Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

When I read the summary of this book, I thought that it would be weird. Nothing prepared me though for this bizarre journey it turned out to be. Kafka on the Shore begun as a coming-of-age novel, but by the end of it I was not actually convinced that it was. 

On one side, Kafka Tamura is a fifteen-year-old who runs away from his home and thus from his fate, as he believes. On the other, Nakata is a man in his late sixties who can't read or write, but can talk to cats. Both of their lives are bound to intervene, as the events that occur seem more and more predestined. The final act is the one that can restore the balance in the heroes' lives.

The story in Kafka on the Shore, at least in the beginning, is nothing out of the ordinary. A teenager, who has no mother, runs away from home because he cannot go on living with his father. So he plans it very carefully and leaves the day of his fifteenth birthday. A few blocks away from him lives Nakata,  who with his special ability to talk with cats, he helps to find lost ones. But as the story slowly progresses, both of the protagonists find themselves into complicated dilemmas, especially Kafka, who has a tendency to overthink things.

There is a definite analogy of this story to the ancient greek tragedy. Indeed, the book focuses on the theme that man cannot choose his fate. Just like Oedipus the King, Kafka is prophesied (or cursed as he considers himself) that he will kill his father and be with his mother and sister. Along the way, he meets both a young and an older woman and he believes that they are his sister and his mother, but metaphorically. In fact, most of Kafka's theories are based on metaphors but does this fact make them truth? In dreams begin responsibilities, is a quote by Yeats that the young hero often repeats but are dreams sufficient enough to become reality?

There is a great variety of characters in this novel. Kafka is a very troubled youth, who has various issues. This journey is for him a way to realise and come to terms with them. Nakata has a really lovable way of looking to the world. Because he is simple he cannot think of abstract terms, time is very relative to him and his way of talking is unique. But the characters I loved the most are the ones that helped the main protagonists, Oshima and Hoshino. They couldn't be more different than those two are, one is an intellectual library attendant and the other is a truck driver that feels the need to help the old man without an apparent reason. Apart from them there are also Sakura and Miss Saeki and cameos by Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders.

Kafka on the Shore was a weird and a little disappointing read for me. It took me almost half of the book to start to connect with the characters, and near the end I often felt the urge to skip the chapters concerning Kafka, because I was more interested in Nakata and Hoshino. But I have to admit that this book is the one I took the most notes from lately and I'm quite sure that it will continue to torment me for a long time.  For all these reasons, I would recommend Kafka on the Shore to all those who like demanding reads and don't really mind the general bizarreness of it. I wouldn't recommend it though if you haven't read any other work by Haruki Murakami before, it might seem a little overwhelming.  

So, my advice is...

The Reading Book Post, May 4th

May the 4th be with you! I've finally settled down to routine after the short trip last weekend, in order to attend to ComicDom Con in Athens. I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron, and I tell you this movie is thrilling! Anyway, let's see what took place in the literary world last week.

• The 2015 Edgar Awards were announced! Among the winners were Stephen King for the best novel category for Mr. Mercedes and Gillian Flynn for the best short story category for What do you do?, which was included in the short stories' collection Rogues.

• The final issue of the Endgame has just been published and the news are shocking. After a climactic battle, Batman and Joker are both dead. Author Scott Snyder declared that this time is for real. It's quite usual for superheroes to die in several issues and this is not the first time for Batman either. Do you believe that he will return to the DC universe in the future?

• Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham will return to complete Miracleman after 25 years. The series will kick off The Golden Age storyline and it will continue into the unfinished The Silver Age and The Dark Age arcs. The edition has been remastered from the original artwork and it will include a lot of additional content. The first issue will be available on September 2nd.

• Ruth Rendell, the popular crime writer, died last week at the age of 85. She left a work that includes more than 60 novels and she was the creator of the Inspector Wexford. She had also published several works under the name of Barbara Vine. Here is a list of five of her key works, that helped redefine the crime fiction.

• Cat's Cradle, the classic novel by Kurt Vonnegut, will be turned into a TV show by IM global. The series will be developed by Brad Yonover and Elkins Entertainment's Sandi Love, who will co-exec produce. 

• Today it's Star Wars Day! To celebrate, let's check out these amazing facts about the Star Wars books. Have you read any Star Wars books?

• This week's quiz is a little weird. Can you tell if these children's books are real or fake? I have to admit that I couldn't believe that some of those books actually exist! I got a score of 10/15, how about you?   

Play(list) by the Book: Kafka on the Shore

I'm so excited to have come across another book that lets me this kind of post, which I enjoy creating immensely! So without many words this is the playlists with all the songs and artists mentioned in Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.

In this list, I included many pieces of classical music, which actually feel important to the novel in some way or another. When a song was named by its title I put it on the list right away, if an artist was only mentioned then I chose one of my favourite songs by this artist and if an album was the case then I chose a song from that particular album.

Find more playlists at: Play(list) by the Book

Radio Show: Play(list) by the Book

Listening to Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett

This is the first post I'm doing for the new meme hosted by Killian @ Leaf on the Breeze. In this meme, we will listen and tell our opinions on a certain album, chosen each week by a different participant. Next week it's my turn and I have an album in mind that I'm really excited to finally listen. Anyway, this week Killian chose for the first album of the music meme to be Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett. 

Courtney Barnett is an Australian singer-songwriter, and her music falls into the indie rock genre. She has already released two EPs since 2012, but Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit is her first studio album. Learn more about her on her official website.

First of all, I have to admit that I loved the cover of this album. It's simple but very effective and after listening to the whole thing I believe that it suits it very well. Some of the songs have a garage rock and some a folk feel to them, but I preferred more the second ones. The only problem for me is that certain songs, like Dead Fox, fell into monotony and I found myself skipping them to the next ones. The lyrics of the songs though is what impressed me the most in Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit. They are a bit surreal, but most of them narrate stories that feel personal. And when this happens, the result is beautiful and sometimes even touching. I stare at the lawn, it's Wednesday morning/It needs a cut but I leave it growing/All different sizes and all shades of green/Slashing it down just seems kind of mean are the first lyrics from the song Small Poppies and I absolutely like them. All in all, I would say that the debut album by Courtney Barnett is refreshing and very enjoyable, although at times I felt that the lyrics were much better than the music.

Favourite tracks: Depreston, Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party

Literary References: Not really. In the first track, Elevator Operator, the hero is called Paul Oliver, which is a writer on the blues and other forms of African-American music, but it's just a coincidence. 

Is it a good reading companion? Absolutely. Especially the slower tracks are ideal for background music while reading.

The Reading Book Post, April 28th

I know that The Reading Book Post is supposed to be published every Monday, but yesterday I've been travelling for almost all day. When I finally got home I was so tired that I didn't even want to look at the screen. Anyway, it's been a fun weekend, plus I got some amazing comic books! As usual, here are the most interesting literary news from last week.

• Last week, on April 20, The Pulitzer Prizes announced the list for the 2015 winners. The winner for the fiction prize is Anthony Doerr for his historical novel All the Lights we Cannot See. I'm so happy to see this amazing book being awarded for such a prestigious prize! Also, Yiyun Li was awarded The Sunday Times short story prize for A Sheltered Woman. The short story was first published in March 2014 in The New Yorker and Li became the first woman author to win this prize.  

• The announcement by PEN American Center that the Freedom of Expression Courage award will be given to the french satirical newspapers Charlie Hebdo has stirred the literary world. Six authors, Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi, have withdrawn from the gala, which will take place at the Natural History Museum in Manhattan on May 5.

• Fight Club 2 is about to get published. The first issue will be out on May 27 by Dark Horse Comics and the covers are absolutely amazing. Meanwhile, the author Chuck Palahniuk explains the jump from the novel to graphic novel format, whether a movie sequel will happen and the biggest problems he had to face.

• Are you a Girl Online fan? Then you will be happy to learn that Zoella is writing Girl Online 2, the sequel to her first best-selling novel. She has teased that the sequel will be written without the help of a ghostwriter and she is already in chapter 11.

• The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is due to be published on November 3, but this week the complete list of the short stories included in the collection has been made public. Among those, there is A Death, a short story that was published earlier this year in The New Yorker. Well, anything new by Stephen King is always welcome, don't you agree?

• Another long awaited book is Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. The news we had this week concern its audiobook version, which will be narrated by actress Reese Witherspoon. This will be the first audiobook project for the actress and the unabridged version will be published alongside the novel's debut on July 14.

• Which is your favourite Agatha Christie novel? This is what the Agatha Christie estate is trying to figure out. More than 80 novels are in the running to be named the world's favourite Agatha Christie novel and several famous fans of the author have already voted. This survey is to celebrate the 125 years from the birth of the famous novelist. The winner will become known in September, the month when Agatha Christie was born. 

• Avengers: The Age of Ultron has come. Before we watch the film let's take this quiz, in order to find out which Avenger we are. I got Quicksilver, which one did you get?