Endicott Mythic Fiction discussion

Our November 2012 book is Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami.
Who's reading?

I feel like a scrooge. I listened to this in audio a few months ago and hated it.

Too much needless detail and repetition - do we really need to know what order he washed his body parts in, what he had for lunch every day or the exact shade and brand of his shirt and sunglasses?

I also didn't like that he felt the need to explain all of his allusions. And not only did he explain what he was alluding to, he did it in such a way that you know how he feels it pertains to his plot.

It was just way too heavy handed. I hate when authors tell me exactly what they want me to think.

I know he's a enormously popular author -- so for those of you who have read him and do like his writing, what do you see in it? What am I missing?

About a decade ago, on a friend's recommendation, I read 4 or 5 Murakami novels. I'm a big fan of Banana Yoshimoto, so the friend thought Murakami was going to be a hit with me. Unfortunately, I really disliked his portrayals of women (I found them about as believable and three-dimensional as women in a James Bond novel).
I do remember finding The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle interesting and I'm open to trying Kafka on the Shore - if nothing else, I'll probably enjoy the talking cats in the novel.

Oh dear. Portrayal of women...

Apparently, in Japan when sorting things in alphabetical order, it's traditional that males are listed before females, or that they'd have a separate catalog. This particular library used a separate catalog.

Very minor spoilers (I’m not even sure it requires tags): (view spoiler)[An feminist equal rights group came in, examined the catalog and protested the arrangement to the head librarian. They were advocating that males and females be listed together, without regard to gender. The librarian went off on how sorting males before females is the proper order of things. And does B ever protest that its place is just after A? Does Z ever protest that it comes at the end of the alphabet? If society agrees that Z comes after A and no one argues about that, then why are people arguing about females being listed after males? After all... it's the "traditional" way of listing things.

I found a quote on the book page from this conversation: “Does G get angry because it follows F in the alphabet? Does page 68 in a book start a revolution because it follows 67?” (hide spoiler)]

The whole exchange made me so mad. Infuriating – especially when coming from a male author.

I listened to the audio of Kafka on the Shore earlier this year and thought it was superb and I've just finished reading his 1Q84. I enjoy the strangeness of the world that he evokes in his books. I love the drawn out descriptions, it gives you time to focus on characters and place.

I just started and it is too early to tell if I like it, but I am definitely intrigued! Up to now my favourite is the talking cat as well as the man who can talk to cats!

Anyone else reading? I must say I am pleasantly surprised by this book. I like it quite a lot! I enjoy all the weirdness. It certainly is a difficult book to categorise. It is not quite fantasy, more like magical realism? I understand why Terri Wendling put it on her list.

I bought Kafka on the Shore at the end of October, and it's been on my to-read list for quite a while now! He's apparently a postmodern staple, & I'm happy to give him a go at last. If I read it, I will probably come into the discussion at the very, very end of the month, but I will at least try to get around to it during my Thanksgiving break! (School has been nuts this semester!)

Okay... I ended up giving this book 5 stars http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Tastes differ and this novel will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I will try and explain what I appreciated.
I loved the way the book was so multilayered and all the different stories were intertwined. I was totally drawn in to Murakami’s strange world. The protagonists were likable. I found myself thinking about this novel even when not reading it. I also appreciated the way Murakami combined elements from Japanese mythology with Western culture.
The detailed descriptions of mundane activities balance out all the weird things giving the novel a feeling that is both a dream-like and realistic. Had there only been talking cats, fish raining down from the sky, ghosts of people still alive, World War 2 soldiers gone missing in a timeless magical forest and a villain who kills cats to make a flute out of their souls, the story would have seemed too unrealistic for me to be drawn in into and I would not have been able empathize with the characters the way I did. The Oedipus myth is always hard to read about but the descriptions of washing private parts and sexual fantasies did not bother me. I guess having a teenage son has made me more tolerant for those types of things! Regarding Murakami’s depiction of women, I think the women are portrayed from the point of view of a Kafka, boy who grew up without a mother or a sister and Nagata, a man who also had never been with a women , thus the women were like foreign beings for both of them
The slug reminded me of the one in Hayao Miyazaki film Spirited Away!
I read that so many readers wrote in questions that the Japanese publisher set up a website for Murakami devoted to answering questions regarding Kafka on the Shore. Part is on the English website
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/m...

I'm glad you like it...

I normally love magical realism, and I like strange, weird and bizarre books, normally. I just didn't in this particular case.

I did pick up a free copy of the 1Q84 audio book back before I read Kafka and I can get the ebook from the library. Maybe I'll manage to give him a chance between the two versions.

Melanti wrote: "I'm glad you like it...

I normally love magical realism, and I like strange, weird and bizarre books, normally. I just didn't in this particular case.

I did pick up a free copy of the 1Q84 audio..."

Reading tastes are so subjective. By the description Little, Big seemed like just the kind of book I would love but I could not even finish it. And I know lots of people think it is great!