Journal Entry 1 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, January 05, 2006

"Kafka on the Shore follows the fortunes of two remarkable characters. Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. Their parallel odysseys are enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerising dramas. Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghostlike pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle. Murakami's new novel is at once a classic tale of quest, but it is also a bold exploration of mythic and contemporary taboos, of patricide, of mother-love, of sister-love. Above all it is an entertainment of a very high order."

I am a new convert to Murakami's books after reading this and have begun collecting his previous works to read. His world is magical, almost like a fairy tale but it's also grounded in a sinister reality, a mix of the curious with the mundane. Somehow he manages this fine balance.

Bookring Participants:
Boreal (NZ)
blakkat-BNE (QLD)
Jubby (Sydney)
hunnyb (Sydney)
Pixette (Sydney) 

Journal Entry 2 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Thursday, January 19, 2006

Arrived today, thanks so much goodthinkingmax. Would you mind if I didn't read it until after our convention (only a month away now!) but of course if someone else is added to the ring I will get onto it straight away. 

Journal Entry 3 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Friday, March 03, 2006

What a seriously odd book, and that is putting it mildly! It has left me wondering what it was all about and apparently I aren't the only one -I wonder if there is a study guide for it that will explain things to me but I rather suspect that you are meant to be left wondering...

There are two parallel but intertwined stories, one of a 15 year old runaway and the other of an older simple but lovely man who has been left unable to read or write after a childhood incident. Interspersed with this are things falling from the sky, talking cats, Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders etc etc.

I found the book very readable and well written but the incident with the cats was a bit off-putting -what was the point of its inclusion I wonder, except to shock.
Definitely not a book for people who like their stories to be clear cut with endings you can understand.

Thanks once again goodthinkingmax it was well worth the read, I shall await further instructions from you as to what to do with it now :-)

 

Journal Entry 4 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, March 19, 2006

Thanks boreal. This book is back with me and the bookring will continue now that there are some more names.

Will send off to Queensland soon. 

Journal Entry 5 by blakkat-BNE from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Book arrived on Monday :) Will get to it shortly!
***UPDATE 14/04/2006*** Started reading this... 

Journal Entry 6 by blakkat-BNE from Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Thursday, May 04, 2006

I'm very slack with my journalling atm. I finished reading this a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure I understood everything the author was trying to say but the book was interesting (and weird) to say the least. I definitely felt ill after reading that bit about the cats and I had to put the book aside for a while 'cause I just couldn't read that bit at the time.
Will forward on to the next person once I have their address. 

Journal Entry 7 by jubby from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Look what was waiting on my doorstep when I got home this evening!

Thank you. 

Journal Entry 8 by jubby from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, June 12, 2006

I can't really express how much I enjoyed this book. It was so refreshing and entertaining.

Whether I really understood most of it... is not really clear.

I just adored the off the wall plot twists and characters. We have spirits of no substance, neither god or buddha, taking shape as Colonial Sanders and working as a pimp, Johnny Walker - cat gobbler, and our boy Kafka, the toughest 15 year old in the world.

Not knowing much about Japanese tales/history, classical music or philosophical debate, there was much here that I did!

Murakami is an incredible and dense writer, but with the gift of creating a simple and aborbing tales.

One small message I did take away from the text was the ability to stop, listen and not ignore the small and mundane. That's when the fun really begins (I'd love to speak to cats!).

Thank you for sharing this book with me. I have joined up to several other bookrings for this author, and busting for more!

 

Journal Entry 9 by jubby at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, June 12, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (6/13/2006 UTC) at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Passing on to Hunnyb at the Sydney Meetup. A fabulous book for a fabulous bookcrosser. 

Journal Entry 10 by hunnyb from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Ooh, Murakami! :) Received from meetup tonight. Thanks all. 

Journal Entry 11 by hunnyb from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, June 19, 2006

Finished it a lot quicker than I thought I would (and probably quicker than I really should have, considering I should have been spending time studying instead...) But the problem was I found it really compelling! I'd read one chapter, and then think, "I'll just read on to see what happens next to Kafka" but then of course the next chapter would be on Nakata, so I'd think, "ok, I'll read the chapter after the next one to find out what happens to him..." and after repeating that about twenty times the book was over. Very intriguing and strange, in true Murakami style I suppose! It was philosophical without being too consciously pretentious. Enjoyed it a lot, except for the Johnnie Walker incident (very alarming and disgusting!!). Thanks for sharing, I'll send it to Pixette next. 

Journal Entry 12 by Pixette from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Saturday, July 29, 2006

Sorry I hadn't journalled this earlier - I thought I had. A number of bookrings arrived at once and someone decided to clean up the living room so my pile of to-be-journalled books got a bit messed up.

I have begun reading this interesting work. I'm not very far in - only page 32. I'm hoping these 2 dissimilar threads of modern boy runaway to WWII incident come together sometime soon.

No other thoughts at this time. Thanks for sharing. 

Journal Entry 13 by Pixette from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, August 06, 2006

I had decided to give the book until page 50 to engage my attention. I haven't been engaged yet but as I've just met "Puss in Boots" e.g., the talking cat, I'm intrigued to continue.

I'm not sure I comprehend what I'm reading. I'll give it to page 100 and reassess.

I do very much appreciate the ability to stick one's toe in the water, so to speak, by the generosity of bookcrossing/ers offering up their volumes for sharing.

 

Journal Entry 14 by Pixette from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, August 20, 2006

Murakami doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. Although I like his sentence construction, I simply can't fathom the plot/s.

After a while I also decided I didn't much care for any of the characters also.

Time to move onto another book I feel. 

Journal Entry 15 by Pixette at a fellow bookcrosser in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia -- Controlled Releases on Monday, November 13, 2006

Released 5 yrs ago (11/14/2006 UTC) at a fellow bookcrosser in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

returned to goodthinkingmax 

Journal Entry 16 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Back home with me now. 

Journal Entry 17 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, December 11, 2006

Sending this to my Secret Santa recipient, kirst040, who commented last week that she hasn't read any good books lately. Well, a few of us loved this one! Happy Christmas. 

Journal Entry 18 by kirst040 from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, December 17, 2006

Thank you very much Santa.

Murakami has been on my should read list for a while but for some reason I haven't gone there yet. I'll add this straight to the top of the pile. Hopefully this will break the current good book drought. 

Journal Entry 19 by kirst040 from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Saturday, December 30, 2006

Curiouser and curiouser....

I found this amazing story compelling from the start, the writing was imaginative and lyrical and the characters were complex, interesting and all were somewhat 'out there'. I'm not sure though that I completely understood it, I only finished it this morning so I guess I'm waiting for that moment of revelation when it will all make sense.

It's fitting that I finish the year the way I started it, with a brilliant piece of writing from a talented and individual novelist (see my bookshelf for the first book I read this year).

I'm off to the bookshop today to pick up another Murakami, thanks for introducing me, GTM. I think I'm going to be hooked. I'll pass this on again soon.
 

Journal Entry 20 by augustusgloop from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Picked up at tonight's Sydney Bookcrossing Meetup. Thanks all!