海辺のカフカ〈上〉

It's the journey, not the destination.

For those already familiar with Murakami, it does correspond with his signature style. That is to say you'll find multiple POV characters, commentary on classical and jazz music, magical realism, atmospheric writing, etc. On one side, you have a sort of mystery unraveled by an elderly man who is mentally disabled and remarkably able to communicate with cats. On the other, you have a teenage runaway trying to escape a prophecy as told by his father. These two narratives interweave with one another. Prior to making commentary on the story's quality in more concrete terms, I'll say the following: Regarding language learning, I think this book, really the author, to be a solid choice. Despite strange things occurring regularly, you're never at a loss for what's being written even if said thing doesn't make sense. I'd recommend it, though it's important to go into the story with the mindset that it's the atmosphere, themes, and characters that matter as opposed to the plotting.

The following is generalized thoughts on the story and your impression may differ based on the kind of stories you enjoy as an individual. Having read a few books from the author, this story, like 1Q84, suffers from the character's meandering. What I'm referring to here is not necessarily tangents it would go off on like the discussion of music, Beethoven's life, or war - these correlate with themes common to the narrative and are at the least interesting on their own. What I refer to here is more like lack of direction on part of the characters, Nakata's portion most especially. There are even a few instances in the story where his companion makes some comment like: "What's next?" "I don't really know." "I thought you'd say that." Perhaps it's the author trying to communicate to the audience that those not enjoying the journey are missing the point. Even so, I did feel there were long stretches where I felt like my time was being wasted, stretches that the interplay of characters could not compensate for. Even a good friend can overstay his welcome. I suppose one might equate it in structure to The Odyssey if Odysseus' journey wasn't to reunite with his family but instead just based on a gut feeling and the mundanity of the travel filled gaps between event of interest. Once he does arrive, he then goes on an equally long and only loosely related journey. The story, for me, would have greatly benefitted from aggressive editing. There are also some common themes continually mentioned but left underexplored, but perhaps my opinion on that might change with some further reflection. That all having been said, there are some high highs and atmospheric stretches where you just enjoy the setting and the characters.

Great & very strange read

I have loved reading this book, and a lot of that is to do with the writing style. There are some slightly more tricky sections (some that are written in the style of military reports) but in general the amount of unknown vocab was manageable and the writing style very fluid and straight forward, making this feel like a comparatively easier read to other books I was reading at the same time. As the other review has noted, you have to be prepared for some Murakami signature nonsense, ie weird sex scenes and some pretty graphic violence/animal cruelty. This is balanced however with some incredibly endearing characters (Nakata in particular is a real highlight) and the really enjoyable prose I mentioned. So, probably not for everyone but definitely one I would recommend if you think you can handle the weird/graphic bits!