absurdity • to read

Squashsoup • read

Not for me

alyssa • read

jakewelch • read

05/29/2024 – 06/09/2024 – A beautiful and moving novel with powerful themes of identity, acceptance, growth, change, loss, memory, reality, etc. I particularly adored the side characters in this one, especially Oshima and Hoshino. Oshima was so wise and every time he spoke and helped Kafka understand something through metaphor and literature, it made me feel so full of brightness; like I want to be that full of insight and knowledge. No book has ever made me want to read more than this (which is probably why I read 3/4 of it in 2 days). Hoshino on the other hand was so endearing, I loved seeing his character grow and go from "I don't like long stories" to being fascinated with Beethoven and Hadyn and dropping his life to help Nakata, as if paying back his grandfather by proxy. It was all so good. My only issue with this novel was the uncomfortable connections to the Oedipus complex. I wasn't thrilled to read about a 15 year old's sexual thoughts in such explicit detail, nor did I love reading about a 15 year old having sex with someone in their 50's as if it were fine and normal.