Book 21: Kafka on the Shore
My mother and I have opposite tastes in literature. Everything she reads is always about a single mother's struggle, or a woman's struggle to overcome divorce, or a woman's struggle in the aftermath of sexual assault, or a child's death.... Needless to say, there's a number of books on her dresser table that have also landed on Oprah's book list.
These are the kinds of books I dislike - I love fantasy*, science fiction, speculative fiction, urban fantasy, magical realism. The flip side of that, I loooove quirky histories and biographies, like Mary Roach's "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers".
We laugh about our different taste in books - but we both love to read, and it connects us.
So, when my Mom recommended Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, I scoffed at her. She laughed and said, "No, I promise! You'll like this one! It's very fantastical!"
This book is fantastical - well - I'd say less fantastical and more surreal. It's lovely though and full of beautiful images. I found myself really caring for the characters - and feeling surprise for the characters I grew to love and feel close to.
While reading it, I definitely had the sense I was reading a Japanese author - the book feels distinctly of the voice of Japan. It's hard to put your finger on it - and I will admit that I am no scholar of Japan (historical or otherwise) but it feels very Japanese. The landscape is integral to the book - only an mountain island surrounded by sea could produce this. Only a country that had the bomb dropped on it could produce this. Only a country obsessed with water and forest - only a country that is buddhist but also animist.
It is a fascinating and deep book. It's very... literary. It's definitely *literature* - I felt like I could write several papers on it. An entire paper on characters drinking liquids alone. Seriously. Tea, water, pepsi - and when and how they do this. This code - the ritualization of it - how the water becomes a metaphor for the experience of life itself.
Besides, there are plenty of talking cats, and I felt like the author really wrote what cats would say.
Good stuff. Deep though. Not light.
Read, enjoy. Beautiful words.
N.
These are the kinds of books I dislike - I love fantasy*, science fiction, speculative fiction, urban fantasy, magical realism. The flip side of that, I loooove quirky histories and biographies, like Mary Roach's "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers".
We laugh about our different taste in books - but we both love to read, and it connects us.
So, when my Mom recommended Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, I scoffed at her. She laughed and said, "No, I promise! You'll like this one! It's very fantastical!"
This book is fantastical - well - I'd say less fantastical and more surreal. It's lovely though and full of beautiful images. I found myself really caring for the characters - and feeling surprise for the characters I grew to love and feel close to.
While reading it, I definitely had the sense I was reading a Japanese author - the book feels distinctly of the voice of Japan. It's hard to put your finger on it - and I will admit that I am no scholar of Japan (historical or otherwise) but it feels very Japanese. The landscape is integral to the book - only an mountain island surrounded by sea could produce this. Only a country that had the bomb dropped on it could produce this. Only a country obsessed with water and forest - only a country that is buddhist but also animist.
It is a fascinating and deep book. It's very... literary. It's definitely *literature* - I felt like I could write several papers on it. An entire paper on characters drinking liquids alone. Seriously. Tea, water, pepsi - and when and how they do this. This code - the ritualization of it - how the water becomes a metaphor for the experience of life itself.
Besides, there are plenty of talking cats, and I felt like the author really wrote what cats would say.
Good stuff. Deep though. Not light.
Read, enjoy. Beautiful words.
N.