MobileRead November 2015 Book Club Vote

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'm definitely not liking the current leader. I truly have zero desire to read it. So I've gone ahead and voted for The Train, and Inspector Imanishi. I can see reading either one, and even enjoying it. But no matter how worthy, I'm not interested in anything Kafka.

Do you mean you aren't interested in anything by Murakami? The Kafka of the title has nothing to do with the author Franz Kafka.

[CRussel]

Sure it does. Even though it's not written by Franz Kafka, I hardly think the choice of title was an accident. But beyond that, I looked at the description and it's definitely not something I'm in a place I want to be reading right now. Maybe at some other point in my life, but not right now.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Sure it does. Even though it's not written by Franz Kafka, I hardly think the choice of title was an accident. But beyond that, I looked at the description and it's definitely not something I'm in a place I want to be reading right now. Maybe at some other point in my life, but not right now.

Thanks I was just curious since I didn't find anything about a link to Franz Kafka in the (brief) searches I did. I thought that at first too and spent a little time looking. There may be one but it isn't clear to me that there is. One of the things I read made me think this was a translation issue, a name being anglicized in translation.

Maybe someone who has read it can chime in (or wait if it ends up being selected for the club.)

Also, I can certainly see Murakami not being for everyone too so wasn't sure if that was the reason.

[peterwardgd]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Sure it does. Even though it's not written by Franz Kafka, I hardly think the choice of title was an accident. But beyond that, I looked at the description and it's definitely not something I'm in a place I want to be reading right now. Maybe at some other point in my life, but not right now.

I think if you have any preconceptions about the book based on its title you might want to stay clear for a while as you will be forever looking for Kafka themes/references in the book.

I'm trying to think how to put across the without spoiling even 1% of the book but i cant so i wont. I will just say if you haven't read The Wind up Bird Chronicle its worth a read and it might wet your appetite enough to follow on to this book. That book itself isn't related to Kafka on the Shore at all (unless you count the cat references) but i got the same satisfaction (i was going to put vibe but that doesn't do it justice) from reading that book as i did from this one.

Probably doesn't help much sorry but i'd hate to think someone was missing out on an interesting read because of the title and a brief description and what it might (or might not imply.

[WT Sharpe]

The surrealistic tome Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami is our winner. Happy reading, everyone!

[CRussel]

I'll pass this month. But see you again next month.

[WT Sharpe]

The cheapest audiobook route I've found in the States, assuming your local library doesn't have it, is Kindle plus narration. And that's not cheap. $11.99 for the ebook (price fixed by publisher) and add Audible narration ($9.99) and the grand total is $21.98—might as well say $22.00.

[peterwardgd]

Hooray! some Murakami. I get to read it again even though i had Norwegian wood queued up to read (finally) but hey ho.

[HomeInMyShoes]

So far I'm really enjoying it.

[WT Sharpe]

Me, too. Just finished the first 9 chapters.

[taosaur]

Kafka on the Shore was my first and probably least favorite Murakami, but it still had a lot of redeeming qualities. It had a bit of an "everything and the kitchen sink" vibe akin to what little Tom Robbins I've read, but I never found much redeeming in Tom Robbins.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Another Roadside Attraction is my favorite.

This will be Murakami number seven for me. I've read (in order of reading):

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Sputnick Sweetheart
South of the Border, West of the Sun
After the Quake
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

I've enjoyed all of them, especially Tazaki and Wonderland.

[taosaur]

The only Robbins I read to the end was Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. I'd already read a few John Barth novels, and Robbins struck me as a somewhat forced (but apparently successful) attempt at a more accessible John Barth. Friends prevailed upon me to try something else by Robbins, so I started Another Roadside Attraction, but it seemed like more of the same: forced exoticness, try-hard absurdism, and next to zero sympathy for his characters. That last point is the clincher for me, and what I think distinguishes Murakami at his most absurd (Kafka on the Shore) from Robbins. To me it didn't seem like Robbins liked or had much faith in his characters or his readers.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

So far I'm really enjoying it.

I had initially thought I wouldn't vote for it because the blurb didn't entice me and I'd already read another book by him which I liked but didn't think was great. I changed my mind though once I read the (long) preview; I hope the rest of the book is as good.

[HomeInMyShoes]

It's started, as Murakami novels do, to get weird. I like Murakami a lot. Probably for that weirdness.