys enjoy it as well!

[lilac jewel]

Hello, all! I've had two of Murakami's books on my bookshelf for over a decade (the other one is Norwegian Wood), and I still haven't gotten around to reading wither. I thought this BR might be the push I need.😅

And yes, I know the wording of that is a bit odd. I don't remember how I got the books in the first place, I think they were a gift from someone, but who knows? I sometimes have an out-of-body experience at bookstores, and I come back having bought books I don't remember even being on my radar. So that's a distinct possibility.

[clear fractal]

@agile perch,@tight onyx,@signal bay,@subtle shale,@lyric hemlock,@slow flower,@clear token,@grizzled prawn,@slow patio,@late veldt,@naive mirage,@lilac jewel,@dawn stone,@bitter arch,@broken mesa

Hello hello!

Super excited to read this with you all! I am happy to announce the start of this BR and I hope all of you are excited too!

Let's start this BR with one question- What are you expecting from this book?

[broken mesa]

excited to read this book with you all

Ch 1-5 : || very similar to the previous books I read by Murakami so far , so Tamura is a teenage runaway and Tanaka had some accident in the mountains . Library is a good place to stay while you figure out what to do next ||

[late veldt]

No idea. Absolutely no idea. I just heard alot about Haruki Murakami and his books. Just that

[broken mesa]

Murakami style , fun and sad at same time.

[slow flower]

A great surreal adventure.

[lyric hemlock]

None at all!
I'm excited!! I still have to buy the hard copy tho, so I'll start once that happens
Excited to read it with y'all!!

[lilac jewel]

Hi! Genuinely no clue, actually. But I've been told that Murakami details his characters and their psyches really well, so I don't expect it to be a light and breezy read. I'm really looking forward to this BR! ☺️

[bitter arch]

Never read Murakami I'm expecting something philosophical ahh

[broken mesa]

Chapters 6-8 : ||I stare at this ceaseless, rushing crowd and imagine a time a hundred years from now. In a hundred years everybody here – me included – will have disappeared from the face of the earth and turned into ashes or dust." I believe this quote resonate a lot with me, it's not the first I see it though, King Perseus was mentioned by Seneca as someone who said long time ago before a war.... I think it's an awesome reason for me to treat people kindly since nobody will be here in 100 years haha .Tanaka ain't dumb I guess, it's just that we have different gift/talents given from mother nature. ||

[broken mesa]

Chapters 9-15 : ||awesome , Oshima is right, although he can't play sport due to his diseases, he has things to make up for it, for instance his skills at driving . I feel like something bad will happen related to Johnny Walker . Tamura is right, imagination and common sense are necessary, one shouldn't follow orders blindly in my opinion.||

[broken mesa]

Ch 16-40 : ||Really emotional chapters , so kind of the Two girls to help Mr Nakata . Hagita is right, our view of the world is probably subjective, like each person sees reality in a different way. Much respect to Hoshino, taking a break from his job and helping a run away (although he didn't know Nakata was one at their First encounter ), interesting the metaphorical romance between Tamura and Saeki, very unusual to say the least , I love temples as well just like Colonel Sanders, I find them calm and peaceful ...||

[broken mesa]

Kafka on the Shore Ch 41-49 and Conclusion : Awesome book ,|| really liked Mr Nakata's chapters, wish most people could enjoy life like him...he enjoyed the simple pleasure of life and did his best everyday ,like he said to miss Saeki in this quote "But if something did happen, it happened. Whether it’s right or wrong, I accept everything that happens , and that’s how I became the person I am now." , I also liked how he lives in the present by contrast to miss Saeki " Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” Nakata shook his head. “That’s a tough one. Nakata still doesn’t understand. The only thing I understand is the present.” “I’m the exact opposite,” Miss Saeki said.", glad Tamura decided to go back to school and that Sakura will keep him company in Tokyo meanwhile he grows up. one of best by Murakami I'd say after reading 7 or 8 this one is my second best after Wind-up Bird. ||

Where are you fellow readers , wanna discuss this book so badly

[glossy crystal]

Ahh I plan to read it next week! I just finished my reread of Norwegian Woods so going to space out my read of Kafka by adding some fluffy reads in the middle!

[broken mesa]

I'll be waiting for you here

[glossy crystal]

Thank you!

[glossy crystal]

Has anyone else started the book?

[tight onyx]

I'l be starting it over the weekend! It's a reread for me so I'm gonna take my time a bit

[glossy crystal]

Awesome!

I started the book today and I'm done with the first chapter.

||Does the main character have multiple personality disorder or something? A fight club thing? Is he Crow? I'm seeing a few similarities between this character and Toru from Norwegian Woods in the sense that both of the characters have similar personalities, they both act like they're pretty stoic and stuff. More observe the surroundings than notice it and talk about it.||

Let's see how it goes

[glossy crystal]

Chapter 2: ||That was interesting, what happened to the children?!||

[glossy crystal]

Chapter 5: ||The book feels interesting in a mundane sort of way where Kafka feels like he's going with the flow essentially. I like the talk of the library, Oshima seems like an interesting character especially talking about the mm fm ff theory, I gather it's about soulmates.||

[clear fractal]

@agile perch,@tight onyx,@signal bay,@subtle shale,@lyric hemlock,@slow flower,@clear token,@grizzled prawn,@slow patio,@late veldt,@naive mirage,@lilac jewel,@bitter arch,@broken mesa,@fervent apex,@cold trail,@dawn stone

Hey everyone! Has anyone gotten the chance to start this book?

[broken mesa]

Finished ✅️, it was a fun read tbh, lot of suspense and many life lessons to learn

[slow patio]

I'll be starting this as soon as all the June reads are finished

[lyric hemlock]

I have so many unfinished books rn so I'll be starting this once those are seen through

[dawn stone]

Chapter 1
||I have a lot of questions but the biggest one is who is Crow? I want to guess it's something like an imaginary friend but then how was he picking up the paperweight in his dad's room?||

I'm going into this book blind but I've heard it's quite odd

[glossy crystal]

||I think I'm going to request an extension till 15th July||
I got confused y'all sorry

[wise dew]

I think I'm going
to request an extension
till 15th July

- ninjamonkey_.

[umbral lily]

Hang on a second

[tight onyx]

It's a reread for me so I'll get to it in July

[umbral lily]

me procrastinating on my homework

[tight onyx]

Libby got me in a vicegrip ngl

All my holds came off at the same time LMAO

Everything got pushed back

[umbral lily]

A miracle and a curse

[tight onyx]

I got like SIX books I need to get through in like 21 days and they've all got waiting lists

[dawn stone]

Chapter 3
||I like it so far. There definitely something paranormal going on. Not sure what kind of format the book is written in yet, but then again, I've only read three chapters so far.||

[slow flower]

Finally got this book!

[dawn stone]

Chapter 4
||I read this chapter just now while listening to the spotify playlist below and I was genuinely creeped out and somwhat scared and paranoid. Even though I'm someone who doesn't belive in the paranormal. It was odd but cool||
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qIdwuXoRrTB3hkaNCf2u3

[tight onyx]

playlist!

[glossy crystal]

Thanks for sharing this! I will definitely listen to this when I resume reading Kafka!

[jolly mulch]

I read like 10 pages of jt last year.. im thinking adventurous.. a little coming of age vibes and a very silly story.. with ghibli vibes and philosophical insights here and there. also something w a forest. I want to find out what namjoons forest reference is about 00

its till the 31st right? Im not late?

[slow flower]

A Boy Named Crow-Chapter 12. ||I’m really enjoying the book so far! Everything is so intriguing and strange in this book. I’m sensing this book gets pretty terrifying at some point with all the little violent things happening. Really weird how Kafka and the teacher just went into these periods of violence so suddenly (although Kafka possibly didn’t do anything to harm somebody).||

[slow flower]

Chapter 13: ||I really hope nothing weird happens in these woods that Kafka’s being left in for a few days by himself, but I think my hopes are far from the truth. Oshima is definitely an interesting person, but it’s nice he’s being so helpful to Kafka, trying to make him his assistant and all.||

[umbral lily]

Bear with me y'all
I'm joining this now!! But I read about 40% of the book and had to DNF
I didn't write many notes from my first read, so I'll answer the current discussion questions and then pick up where I left off

I do have this tho:

Chapter 9
I found it a little confusing that ||there were multiple storylines at first, Kafka himself, the students, Nakata and the talking cat...

Though I have just recently found out that Nakata IS the student involved in the coma accident!! So I guess there are only 2 storylines at the moment. Maybe both of them will merge into one?||

Chapter 16
Hnnnggggggggg guys I really don't like this
||I'm at the chapter where the guy is (TW ANIMAL ABUSE) killing cats and I absolutely hate it I hate it I am disgusted and I don't feel good || I don't know why I stuck around for the entire first half of the chapter LOL I'm gonna skip it

I ended up DNFing the book after this LMAO because I was too upset, but I did like the other parts of the storyline so I'm skipping that chapter and coming back to the book

[umbral lily]

Nothing really this is my first Murakami, I just really wanted to read a Murakami book because he's widely talked about in the book community

[jolly mulch]

im at chapter 3 rn

[slow flower]

One problem I have with the book is (like ||Sputnik Sweetheart||) Murakami ||has that very male-author way of describing any and all female characters. I mean, I guess the kid's a weird teen, but could you tone it down a bit?||

[slow flower]

Chapter 14: ||Weird. Interested to see where the cat-catcher thing goes. Hopefully Nakata ends up fine.||

||So far, I’m pretty sure the book’s something on violence or depraved actions, but I’m not at any point to fully suggest that.||

||Maybe people taking advantage of others?||

[torpid ice]

I just finished Norwegian wood
should I read this??
what are your thoughts?

[jolly mulch]

I didn’t read Norwegian wood yet but I know a couple short stories and After Dark and all I can say is that if u like Murakami, you’ll like all his works. If you like his style in Norwegian wood ull like it in any other of his works too. Id 100% read Kafka on the Shore cause it’s just legendary! it’s up to u ofc

[torpid ice]

added kafka on the shore to the cart 🫡

[umbral lily]

Finally got through chapter 16 ||after skipping a ton of scenes||

I really do wish that somebody told me about this chapter before I read the book 😔

[umbral lily]

Ch 17 ✅
Miss Slaeyki

[slow patio]

I really don't know what to expect I've heard there's going to be ||magical realism||, but otherwise I'm going in blind

[umbral lily]

Chapter 18
The fish???? LMFAOOOO

What the hell was Murakami thinking

[umbral lily]

I'm up to chapter 20 now
I'm really enjoying the story and don't have much to say, other than like

Murakami, what the fuck

But I see now why people like his writing, it's good as hell

[umbral lily]

Ch 21
WHAT

Can I read 300 pages in one night

Yes
Do I have the patience to do it?
Idk about that

Ch 22
YAY

[umbral lily]

23
I used to have a Sansui too

[umbral lily]

"I put your bones back in the right position" WHAGAHEGSHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAA

Ch 24
K so things are meaty and juicy now

||Kafka's dad is JOHNNIE FUCKING WALKER and Kafka's dad is an ASSHOLE

I don't remember much about what Kafka thinks of his dad, from the beginning of the book. I think I remember him being distant? Bro is a weird ass person.

AND what the fuck is Kafka's little "fate" thing that his dad was saying, about how Kafka is going to kill his dad and get w his mom??? 🧐 erm what the sigma

I do LOVE how all these different strings of people's lives are slowly coming together now. We see how Nakata is tied to Kafka. I'm fairly certain that Miss Saeki is related to all this and I'm excited to see how it is. Maybe she is Kafka's mother?

Also, Nakata's long ass sleep. I KNOW something was up with that. Maybe he had an out of body experience? In the sense that he acted in the body of another person, likewise to how Kafka left his body to kill his dad, from Nakata's body (or something...)||

[umbral lily]

26
WHAT LMFAOOOOOOO
WHAT'S GOING ON
WHY IS KFC GUY HERE

https://tenor.com/view/colonel-colonel-sanders-dancing-queen-dancingcolonel-kfc-gif-12963709

[umbral lily]

35

||I THINK NAKATA AND KAFKA ARE THE SAME PERSON

but what is the reason for the boy named Crow?

BUT ALSO
Murakami includes the concept of dramaturgy in this book. I think it's almost a fourth-wall-breaking way to alert the reader that all these characters, events, and situations are necessary for the story to happen|| SO COOL

[umbral lily]

I love mr KFC being all serious while Hoshino cracks all the jokes

Best duo fr

[jolly mulch]

Ch 6 || I wonder what it means to find your shadow- or it’s other half. Why wouldn’t it be whole? And if the shadow isn’t whole is that what the lights been cast on incomplete too?
Also are we talking shadows as in C. Jung shadows or am I trippin? This is the Persona-Shadow play right? Might be interesting symbolism too though… which is why I picked this book up haha||

[umbral lily]

38
AHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[umbral lily]

I HAVE FOUR CHAPTERS LEFT

AHHHHHHHHHH

I will finish tonight.

[umbral lily]

45
WHAT

I'm so confused

[umbral lily]

46
LMFAOOOOOOOOO

I love that guy

[umbral lily]

I'M DONE

4 stars, weird little book
Full review coming later

[umbral lily]

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Weird shit. Weird shit. Weird shit. Weird shit but it all worked out so well in the end. What the sigma fr

My first Murakami book!! I'm not going to lie, when I got to that chapter about all the cats and the Things happening to them, I thought it was over. I thought I had picked up my first Murakami, saw the terrible things he wrote about, and thought that it was the end of me and Murakami. I will not forgive him for that disgusting, god-forsaken chapter. I'm glad that I re-picked up the book though. The storyline and all the characters were so epic. I love Nakata. I love Hoshino. I love Mr. KFC guy.

There are a lot of things that I just don't understand. But I feel that there is beauty in not understanding some of the story. Though I think that some of my knowledge was lost in my 1-year gap of putting this book down. ||What is the role of the boy named Crow? He seemed to be a minor character. As much as I love Nakata, why was it him of all people to be the one to go on this journey to find the entrance stone? What was the relation of the beginning storyline of the teacher and all her unconscious students? Why did Nakata think that Kafka's dad was named Johnnie Walker? Why was there sex in the story?? Why was there so much cat gore in that one chapter??|| Some of it seems unecessary.

Anyway yeah. I kinda don't want to think about this book anymore. But it was so weirdly good. I want to read more Murakami though, if anyone has any recommendations!!!

[quiet bane]

Didnt officially join this but added it on my notes so ill try to read it before the deadline. Ive been dying for Murakami's confusion

[tight onyx]

Hello, in my attempt to clear off all the BRs I finished on my homesitting adventures last week, I did indeed finish this badboy for a reread.
#1124721420228890674 message
I'm linking this because on the reread I am in fact doubling down on what my theory was during my read last year and nothing can change my mind.

The only problem with rereads is that it's really hard to discuss new thoughts - so I'll do my best to try to add new feelings here especially as I've read a Murakami book that I 5 starred this year in between the last time I picked up Kafka.
||So I think with Murakami books you kinda have to be ready for weird sex things and wild nonsense. Kafka on the Shore has this in abundance Last year I described it as a R-18 Ghibli story and not much has changed with that assertion. Trying to describe how this book flows is kind of like trying to describe the colour purple to someone without using references to things that ARE purple. One moment we're having an existential discussion about fate, the next Colonel Sanders is here; like actually Colonlel Sanders and he's going to hook you up with a philosophical prostitute. You know what I wasn't prepared for? NAKATA DYING AGAIN. I thought I'd be cool and ready - NOPE. I love this old man. I loved seeing him again and hated that it was time for him to pass. ||

||“If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.”||

||It's a very special book and I mean that. It definitely made me want to read more of Murakami's work because... where else could I read anything like this? I suffered from fatigue from reading this the first time but on the second time around it was more like going on a walk through unsteady ground that you had visited in the past - it's not easy at times but you're here for the sights this time around. I think it takes a bit of practice to get accustomed to Murakami's style - some never do and I can't exactly blame them when there's an old man wandering around talking to the devil and talking to fish. I really would love to theory craft further on what it all means but I think I got it as nailed down as best as I could the first time. That being said, the article that I linked last Summer in the above message about the possible Shinto symbolism is a trip and definitely worthwhile is anyone wants to read it. ||

|| https://preview.redd.it/oshima-fanart-fav-character-from-kafka-on-the-shore-v0-qnf96x71i3n81.png?width=1054&format=png&auto=webp&s=7dd1315c0e13653af2dd92906a35e539f6b20eb9 ||

[jolly mulch]

11 || i thought abt tho earlier but I can’t tell exactly when- Nakata is the boy that woke up after the mushroom hill school trip incident right? He’s the joy that didn’t wake up for weeks and then lost his memory, gained the ability to speak to cats… I wonder what that’s like ||

[quiet bane]

sameee

Finally started and I have no idea what this is about. This is a choice cus when i read the behind on Murakamis books, i dont like it, then i read the book and i love it

soo going in blind and so far im intrigued

also ch 2 ||Impressions of the interviewer, Lt. Robert O'Connor: Setsuko Okamochi is an attractive, petite woman.|| love the specific weird comments he adds in, its like a bingo card of weird comments

[jolly mulch]

12 || this turned unexpectedly explicit.. ik murakami doesn’t hold back but this is more than what I expected for this particular book.. I still don’t see exactly how the blood smeared towels would have changed the analysis.. I mean maybe Nakata stayed in that coma for longer and lost his memories cause of the blow to his head. But I think there is a more “magical realism”-like answer. Especially since Nakata can now speak to cats. Though that may also purely be of a symbolic nature..||

The BR ends tmr????

HELP

I didn’t know TT

ohh this’ll be a squeeze

[glossy crystal]

If you feel like you'll be able to finish this soon, I can request an extension! 😁

[jolly mulch]

@quiet bane AND I R SPEED READING 🏃‍♀️💨

[quiet bane]

YESSSS

[glossy crystal]

Would a week be enough?

[quiet bane]

They must take us in bwfore the deadline

[glossy crystal]

Or something like 10 days?

[quiet bane]

no let us struggle here

[glossy crystal]

😂

[quiet bane]

we knew the deadline

[jolly mulch]

Id never finish

[glossy crystal]

Oof

Got it, let me know if you change your mind 😂

[quiet bane]

hahahahaha will do

Okey im on chapter 3 lets gooo

[jolly mulch]

NEVER 🔥💪🏻

let’s see if u can catch up to me haha

[glossy crystal]

I just realised I forgot to add my own final thoughts on the book
Here it goes-
||Kafka on the Shore mesmerized me, I was engaged from start to finish. I enjoyed Kafka's character and Nakata too, I found them to be enigmatic in more ways than one. I have read Norwegian Woods but it could not have prepared me for this story, it's weird in the best way possible! Reality and fantasy blurs together to make a masterpiece, I found myself deeply enjoying the writing and with the mix of rains in my city, it gave me the perfect atmosphere to enjoy this book. The book's exploration of identity, fate, and consciousness resonated deeply with me, prompting introspection and sparking countless what if scenarios in my imagination. While I enjoyed the book for the most part some plot threads felt unfinished and I think it does add to the book's charm it did frustrate me while I read it. This isn't a novel that wraps everything up neatly with a bow, but rather one that continues to unfold in your mind long after you've finished reading. For me, Kafka was not just a story, but an experience, one that I'm eager to revisit and discover it again with each reading.||

[quiet bane]

will do my best, i probably will start in an hour or 45 min so u get an extra extra head start

[jolly mulch]

Yooo

What in the reading speed???

[quiet bane]

im on a class atm they wont stop

[slow patio]

I just started but I'm determined to finish this on time
Ch 2: ||I'm so intrigued, the supernatural vibes are so heavy already . I also really liked the way her point of view was told in interview format. I want to know what's up with the boy running away from home, why that's happening. So far there are these two different stories, are they going to get connected in the end?||

[quiet bane]

woohoo lets goo

[clear fractal]

@tight onyx,@subtle shale,@lyric hemlock,@slow flower,@clear token,@grizzled prawn,@slow patio,@late veldt,@lilac jewel,@bitter arch,@broken mesa,@fervent apex,@cold trail,@dawn stone,@umbral lily

Hey everyone! This book read comes to an end tomorrow and I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you for joining me on this amazing BR! I hope to see you all again some time soon!
To end the BR, I will list the people who have completed the book and those who are still in the midst of reading it. If anyone needs an extension, do let me know by tomorrow so I can request it in time. :D
Finished- Lil Chimp, radnyi spicy, Vaude, ninjamonkey
Reading- Coffee, v, ferretfaculty, Sofia, Maca
Thank you everyone!

[glossy crystal]

@dawn stone @slow flower let me know if you guys need an extension!

[dawn stone]

I don't think an extension would help, I have a lot of books that I have to read already, so I'd need a month of extension or something, which I don't want to ask for, I'll just try again later

Thanks for leading the BR though

[broken mesa]

Thanks for this br , I enjoyed this book a lot 💪🏽
Hope we can meet in other br from Murakami or other authors.

[broken mesa]

Pure Murakami lol 😆, never expect a clear ending

[glossy crystal]

Absolutely! 😄

[glossy crystal]

Yesss! It was frustrating af! I get why people prefer to space their Murakami reads out lol, it's absolutely frustrating but so good!

[jolly mulch]

It’s giving those animes where they randomly use German names instead of just translating them like it doesn’t make it sound cooler idgi (spoiler for ch 13)

[slow patio]

Ch 3: ||What in the Murakami are these body descriptions ||

[wise dew]

Ch 3: ||What in
the Murakami are these
body descriptions ||

- sofiaaaaa1999

[jolly mulch]

ch 13 || isn’t that just life? We’re trying to perfect an imperfect piece? So we’ll never be happy in our pursuit to perfect it.. since it’s imperfect at nature||

[slow patio]

Ch 4: ||I want Nakata to be okay . I'm wondering what is the reason that he had a different reaction to the mushrooms compared to the other kids. But he was emphasised so much that he has to make an appearance later on in the story, this can't be it||

[jolly mulch]

Ch 13 || ohh is this the forest?? His escape??||

[jolly mulch]

Ch 14 || atp I’m thinking Goma is dead and is hanging on this Walkers walls as a scarf or maybe a small carpet||

[quiet bane]

ch 3 ||I nod. Nod, nod, nod—that's all I seem capable of. But what should I say?|| dude same hahahaha

||she chatty for 4am||

[jolly mulch]

Ch 15 and possible ending spoilers: so I’m theorizing ||either Kafka gets lost in the woods or he purposefully lets himself get lost in the forest while hiding from the police. Which is why I’m not trusting that library dude. Cause the police show up eventually. I wonder who will blow his cover. Or will it be the incident? I wonder if murakami will even give us the answer to the blood on his shirt. Sure as hell wasn’t period blood TT||

[slow patio]

Ch 5: ||I love libraries with all my heart but I zoned out so badly during this chapter||

[jolly mulch]

||If I was speaking in oshimas terms I’d really feel like dying right now, cause the moment feels so perfect||

[slow patio]

Ch 6: ||Looks like we're ditching the interview format, and have a talking cat instead . I'm happy to know that Nakata did indeed survive. I'm wondering if the other half of his shadow is connected to Kafka somehow, that would tie the characters together. So far Nakata seems very wholesome, and I want all the best for him .||

[quiet bane]

ch 5
random thought, are the two povs in diff years?

[slow patio]

I'm wondering the same, but I think they are

Ch 7: ||The conversation between Kafka and Oshima about In the Penal Colony, and what Kafka left unsaid is shedding some light into his most likely a traumatic past. I don't know what exactly he means when he says that the penal colony is all around him, but maybe that'll become clearer later on||

[quiet bane]

ch 5 ||Wouldn't it be great if this were my mother? But I think the same thing every time I run across a charming, middle-aged woman.|| ||this is quite sad, but also means his mom and sister left him, so they could be out there living a great life without him.. thats a lot for a 15year old kid||

[jolly mulch]

Yea pretty sure they are isn’t it 40s and 70s?

[quiet bane]

Im assuming the ||old man that talks to cats, is the kid that didnt wake up ||

ch 7 ||why must we have descriptions like these "I do a good job of washing my cock, not too many years out of its foreskin, and under my arms, balls, and butt. "
Like i was enjoying away reading and then BAM, a reminder im reading murakami with the weirdness||

I ||showered|| would have been just fine as well

[broken mesa]

I'm not a big fan of those passages either , but I feel like they contributed to the success of Murakami's books somehow 😅

[quiet bane]

Its definitely his style.. weird fixations in female bodies, always something about the ears always

and random dude moments..

in the middle of a great writing

[broken mesa]

Yeah his trademark ™️ lol 😆

[jolly mulch]

I like it cause tbh it’s pretty real. like I can imagine (not judging) the average dude (or at least some) to also think in similar terms..

[jolly mulch]

Can I get a one day extension please

Cause I gotta fix my sleep schedule I can’t stay up till late TT

[wise dew]

Cause I gotta fix
my sleep schedule I can’t stay
up till late TT

- v (catto reading:)

[quiet bane]

ch 7 ||Kafka with every girl ever "Could she be my sister? The thought does cross my mind."||

[quiet bane]

i second the one day extension, i got to ch 10 and i need sleep now

[tight onyx]

General Kafka meme
|| https://i.redd.it/3gvkwe1tajb61.jpg ||

[slow patio]

Ch 8: ||Yay the interviews are back. I don't know what to think about the doctor being like "the children were completely fine after the incident but yeah we found out that several of them had parasites". ||

[slow patio]

Ch 9: ||This chapter was a wild ride. How did he end up to the thick brush where he woke up? And apparently this is not a first time something like this has happened to him. I'm so invested in this book||

[slow patio]

Ch 10: ||More cats!! These cat conversations are nice and weird, I like them. Nakata is really becoming a great investigator. Now there's also this feeling of danger because of Mimi's warning about the dangerous man. This abyss thing is interesting as well.||

[slow patio]

Ch 11: ||That scene between Kafka and Sakura was so unnecessary, why did it have to be included. And why did they have to discuss Kafka's sister during it? Kafka's whole family situation is so vague, I want more details Him meeting with a cat at the end of the chapter can't be a coincidence.||

[slow patio]

Ch 12: ||Ma'am you could've left some of the details from your letter . Blood just keeps coming up in different contexts. There's again this element of blackout rage, where you just suddenly lose control, the same that Kafka was talking to Sakura about.||

[quiet bane]

I think thats actually pretty common and many times people dont know, so i would say they did ||extensive full body tests and found out||

[quiet bane]

ch 11 ||think of us as a brother and sister she says? from which horror story gurlie.. ehaat ||

||HES 15 AND YOU SHOULDNT DO THAT TO A KID||

[glossy crystal]

I'll ask for a 2 day extension @quiet bane @jolly mulch @slow patio
Happy reading!

[slow patio]

Ch 13: ||Okay this whole cabin thing is suspicious to me, I have read too many thrillers so a secluded cabin deep in the woods is just a recipe for a crime . Please don't let Oshima be some sort of deranged individual I liked his yapping about music but the devilish smile kind of gave me a pause. And about the warning to not go into the woods, I'm fairly certain Kafka is going to go exactly there, and something is going to happen to him||

[slow patio]

Ch 14: ||So Johnnie Walker is a foreigner but also isn't, I'm confused Anyway the man is not giving good vibes to me, and I'm wondering if he might be Kafka's dad? I have a feeling he's doing something horrible to cats.||

[quiet bane]

ch 12 ||she|| is just straight up disgusting.. and no 30+ ||years later letter|| can help you feel better... ||Her excuses?? Embarrased? Well thats in u, i mean to dare hit a child and maybe, or surelt be the reason his life never hit the porential it could have.. disgusting really||

ive noticed this thing in other asian books, specifically korean and japanese, ||they will do such disgusting irreversable thing thats damaging and then time and time later they finally own up and apologize on it and i just hate that.|| Ice noticed it in kdramas as well, i dont know if its a cultural thing.. u do such disgusting thing, but then only apologize when its too much of a burden to u or if you are called out.. its probably an overall human thing but ive just seen it a lot lately and there is really nothing excusable

||my issue is the apology us never enough for the damage caused. and it comes more from a place so they feel better and not for the victim to feel better. its selfish more than apologetic||

[jolly mulch]

ch 15 || I like his inner monologue but I’d prefer it if it was in between his descriptions.. as if he was talking with or against crow.. that’d be more appealing to me. but maybe that’s a rather modern approach. Kafka seems rather disciplined but also detached from reality. He’s living in his own world in that cabin. ||

[slow patio]

Ch 15: ||The themes of loneliness, isolation and a lack of true human connection are getting stronger. There's also this detachment from everything||

[slow patio]

Ch 16: ||I miss the person I was 10 minutes ago when I hadn't yet read this chapter||

[umbral lily]

FUCKING YES

Disgusting terrible chapter

[slow patio]

Ch 17: ||Maybe Oshima means this whole "Kafka will be a part of the library" as like a found family thing and as something genuinely nice, but I'm just not convinced . I wouldn't be surprised if there was something more to this remark. Miss Saeki's backstory was also interesting!||

[slow patio]

Ch 18: ||Now it's raining fish?? . But I have so many questions. Nakata apparently can't talk to cats anymore, so is that because of Johnny Walker's death? Are they in some way linked, so Walker's absence impacts Nakata's ability? There's also connections between Nakata and Kafka's situations, but they are opposites. When Nakata woke up, he was clean when he really should've been covered in blood, and Kafka had bloodstains with no idea where they came from||

[slow patio]

Ch 19: ||Oshima really roasted those women, but somehow did it gently ||

[slow patio]

Ch 20: ||When Nakata got flashbacks about the Johnny Walker scene, I was sure he was going to attack the gang but thankfully that didn't happen. Them being showered with leeches was a small punishment for what they were doing to that poor man. But I suppose Nakata created the fall of leeches, where did he suddenly get this ability from? Now he also seems to be remembering things from his past. I really liked all the truck drivers ||

[slow patio]

Ch 21: ||What I actually was right about Walker being Kafka's dad . But this prophecy is just insane, just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder in this book... I'm not sure I want to know how the rest of the prophecy is going to go regarding the mother and sister.||

[slow patio]

Ch 22: ||Nakata is clearly remembering more details from his past, that's so exciting! Is he on his way to the library? He is so obviously connected to Kafka somehow, but I just can't figure it out ||

[slow patio]

Ch 23: ||Saeki and Kafka have some sort of connection, this makes me think of the possibility of Saeki being his mom? And could Oshima be the missing sibling? I don't know about anything anymore .||

[jolly mulch]

Omg ur so far ahead TT I’m exhausted from school today cause we had some practicals but I’ll try to finish today!!

[slow patio]

Yeah hopefully I'll be finishing this today too

Ch 24: ||My posture is shit, can Nakata fix my back as well||

[slow patio]

Ch 25: ||Kafka is so strongly believing fate and in this prophecy, that he seems to be looking for any kind of evidence that connects him to Saeki, and so far he is finding them in the book she wrote, the song lyrics and so on||

[slow patio]

Ch 26: ||Colonel Sanders is giving massive Johnny Walker vibes so I don't want Hoshino to go anywhere with him . I don't like how Sanders is kind of offering a girl to Hoshino at every turn, is this going to end up in some super disturbing scene.||

Ch 27: ||The fact that Saeki didn't answer Kafka's question about whether she has children is suspicious to say the least||

Ch 28: ||are we ever going to see Hoshino again, please don't go in the woods||

[slow patio]

Ch 29: ||So the puzzle is solved: Saeki must be Kafka's mom as the readers are subjected to having to witness the prophecy come true. Is another scene like this with the sister going to happen also ? Just wondering because I feel the urge to vomit, and can't handle this book anymore. My only question anymore is how does Nakata fit into this, what is his connection to Kafka||

[jolly mulch]

16 || quite interesting - I’m impressed! Such a stark contrast! to the balata we used to know but also a new expression of cruelty. Until now it’s only ever been hinted at but here it’s on full display! I like that. Also I have my theories on what Walker could symbolize.. I’m sure there are many interpretations, all of them being correct in their own way but I currently like to think of Walker as a shadow, one that has broken loose, out of control harming the self; it’s end seemingly being its elimination but I’d say it’s more of a transfer onto who (or the part of the self that) killed it. Maybe nakata will grow darker now too? Is it only a temporary solution- causing more trouble in the future? To simply cut the shadow out?
Well at least that’s my perspective for now since I’ve come to know that this is a novel focused on development (maybe even coming of age- I haven’t checked yet). I’m sure it’s not a textbook analysis haha but I’d like to hear your thoughts (though my own might change, let me finish first lol)||

17 || I do wonder what the meaning of “rule” is though.. it’s mentioned quite frequently.. in a sort of deterministic way- in Walkers way even fatalistic. I haven’t yet thought of something to interpret it. But murakami must have some meaning for it||

||about lines, and rules: I feel like it’s a constant push and pull of threading the line for Kafka.. he doesn’t know exactly where he stands and it’s murder by his memory loss of what happened. Maybe he crossed “the line” already.. the line maybe being the loss of innocence? For Nakata that line now has been crossed since he killed a man. For his teacher- I’m not sure. She’s “impure” by lying about what happened, not acknowledging her wrongdoing (though it is understandable) so I don’t know where to put her. Maybe I’m just thinking this is important when it’s actually not but it just sprung into my mind||

[jolly mulch]

||living in a library is -I believe- everyone’s dream here||

[slow patio]

Ch 30: ||Nakata really was right about the stone, so he seems to be able to predict the future as well||

[slow patio]

Ch 31: ||I was so confused about the narration switch at the end of the chapter, I thought I accidentally skipped a few pages . Is this change of narration because Kafka's subconscious kind of shifted/crossed to another reality, and somebody else's subconscious entered his body?||

[jolly mulch]

18 || why isn’t nakata in the city anymore? I thought he was dumb ||

[quiet bane]

ch 14.. i dont think anyone ||knows what hes talking about||

[wise dew]

ch 14.. i
dont think anyone ||knows what
hes talking about||

- Maca💜💜

[jolly mulch]

ughh my hamstrings huurtt

I’ve been sitting too long

19 || oshima supremacy >>>||

But I’m rly enjoying this

I like the random quotes I’m learning a lot

[slow patio]

Ch 32: ||I wonder what will happen now when the entrance has been opened ||

[slow patio]

Ch 33: ||Saeki and Kafka are both acknowledging that they're using each other, they are both trying to make up for something. But I just really hate this dynamic in the book, Kafka is a child||

[jolly mulch]

20 ||I am also challenged by the concept of imagination. First it is used to describe letting go, like in a dream, letting your mind roam. Then, oshima uses as a word for common sense or maybe free thoughts.. for being critical of the world and its information rather than to just soak it up like a sponge, without thinking, without taking responsibility. ||

[slow patio]

Ch 34 is one of my favourite chapters of the whole book, ||Hoshino's different realizations are so important ||

[quiet bane]

ch 16 ||"It's a flute you can't hear?" 
"Correct. I can hear it, of course,"|| of course, cause u are the mental one

what are the tw on this book... this chapter is just ||disgusting||

[quiet bane]

ch 19 || I realize that problems with restrooms and card catalogs are mere details, but if we don't begin with the small things we'll never be able to throw off the cloak of blindness that covers our society. Those are the principles by which we act."|| oh calm the hell down

[slow patio]

Ch 38: ||Nakata and Hoshino are such a good pair, they work so well together. I'm excited to know what happens next now that they've reached the library||

[slow patio]

Ch 39: ||Murakami why are you writing chapters like this||

[slow patio]

Ch 42: ||It's interesting how Nakata and Saeki are both feeling deep emptiness and are similar in this way, but at the same time strong opposites. Saeki seems to value only her memories and lives in them, while Nakata doesn't have memories and doesn't know what they are. Saeki is strongly feeling the passion she had when she was younger, but Nakata doesn't feel any sexual desire or strong feelings in general.||

[slow patio]

Ch 43: ||The intensity with which Kafka fixates on his mother abandoning him really unveils a core aspect of his character. This trauma appears to be the source from which his self-loathing and fear emerge. The question of his worthlessness in his mother's eyes propels Kafka into a downward spiral, and hugely defines his identity.||

[slow patio]

Ch 44: ||I didn't see Nakata's death coming at all, and it made me emotional. Hoshino has changed so much during his time with Nakata. Now he feels a sense of responsibility to accomplish Nakata's mission. He also is consumed by grief for Nakata, when he previously has remained unmoved in similar situations. It seems that Nakata's death in a way brought forward an emotional awakening for Hoshino||

[slow patio]

Ch 46: ||So now Hoshino has Nakata's ability to talk to cats ||

The boy named Crow: ||I really didn't want to hear from Johnny Walker again or have to see his horrible soul flute . Again there was more gross stuff with Crow's attack. Crow is clearly a part of Kafka, a part that is maybe disconnected from him.||

[slow patio]

Ch 47: ||Okay so it is now confirmed that Saeki is Kafka's mother. It feels like after this final encounter they are both able to have peace. Saeki needs forgiveness in order to have it, and and Kafka needs to forgive his mother for abandoning him.||

[quiet bane]

Ch 21 HOLD UPPPP || Johnnie Walker or however grandpa perceived him could be Kafkas dad???? or basically is his dad????||

not the connection i was expecting but okey

oh no wait || the kid had blood too i forgot... did he kill his own dad then? but....|| imma just keep reading

[slow patio]

Ch 48: ||What is that thing that crawls out of Nakata's mouth? I have no idea||

[slow patio]

I finally finished this book, and overall I liked it! I'll post some thoughts about the whole book a little later

[umbral lily]

YAY

[quiet bane]

ch 21 cus im processing things here ||Your father actually said this to you?||

this book is like those rollercoaters that splash you with water unexpectedly..

[umbral lily]

@jolly mulch HOW FAR ARE YOU NOWWWW

WHEN WILL YOU AND MACA FINISHHHHHH

[jolly mulch]

im sorryyyyy!!!!

I didn’t progress the past two days cause I’m studying (I started paramedic training 9-5pm) and I’m sending out applications so I’m either busy or dead- I’m sure I’ll finish by the end of the week!! It’s okay if you guys want to finish up sooner <3

[quiet bane]

im finishing today

ch 23 || I raise my head and glance at the fluorescent numbers on the alarm clock next to my bed .3:25|| I do not like 3am and i think its the worst time to be up at night

[quiet bane]

ch 24
||"So where is it?" 
"Nakata has no idea." 
"Like I had to ask," Hoshino said, shaking his head.|| seriously the funniest travel due

[umbral lily]

HOSHINO

[jolly mulch]

20 || love the magical elements w the leeches!||

[umbral lily]

ARE U DONE YET

[jolly mulch]

no ||||

but I did read yesterday!

[jolly mulch]

22||OMG they are gonna cross paths ||

23|| “The purity of her beauty gives me a feeling close to sadness—a very natural feeling, though one that only something extraordinary could produce.”

really gives Dorian grey||

[jolly mulch]

23 ||im so in fkn LOVEE w this chapter TAKE MY HEART OK IM BEING DRAMATIC BUT STILL I LOVE IT HOW DOES HE FO THIS||

[jolly mulch]

25 ||maybe the ghost girl is a warning; at least an indication||

[jolly mulch]

|| so that woman rly is his mother?? And he’s going to meet nakata soon??? What. This is getting a little unrealistic but I’m here for it||

[quiet bane]

I finished, im fuming with a different book but ill share my thoughts as soon as possible

[jolly mulch]

H WERE AT CH 24 LAST AND NOW UR DONE????

dont leave me alooonnee aaaa I hate studying 😭😭😭

[quiet bane]

Cmonn u got thissss

BINGE

I picked up a random romance yesterday im dying i wanna kill the characters

serves me right for reading a love story of 17 year olds

DUM DUMS

[jolly mulch]

lmaooo im so done w YA it’s just a headache

[jolly mulch]

27 ||I constantly think oshima is going to betray him/lies to him.. it’s unexplainable but there ||

[slow patio]

I just noticed that I didn't actually write my last thoughts here . This was a solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐ read for me! Hopefully I'll have time to read more from Murakami soon
||I liked how this book was a sort of blend of magical realism and philosophical inquiry. There are two seemingly dissimilar narratives that in the end gradually come together. Even though the end of the book was left open in a way, I still found the ending satisfying. I'm so curious to know how Kafka continued on with his life after everything that happened, did he actually finish his education? How did everything affect him? But I guess I won't have answers to those questions . About the magical realism, I loved the talking cats, and the falling fish was so cool too.||
||I think that Murakami blends together very well Japanese mythology, music, and the power of the subconscious in this book. These things created a canvas for symbolism and meaning. There are a variety of deep themes in the novel, like identity, loss, and a search for connection. There's also this haunting sense of fate that is present. Through reading this, I also thought about questions of morality and the blurred lines between reality and dreams. So this book definitely also raised some thought-provoking questions!||
||There definitely were moments in the book that left me very uncomfortable, the depiction of a sexual relationship between Kafka and Miss Saeki and that horrifying cat-related chapter being examples.||

[umbral lily]

@jolly mulch ARE U DONE YET

[jolly mulch]

IM TRYING OK I STILL HAVE TO STUDY FIR AN HOUR OR TWO BUT I DINT WANNA BE UP ALL NIGHT

[umbral lily]

WHAT ABOUT NOW

[quiet bane]

no pressure💖💖💖

[jolly mulch]

28 ||lmao not my fav book to getting a shoutout while he’s getting a BJ||

[jolly mulch]

I had school all dayy imma finish tmr for sure tho it’s my free day (I have school today too and we’re doing practical training )

[jolly mulch]

29 || woowww she‘s her sister and the woman his mother- what a surprise- and how realistic!! Seriously this is the only part bugging me abt this story. I love the fantasy elements but it’s just not believable when the four ppl he meets are all core elements to his search||

[jolly mulch]

30 || wow this is getting rly fast paced, I love it|| ||but why do u have to stop nowww TTTTTT my break is over||

[jolly mulch]

31 ||lmao this is so fucked up||

[umbral lily]

OKAY
WHAT ABOUT NOW

[jolly mulch]

I FINISHED

whoahhhhdggdhhd

10/10 love murakami

[umbral lily]

FUCK YEAH

BR FINISHED FINALLY ✅

[jolly mulch]

can I write my review tmr I’m dead tired

thanks 4 waiting for mme!!!

[glossy crystal]

Lol

No worries

Please share your final thoughts @jolly mulch @quiet bane

[quiet bane]

I usually love Murakamis writing style and im fine with his weirdness, but ||politely, was he on crack writing this?|| Or i just picked the book at a wrong time for myself. I have 1Q84 on my shelf and I dont think ill be reading it soon to be honest. I didnt like this book, it made me quite uncomfortable and also at oarts it read scary, chilling. I usually read a lot at night, but I had to keep putting this down cause it creeped me out. I still get the well written paragraphs that are what i love about his writing, but everything else in this book just... i wasnt onboard with it. ||The characters just kept going with whatever was happening, barely questioning things, it felt like the diary entries of patients in a mental hospital. I wanted to dnf this many times, cause I got really frustrated with the lack of logical thinking. I loved the beginning part of the book, when we have the entries regarding the incident.|| Favourite bit lol. The only time i felt seen was when the ||not human not god dude in white hunged up the phone on Hoshino.. my dude was really taking from the grandpa and rambling like every sentence needs to be philosophical.||

I also got very sleepy during certain paragraphs, they kept just talking and talking about everything and nothing, with no conclusions, no results nothing.. It was so monotonous, like when you have to wait for 5 min to pass but you are looking at the clock and it just wont go by

Im still unsure whats my rating for the book. I wanted to give it 3 stars cause I still enjoyed aspects of it, but also i wanna give it 2 stars for annoying me so much and frustrating me to no end

The other two ive read, Sputnik Sweetheart and The Wind up bird chronicles were an easy 5 star read, but this one really got on my last nerve

[umbral lily]

@jolly mulch reminder for you

@glossy crystal If you'd like, you can submit your report in #877194224758562878 and list v as a pending participant. Staff can add points to everyone and we will do v whenever possible as well

It's been like 2 weeks I want my points 😡

[umbral lily]

@jolly mulch @glossy crystal Re-reminder for the above

[glossy crystal]

I'll do it today! Thanks 😁

[jolly mulch]

not u reminding me so often I feel guilty I didn’t have my notifs on

uhh so abt that review: || I’ve been very busy but I’m so excited to see all of y’all’s interpretations and opinions to the symbolism cause I’m a little at a loss for some or maybe even most. Now to my opinion:
I like how murakami connected the coming of age concept with that of death.. it’s rather counter intuitive also regarding the vastly different ages and backgrounds of the characters. I’m not sure if there is anything in particular I’d like to say other than what’s to be expected but here are some things I’m gonna be thinking about the next few weeks:

• not having to explain: the last time this was mentioned was on kafkas drive back to the library but it was spread out throughout the book as well.. this approach of not having to .. or not being supposed to explain something that you can’t explain to yourself because it would then loose all meaning. I understand it in theory, but as a chronically misunderstood person I always feel the need to explain myself thoroughly.. meaning I’m not sure that’s something I’ll be doing in the future but I’d like to keep it in mind. Rather saying too less than too much and ripping the meaning of what’s important to you.
• the nonchalant approach of the upcoming day. If you want to be cliche it probably translates well into the carpe diem theme but I like how it’s deeper than that. Especially nakata was the main driver when it came to these adventurous days.. no idea where to go but being confident everything would work out. “You will know when you’re there” is probably the most unpopular approach- everybody wants to be prepared for any situation, have a plan, a backup- some idea at least. Not nakata. He’s just himself and when something comes along, he’ll do it. To do that you have to have immense trust in yourself, while being in that rather uncomfortable - maybe vulnerable- state of mind. What’s fascinating is that nakata doesn’t need that because he’s differently wired. He has nothing so there is no self doubt or anxiety||

||joe would have when being faced with a wild situation. He’s not aware of him even doing that- doing nothing because there is nothing else for him to do. It’s way more difficult for me to do that. But I feel inspired to let go a little more, and live in the moment like that.. maybe on a day off not plan everything if I don’t have to get work done but just live and experience ig.. idk where I’m going w this but it just stuck w me. That’s all I can think of for now it’s kinda late so maybe I’m brain lagging… anyways bye ||

||oh I see many not liking the flow of the book or the tone of it.. it’s just very murakami to be and I love him for it. imo Coming of age isn’t supposed to be fun or easy or quick. It’s so difficult makes you feel disgusted of yourself, of the world, of nothing. Tagts what the writing evoked to me. Not only does Kafka experience those emotions but the narration makes you feel the same way. Out of place- confused/ disgusted. I like thinking it’s intentional.

By the way did I mention yet that oshima is my spirit animal?? He’s so hehdhdjjd idk I like his vibes. But I do wonder how he handles being alone all the time in that library especially now that miss is gone ||

||I don’t like giving stars all that much cause I don’t like hating something either. I like critiquing and stars are so black and white. It’s probably a 4/5 star for me cause there are so many abstract things I can’t make any sense of but then maybe it’s a 5/5 because that’s the point of a coming of age novel.. that most tings don’t make any sense…? Maybe I’m running off on the wrong trail here again but maybe there is no such thing. All I know is that I really enjoyed it and will be thinking abt it in the future. The gore reminded me a lot of poe tbh||

[clear fractal]

@tight onyx,@subtle shale,@lyric hemlock,@slow flower,@clear token,@slow patio,@late veldt,@lilac jewel,@bitter arch,@broken mesa,@fervent apex,@cold trail,@dawn stone,@umbral lily

Thank you so much for joining me in this awesome BR! I hope to see all of you around! We are officially done!
Finished- Lil Chimp, radnyi spicy, Vaude, ninjamonkey, Maca, Sofia, v