I always get a bit nervous when talking about Japanese or Japanese-influenced books (of course, with the exception of Memoirs of a Geisha – totally made up by a white man) simply because there is so much to Shintoism that is so different from western culture. Kafka on the Shore is no different.
There is a whimsical quality to this novel and general avoidance of answers that is typical of Japanese art and way of living. These are also qualities that would rightly piss people off in any other book, but surprisingly, Kafka (and the rest of the Murakami collection) is much loved by the Australian reading population. Maybe Kafka on the Shore offers the true example of someone accepting and just going with the flow, a quality that Australians love to say that they possess.
Or (and this is probably more likely) the other possiblity is that Aussies love how Murakami makes Colonel Sanders a pimp. And what a rockin’ pimp he is!
Not to be outdone, the rest of the characters also play with unconventional and considerably less socially acceptable activities – incest, rape, transgenderism, child molestation and abandonment are all explored. Amongst all things. And funnily enough, I didn’t notice it until my mother asked me to explain the story line. Also funnily enough, it did not go down too well with the Mother Hen.
M: errr… what?
J: Well… I can’t really explain it, but it is an excellent book.
M: *Strange look suggesting that she is questioning her methods of child raring* … As long as it doesn’t give you any ideas…
Seriously Mum. Who do you think I am?
… Wait. Don’t answer that.
…..
And on that note, I realise there is nothing much more to say. Just read the book. Everyone else is doing it. You know you want to. The End.
As an end note: Yes, I did like the book, but I also found it unsatisfying. The same dissatisfaction as when I read Amelie Nothomb. But I guess, maybe, it’s telling us that we don’t actually need all the answers all the time… bloody Shintos.
Tags: abandonment, Books, child molestation, Colonel Sanders, Haruki Murakami, incest, Japan, Kafka on the Shore, Oedipal complex, rape, Shintoism, transgenderism
October 16, 2008 at 1:20 am
So what did you make of the book? I found myself thoroughly entertained but none the wiser by the end of it. I think you are right when you talk about Japanese inspired literature being so different to anything we produce in the west. The whole idea of story, characters and humour is totally different.