Everyone hypes this book like it’s some profound masterpiece. I went in expecting something meaningful, but instead got 600 pages of philosophical word salad.
Kafka is basically a diary entry… just narrates his thoughts about “fate” and “loneliness,” and somehow stumbles into incest and ends up raping his "sister" because…uhh… “destiny"…uwu!
The women only exist to orbit Kafka’s neurosis or seduce him for “spiritual reasons”…ffs..has Murakami ever even talked to a woman in real life? How is this even popular for its philosophy? It's like a first-year Wattpad enthusiastic college student after one espresso.
Man treats every random thing like it’s the universe whispering a secret, but none of it connects or even pays off, basically, surrealism without rules.
Don't even get me started on the ending? Kafka just walks into the forest, walks back out, says “I’m home,” and the book ends.
People say if you don’t love it, you “didn’t get it.” Nah. I got it. There’s just nothing to get. It’s vague on purpose, so readers can project meaning and call it genius. Honestly, it’s not profound, just pretentious. There’s no arc. No growth. Just poetic sandwiches.
…
Then there’s Nakata; okay, I've got no prob with him. Good man!
by certainly_imperfect
7 Comments
Yep. Hated it.
Culture shock.
It’s true. Mostly.
Murakami books hit different for people but I get your frustration – sometimes feels like he throws weird stuff at wall and calls it magical realism 😂 The cat conversations in Nakata parts were more meaningful than half of Kafka’s philosophical rambling 💀
I liked it but never thought it was supposed to be profound. I think it’s more about the dreamy, otherworldly aesthetic.
I won’t call this take ‘wrong’ because experience of any piece of art is deeply subjective, but this is certainly a hot take. It does read as a bit vapid, tho.
I do hate when people say they ‘got it’ when they dislike something. Obviously you didn’t ‘get’ the same thing hundreds of thousands of readers ‘got’ when they loved it. That’s fine, but you got something different and separate.
shoot, that’s next on my list. my pet peeve is meandering stories where nothing actually happens. will i hate this?
Hey maybe Murakami is not for you. Also it’s not like you read 1Q84. Kafka is more toned down