Book Chatter

It’s been a trying week for me. I had to cover for someone here at work and although most of the past two weeks went okay, petty frustrations got the best of me yesterday and I turned into a snarling, not-so-fun-to-be-around shrew. I think the shrew has left the building and in part, it had a lot to do with two packages that showed up at my door last night:

I’ll share how it went down…

In walked The Shrew (me, crabby, hot and tired and looking like something the dog dragged in).

Me seeing those lovingly wrapped packages. Eyes light up. Hair suddenly looks better. I stand a little bit straighter.

Me opening packages. Smile spreads from ear to ear. Life is good. The evening is saved.

Click on each cover for more info. I cannot wait to begin these! Oh, and I will be giving away a copy of The Leftovers soon!

Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9781400079278, January 2006, 480pp.)

The Short of It:

An odd, quirky little novel full of unforgettable characters.

The Rest of It:

Kafka Tamura is a young, 15-year-old boy who runs away from home. Nakata, is an older gentleman who became “simple” after falling into a coma along with sixteen other school children when he was younger. He also runs away from his home, but for entirely different reasons. Both encounter interesting characters along the way.

There is no easy way to summarize this novel. After just a few pages, I began to wonder what Murakami was smoking when he wrote it. This book is WAY out there. There are talking cats, a pimp who dresses up like Colonel Sanders, a gay transgendered librarian, and a cat killer named Johnnie Walker.

What first seemed like a disaster to me, turned into one of the most memorable reads of the year! This is my first experience with Murakami but I enjoyed his writing so much, that I am now in the process of reading all of his work.

I have to caution you. This is not a book for everyone, but anyone in a reading rut will be jolted right out of it after reading it. Kafka on the Shore is thought-provoking and different, very different. It reminded me a lot of The Wizard of Oz because of all the people these two characters meet along the way. I absolutely loved it.

Source: Borrowed.