Found this in my drafts. Missed publishing it for some reason.
I had written this review long back for a book discussion. Putting it up here now.
I had written this review long back for a book discussion. Putting it up here now.
***
August 14, 2013
This is the only Haruki Murakami book that I have read so far. I don’t think I shall be picking up any of his other works any time soon. He uses a lot of “magic” in his books. Stuff that just doesn’t happen in real life. And he tells his tale in a manner where everything odd about life is acceptable. I wouldn’t call his work fantasy, but it’s not quite non-fantastical either.
The book begins with the story of a 15 year old runaway. And it ends with nothing solid. It’s not like an open ending, it’s just nothingness. You won’t find people arguing whether his spinning top fell in the end or not. If everything you just read happened in the boy’s head or if it happened at all. You just have to accept what has been told to you.
He just blends everything into one piece, like the random ramblings of an old man.
The first few chapters took me by surprise, I kept wondering how to see the book, is all the magic “Real” and acceptable? Or is it supposed to be odd even in the book. After a point in the book, you just stop wondering and accept it for what it is. When I was discussing the weirdness of the book with my sister, the only response I got was, “It’s Japanese literature, what else can you expect”. Like that explains everything.
I still don’t have any opinion on how I feel about the book, but I would definitely recommend reading it, if not for the story, for its completely different style of writing.
***
June 3, 2014
I read Metamorphosis some time back, my first Kafka ever! It suddenly made sense, the naming of the protagonist in Kafka on the Shore. I am now ready to pick up another Haruki Murakami book, and maybe, once I have decided I have read everything I could possibly want to, go back and re-read Kafka on the Shore. All the strangeness in the book.. maybe Gabo had more influence on the world than I had previously imagined.
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