A review by theelliad
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

2.0

This book wasn’t for me, I wanted to be a Murakami girlie but maybe I just don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong this is beautifully composed, the writing style is breathtaking and their are moments of description that feel so cosy, I’m also aware that a twisted retelling of Oedipus is bound to be weird and so had an open mind going in. HOWEVER (and it’s a big however) I found so much about this problematic. 1. The way women are written, I knew going into this that it was a common criticism of Murakamis work however the blatant passive sexualisation of every female character is just uncomfortable and inexcusable, 2. leading on from that, i cannot get behind a book which has a ridiculously romanticised scene of r*pe and pages later the only acknowledgement is the main character literally stating ‘I shouldn’t of  r*ped her’ (sorry if you consider that a spoiler, i think it’s something i would have liked to know in advance) that isn’t wacky that’s just wrong, 3. the plot really wasn’t as special as i expected. The middle section of the book in which the pieces fall together was certainly engaging and clever, however beyond that this really didn’t do it for me. Laced with repetitive actions and seemingly pointless pages of description this is a classic case of good concept terrible execution (and is also about 300 pages longer than it needs to be), 4. ANIMAL VIOLENCE IN THAT MUCH GRAPHIC DETAIL WAS SO UNNECESSARY literally what did the kittens do to you Murakami I am in pain still and it’s been days