I made it through the second Murakami book I attempted, though it was difficult. I enjoyed the philosophical discussions and was interested in what was happening to Nakata, since it was so strange there was no way I could really understand it. But Kafka Tamura was annoying. I hated him. He gets an erection pretty much every time the story comes back to him, and he rapes a girl in his dream. Pretty bad start for a 15 year old I'd say. Miss Saeki in my eyes isn't much better. The only person that redeemed the book in my eyes was Oshima.

But I'll back up. With his mother having left when he was very young and feeling no connection to his father, Kafka Tamura runs away. His plans are methodical and dispassionate. Contrast this to Nakata, an elderly man who experienced a strange phenomenon when he was young and lost his ability to read. Nakata can talk to cats and is easygoing and carefree. In contrast to Kafka, Nakata has a purpose and a goal throughout the story, while Kafka goes around listless, getting horny all the time. What I found most interesting was a conversation Oshima has with Kafka about imperfect works of art and how they are enjoyable because they are imperfect. People are imperfect, everything is, and yet we can enjoy them nonetheless. This is, I think, the greatest thing I got from this book. I probably found this book decent overall, but the constant sexual references, as well as the explicit rape scene, mean I would not recommend this book to anyone I know.