"A certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect."

"This storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.”

Right when I finished this book I turned to my friend, who I had given daily updates about what was going on, and told her simply: "I don't get it." As soon as I got home, I recited the entire plot and main parts of the story aloud and made sure my comprehension wasn't lacking. I took extra long rereading each page whenever I found a concept, quote, or metaphor particularly abstract, broadening my views in order to understand.

And yet I still was stumped by the end of the book. I expected the ending to explain the meaning behind Kafka on the Shore, and when it didn't, I was lost.

Murakami has built a world in which you take from it what you need to take from it. You interpret the 'hidden meaning', you decide what the answer to all the riddles is, you find the logic that may not even be within this story. Is there even something to get? Why do we need to get something from it?

(Sidenote: here is the interpretation that I really love and choose to believe is how the book intended to be read).

That being said, what I took away from Kafka's journey revolves mainly around the tribulations of navigating adolescence and discovering who we are despite the many factors we can't control, like our family, our direct environment, and even our own futures. Our inner turmoil between unconscious desires and conscious decisions/actions, the responsibility we have (or should have) over our destiny and dreams. The inevitable things we must face, the problems we can't outrun. Because those problems make up vital parts of us.

The story was just a lot of fun. Very fast-paced, characters who I loved (mainly Nakata and Hoshino, along with Oshima), and an interesting plot. I have Norweigan Wood and another book by Murakami and I'm quite intrigued to read more!

Merged review:

"A certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect."

"This storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.”

Right when I finished this book I turned to my friend, who I had given daily updates about what was going on, and told her simply: "I don't get it." As soon as I got home, I recited the entire plot and main parts of the story aloud and made sure my comprehension wasn't lacking. I took extra long rereading each page whenever I found a concept, quote, or metaphor particularly abstract, broadening my views in order to understand.

And yet I still was stumped by the end of the book. I expected the ending to explain the meaning behind Kafka on the Shore, and when it didn't, I was lost.

Murakami has built a world in which you take from it what you need to take from it. You interpret the 'hidden meaning', you decide what the answer to all the riddles is, you find the logic that may not even be within this story. Is there even something to get? Why do we need to get something from it?

(Sidenote: here is the interpretation that I really love and choose to believe is how the book intended to be read).

That being said, what I took away from Kafka's journey revolves mainly around the tribulations of navigating adolescence and discovering who we are despite the many factors we can't control, like our family, our direct environment, and even our own futures. Our inner turmoil between unconscious desires and conscious decisions/actions, the responsibility we have (or should have) over our destiny and dreams. The inevitable things we must face, the problems we can't outrun. Because those problems make up vital parts of us.

The story was just a lot of fun. Very fast-paced, characters who I loved (mainly Nakata and Hoshino, along with Oshima), and an interesting plot. I have Norweigan Wood and another book by Murakami and I'm quite intrigued to read more!