Book Review: Kafka on the Shore
“Taking crazy things seriously is a serious waste of time.”
And it wouldn't be any crazier to say that
this line was uttered by Colonel Sanders in the book Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka) by my favourite author; Haruki Murakami.
Now, I have previously reviewed the rather
recent book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage which is a
light read and definitely one of Murakami's simpler books. To compare that book
with Kafka on the Shore is probably alike to lifting a pebble and a 400 pound
boulder.
I can imagine several of my peers closing
this book permanently after 3 pages and that is a big mistake for they do not
know Murakami's magic. Sucks for y’all!
As I followed Kafka through his journey I
recognize the darker side of a simple yet mysterious fifteen-year-old boy which
is a matter of fact that everybody has. Everyone has their dark side just like
the theories of yin and yang. We are made of these two energies that intertwine
and balance each other out. In this book, we see the extremity of each of these
two contrasting sides.
In the book, we see Kafka the boy clouded
with a mysterious yet dark background but instead of dwelling in his hardships
and confusion, he leaves home and tries to find a new life. He ventures and
struggles in a journey on his own two feet until he finds himself living a
mundane routine soon after. He was in a black hole of blurry memories despite
his tall and well-built figure, incredible amount of sophisticated intelligence
and coming from a wealthy family. Yet, all that profound gifts are tainted in
black and he struggles to find the light.
Now, let’s head over to the opposite
spectrum with Nakata; an ageing man with very little intelligence as he had
lost his ability to read and write, living a monotonous routine every day while
talking to cats. He is happy-go-lucky and very optimistic and patient and even
as I read his story, I felt a sense of brightness to his character even though
he barely had anything. Soon, he finds himself in an adventure filled with
blood, raining leeches and lightning storms… as if he is forced out of the ‘light’
and takes on the darkness that he lacked.
So what did we learn from these two
characters? Who knows?
Personally…I feel as if we can never leave
the darkness; just as there will always be night after the sun sets…just as
every living thing will meet its death.
Whether we live in the darkness or we are
blessed with the light, the moments of anger, sadness and depression will meet
us. We can try running or maybe we face it head on but at the very end, we just
have to keep on living. Memories of pain and hurt will scar us for a long time
and maybe even a lifetime but we can never stop living.
Here, I’d like to address my two favourite
characters; Hoshino and Oshima who are both on the side-lines of the two main
characters’ journeys. I admire how Murakami placed these two characters and how
he develops them. I am personally so attached to Hoshino as he resembles the
part of me who barely had any idea on the purpose of life. We live our mundane
lives to the fullest; me studying my heart out for a diploma and he is the
hardworking lorry driver. Yet, sure enough we are able to find our sources of
abnormality that pushes us out of that grey monotonous black hole and become
new, better persons.
Self-identification has always been found
as the main theme of Murakami’s stories and I personally love that. Everyone
will continue to find their true selves and even when we will never do so…that’s
the fun of living.
We change, evolve and meet new people.
Sometimes we will remain the same for a very long time and sometimes, we will
do incredibly new things all of the sudden.
We make mistakes and we embrace our dark
sides. Yet, we will just have to keep on living to discard those regrets and
become better and stronger.
Kafka on the Shore marks itself as my current
second favourite book of Murakami’s. 1Q84 remains number one because…dear God
that book is just too epic for words. Maybe I should review it again one day
after I re-read it. Yes. I should. Hahahahaha.
It is a magical tale…where mundane
activities become incredible adventures. Like seriously, making coffee sounds
like a huge adventure after reading this book. You may find some things here sexy, obscene
and just downright crazy.
But the best people are crazy. They just know how to blend in with the boring society.
*winks*
Thank you for reading my review and I hope you'd pick up a copy to enjoy Murakami's far-from-ordinary tales!
Assalamualaikum & ciao!
|Anis Diana
