Kafka on the Shore
Today i heard a song on radio, it was kind of bland and the singer didn't have the voice that'd suit my taste. However, when I listened carefully for the lyric, it was actually a very beautiful poem. I remember bits like 'how to forget to remember you.' I will find more info about this song later.
Recommended by an influential character of mine, I turned a few pages in English version a month ago and thought it was a too-difficult read. Today when I passed by a bookshop I found the Thai translation of this book and since the translator is Noppadol Vejsawas whom I'm loyal to since I read his works all my life, from the science magazines and from the translation of Asimov's Foundation series. I finally got the hint that this book must be a quality sci-fi so I didn't hesitate to buy it.
Day 1: After reading pass the intro (Which was the one chapter I first skimmed in English version) I realized the story isn't that heavy nor too difficult actually. I'd love to continue reading but I promised my classmates to sum up the marketing models to use in coming exam and another small group review session on Friday, so I had to hold my thirst and worked on the class material first.
Day 2: Had to leave the exam preparation and bring my 'family asset' to her scheduled massage, so I took the opportunity to give myself a break and bring along Kafka on the Shore to read during the 2 hours waiting. The book employs multi-tellers technique which I have seen more in Japanese novels during the past few years, it's good, really. It also reminded me of Sophie's world (by Jostein Garrner) I read many years back. That book was also about teaching complicated philosophies in an easy-to-understand manner, digesting the sophisticated topics by bits and pieces and referring to everyday life. Sophie was a girl who had the chances to learn all those philosophies and finally came to realize that she herself was actually just a character in the book a father wrote for his daughter, how could she be not real when she had her own cognition? That's the key, at least to me. I wonder where my Sophie's book is, I'd mislocated many books with all the moves. . .
Back to Kafka on the Shore, this book has a much darker shade than Sophie though both use similar methologies; semiotics, Greek myth, speaking cats. How should it be classified in the library? Of course, novel! What a silly question! I just wonder whether it's a thriller? Science fiction? Fantasy? Philosophy? But it's a real unput-downable read! I finished the first half this afternoon and planning to sneak a few more hours to read it tonight. Dah.. What will happen to me on the exam!
Day 2 Part 2: I stayed up almost all night to finish it, I skipped most of the narrative parts of course. I don't know a real Kafka but I intend to look for his work to find out more. I don't know this Murakami Haruki neither, is this his usual writing style? Is he already a famous, well established writer or is he just starting his career? I went back to the book's preface and found out he had actually won many prizes and is now a professor at Princeton, so I guess he won't bother to explain more of each character in this book by writing any other books for them. I'm a little disappointed, feeling the story here is a little too much towards Twilight zone's instead of my expected Sci-fi. But it's still a good story indeed. The ending didn't upset me the way Alchemist's did.
I came across the English version of this book again while browsing the bookstore in Changi terminal, this time I flipped to certain parts to see how they're written in English. I had to admit that Khun Noppadol had outdone himself again, his Thai version boasts more tastes and depth in literature. The English version is pale in comparison, I'm glad I read his version first.
Day 2: Had to leave the exam preparation and bring my 'family asset' to her scheduled massage, so I took the opportunity to give myself a break and bring along Kafka on the Shore to read during the 2 hours waiting. The book employs multi-tellers technique which I have seen more in Japanese novels during the past few years, it's good, really. It also reminded me of Sophie's world (by Jostein Garrner) I read many years back. That book was also about teaching complicated philosophies in an easy-to-understand manner, digesting the sophisticated topics by bits and pieces and referring to everyday life. Sophie was a girl who had the chances to learn all those philosophies and finally came to realize that she herself was actually just a character in the book a father wrote for his daughter, how could she be not real when she had her own cognition? That's the key, at least to me. I wonder where my Sophie's book is, I'd mislocated many books with all the moves. . .
Back to Kafka on the Shore, this book has a much darker shade than Sophie though both use similar methologies; semiotics, Greek myth, speaking cats. How should it be classified in the library? Of course, novel! What a silly question! I just wonder whether it's a thriller? Science fiction? Fantasy? Philosophy? But it's a real unput-downable read! I finished the first half this afternoon and planning to sneak a few more hours to read it tonight. Dah.. What will happen to me on the exam!
Day 2 Part 2: I stayed up almost all night to finish it, I skipped most of the narrative parts of course. I don't know a real Kafka but I intend to look for his work to find out more. I don't know this Murakami Haruki neither, is this his usual writing style? Is he already a famous, well established writer or is he just starting his career? I went back to the book's preface and found out he had actually won many prizes and is now a professor at Princeton, so I guess he won't bother to explain more of each character in this book by writing any other books for them. I'm a little disappointed, feeling the story here is a little too much towards Twilight zone's instead of my expected Sci-fi. But it's still a good story indeed. The ending didn't upset me the way Alchemist's did.
I came across the English version of this book again while browsing the bookstore in Changi terminal, this time I flipped to certain parts to see how they're written in English. I had to admit that Khun Noppadol had outdone himself again, his Thai version boasts more tastes and depth in literature. The English version is pale in comparison, I'm glad I read his version first.
posted by linktwice @ 7:15 AM
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