Books

Nuestras Esposas Bajo del Mar por Julia Armfield

Atención - Este libro lo leí en inglés y no tendo ni idea si hay diferencias entre las versiones de inglés y español. Esta reseña se publicó originalmente aquí en el Pillowfort, hace 2 meses hasta ahora. Disfrútanlo! Mi español no es tan bueno ahora.

Yo leí este libro en 5 días más o menos, no cuento el tiempo que me toma terminar los libros. Solo tiene 229 páginas, lo debería haber completado en menos tiempo si no estuviera un poco cansada esos días.

Pues, la historia trata de una pareja casada de lo que una, Leah, recién salida de una excursión en el mar de 6 meses y la otra, Miri, ve cómo su esposa cambia poco a poco en una manera muy rara. Miri describe los cambios físicos de Leah, y los efectos que tienen en su estado mental y las memorias siguientes que irrumpen, en una prosa llena de metáforas. Mientras eso, Leah reflexiona en su viaje debajo del mar, cuando ella y su equipo estaban atrapados en un submarino rota y sin comunicación con el mundo atrás. El libro se escribe en primera persona, y salta entre Leah y Miri y sus historias.

Se describe como un libro de horror, y mientras veo el porqué, no se convirtió en todo lo que yo pensaba. El horror era mínimo en comparación con todo lo que pasa; de verdad, esta es una historia de la pena de una pareja perdida más que un horror. Desafortunadamente me decepcionó un poco, debería haber tomado las revistas en serio. Sin embargo, me gustó los escenarios que tuvieron esos pedazos de body horror, incluso si eran pocos.

Lo que me sorprendió más que hubiera es que Leah y Miri me parezcan una pareja muy realista y emocionada, cuando normalmente no me gustan las parejas ficcionales. Nada grandioso, solamente que son dulces.

En mi opinión, se trata de la muerte, no exactamente del matrimonio fracasado como piensan los demás que había visto revisar. A veces la trama de Leah era difícil de entender, especialmente el capítulo final. No quiero echar a perder nunca más, ni sé cómo describir todos mis pensamientos, así que no voy a escribir más de lo que pasa a Leah, pero saben que se convierte más confundible hacia el fin.

Por resumen, disfruté leer este libro de Julia Armfield, pero… no sea lo que busque. No voy a leer otros libros de ella, aunque estoy gracioso de leer y experimentar con este. Ojalá que tuviera más que quería decir de eso, pero esta tipa de historia simplemente no es algo que me afecte mucho.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on The Shore is a 2002 novel by Japanese magical realism author Haruki Murakami, one of his more popular works as far as Im aware. It follows 15 year old Kafka Tamura, an alias he chose for himself as he runs away from home in order to avoid his eccentric father’s prophecy, which we learn is that of Oedipus - kill the father, bed the mother. On this journey, he sets out to learn the identity and whereabouts of his mother and adoptive sister, who ran away together from home when he was only 4 years old. His already difficult task is interrupted by him one day waking up on the side of the road, covered in someone else’s blood, and the police on the search for a murderer. He ends up crashing in the apartment of 21 year old Sakura, and then the Komura Memorial Library, making acquaintances with Oshima, the desk clerk, and the library’s current owner, Miss Seiki.

When not with Kafka, we follow the journey of 60-something year old Satoru Nakata, currently residing in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, living off a government subsidy and those who pay him to search for lost cats. A mysterious childhood event in the countryside, while affecting numerous children, left only him comatose, and subsequently with the inability to read or write, and the ability to talk to cats.

I finished Kafka on The Shore about a week ago now - the last 150 pages I got through in a day! - and I still can’t decide whether or not I really like it. I know for a fact I won’t be rereading it, although I tend not to reread books anyway, so Im unsure how much of a factor that is. the surrealness that was plastered all over the blurb finally shone towards the end, and you know what, I enjoyed getting wrapped up in the atmosphere, happy to coast along the soft dreamscape of Kafka’s travels and his last encounter with Miss Seiki.

While I did expect the white snake that came out of Nakata’s body after he died. Perhaps it’s based on a Greek myth or something. Im not well versed in mythology

Sakura didn’t end up being very plot relevant. She was sort of just there, for the most part. All of the women in this book had Murakami-typical 'odd' characterisation, mainly being present as sex objects for the main character to ogle. Even Oshima wasn't fully immune to this in the end.

…3 stars? Even though Im generally satisfied with the ending, I can’t see myself recommending this to anyone.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Im currently around 60% into Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore and it’s getting harder to trudge through it. I very rarely decide to put down books half way through, but I might have to make an exception here. I already know this will be my last Murakami book for a while.

The main draw-ins for this novel were Nakata’s ability to talk to cats (which he inexplicably lost at least a hundred pages ago, and Im finding it hard to care how), and the central story of Kafka being a sort of retelling of the myth of Oedipus. If you, like me, have no interest in Greek mythology, this is meaningless. While I do know the basic outline of the myth (kill the father, bed the mother), without having read reviews pointing this out, I would’ve only assumed that, what, the author is fucking weird? We so get a short scene between Kafka and Oshima pointing out the similarities between Kafka’s and Oedipus’ lives, but long before that point we’d already gotten a scene where a woman named Sakura, who Kafka believes could be his sister, decided to jerk him off in her bed as one of the most awkward sex scenes I may have ever read. This is the second woman who is presented as a sex object by Kafka only afterthe suggestion that she may be his sister. Conveniently, the sister that went missing when Kafka was 4 is not related to him by blood!Any mention of Oedipus comes after all of these scenes, by the way.

The direction that the story is moving now puts much more focus on Miss Saeki, and to be frank, this is the only reason Im willing to read on. I think the idea of Kafka suddenly falling in love with her is much more intriguing now that we have his eccentric father’s prophecy laid out. I have an idea where this will go, but I can’t say anything for certain yet.

Pop culture references always irked me in books, although I may be the odd one here for that opinion. Murakami books are chocked full of them, it’s rare to find a chapter that doesn’t mention The Beatles, or American sports teams, or classic novels forcefully brought up in unnatural conversations. And sure, heavy Western music references are sorta common in Japanese books, but… it still irks me. Just a little.

It’s been nearly 2 months since I picked up this books because I simply haven’t wanted to read it most days. Maybe I can power through the last couple hundred pages and see what happens. I am a little curious.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

I can't imagine Ill be able to create any more interesting titles than this. Hooray.

These aren't exactly at the top of my TBR, but I have been eyeing them for a little while. Both I managed to get for £1 on Vinted... plus tax because it's Vinted... plus delivery for each because they were from different sellers... so it was closer to £4.75 each. Not awful, I suppose. £10 for two books of my choosing is hardly something to complain about.

For Earthlings, it's been sold to me as one of those 'read nothing about it and just fucking read it' sorta things, so Ill be doing just that. I have heard of Convenience Store Woman, which I think is more down to earth than Earthlings? Either way, it never grabbed my attention like Earthlings ended up doing. All I know is that this is supposed to get quite dark, although I might not agree with the majority of readers on what constitutes as 'dark'. I think that's just what happens when you stick to one mood/genre for too long. Whatever. Ill try to enjoy this one as much as I can

The Wasp Factory, I think it's about... a murderer? Who kills a few of his family members? And then does other things afterwards. I don't recall much about it (and I can't be bothered checking the blurb right now), but I see it discussed fairly often in horror forums as something extreme. The main thing that made me buy it right now - instead of, uh, anything else Ive been after - is the cover. Apparently this is a 25th anniversary print? That's probably sorta rare? Maybe it's novel, if nothing else.

It's silver. It also appears to have been taken from a library. :)