Honestly, I’m disappointed by this after reading After Dark.

Synopsis: Introverted Kafka runs away from home while simpleton Nakata goes on an adventure; both are searching for something. (There’s not really a plot to this…)

Having read one of Murakami’s books before, I expected Kafka on the Shore to be similarly strange and metaphysical and all that weird stuff. But throughout the book I felt like Murakami was pushing it. He crossed the line for me when he started going into Miss Saeki.

I’m not too sure whether or not his writing is always like this since After Dark didn’t have anything of the sort, but Murakami mentions sex/penises/boners/balls/vaginas every few pages. And sometimes these mentions are unnecessary. For example:

Once Nakata got to his feet, the dog slowly started to walk away. Nakata shouldered his bag and set off after him. The dog had a short tail and, blow its base, two large balls.

Did I just read about dog balls? What.

But despite all these strange sexual references, Kafka on the Shore is very well-written. There’s an abundance of great quotes on love (Although in context, they’re really creepy. Maybe it’s just me.), freedom, and identity. There’s amazing character development as expected from Murakami, and I fell in love with Oshima, Nakata, and the boy named Crow.

There’s a very clear divide between good and evil in the book, but because the novel doesn’t focus on that conflict, it’s alright, I guess.

Concluding Thoughts: It’s a beautiful book, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to. I was expecting more/better.

I finally checked out Kafka on the Shore yesterday and I’m so excited to crack my second Murakami novel. I feel like I’ve synthesized enough of After Dark to move on to a fresh book.

I should finish Les Mis first though…only 570 pages left. I swear, after I knocked out 100 pages on Saturday, my bookmark barely moved. The brick is still as thick as ever. -_-