Haruki Murakami's Rain of Sardines

It's not a simple story: boy meets girl who may or may not be his mother, may or may not kill his father and then important people died. Don't worry if you seem to be 'huh'-ed in the middle of the story because that happens to anyone reading Kafka on the Shore or at least it happened to me. 

The story comprises two plots which are interrelated. A 15 year old boy ran away from his house as he was unable to catch up with the insanity of his father killing cats to eat their souls, Johnie Walker. Another parallel story tells us about an old man, Mr Nakata who could talk to cats at first but after he killed Johnie Walker, his ability to talk to the felines disappeared. The boy who ran away from his home found shelter in a private library. There, he met the person who may or may not be his mother. 

Haruki Murakami says that the readers have to read the novel many times to understand the messages and the plots. In some part it is true and it is up to you to believe which characters are real and which are just a 'concept'.

The main character somehow makes you jealous with his knowledge and abilities to survive the whole things happening to him. He is too bookish for a fifteen year old and do know a lot of philosophical concepts which are hard to grasp. That is sometimes it made you want to stop and ponder upon what the character said.

I like the character of the old man, Mr Nakata. A review I read before suggesting that Mr Nakata is maybe a 'concept'. He was affected by a weird event happening just before World War II that made him lost his ability to read or write. He was then became 'empty' and unable to become normal. However, that was when he discovered his ability to talk to cats. 

Sardines rained from the sky and soon after it was leeches. These are just some of the weird things happening in the novel. Colonel Sanders made his appearance in the novel as well. He was a pimp! 

Kafka on the Shore defies your urge to stop reading. Who would stop reading when Haruki Murakami tells you the sky rain sardines?-The Chukai Insider

My first Haruki Murakami

The reason I picked up two Haruki Murakami's books when I went to Border's less than two weeks ago was just because he is now the Tom Cruise of the bookish world. His newly launched book IQ84 received worldwide acclaims in the English speaking world. Contrary to the people who picked up his books just to enjoy his writings and the uniqueness of his stories, I started reading his book just because I wanted to see what the fuss is all about with this Japanese writer.

I am now halfway through both Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood and I should say they should make more fuss about this Japanese genius who created such 'kaboom' novels. I've been reading these two books for the past weeks and it seems that Kafka on the Shore is much more of a masterpiece compared to Norwegian Wood (mainly because NW is a love story). I should thank my super-smart friend Jeen for recommending this book to me. I still remember how she told me how good Haruki Murakami is under the scorching sun of Johor Bharu when we went for an oil and gas conference a month ago.

I thought reading Haruki Murakami is hard. I do not mean plot but the language. Since forever, I always thought good writers always write with the styles and vocabularies that I cannot understand. Haruki proved that my belief was wrong. I cannot say anything about the plot because I have not finished reading them but I guarantee you that his books are more than worth buying. 

Who would have expected to have fish raining from the skies? That is the kind of story that I have been waiting for. Halfway through his books, I am definitely going to put him among my favourite writers along with Malcolm Gladwell and Orhan Pamuk.-The Chukai Insider