I mainly read non-fiction, but I like to read fiction as well if any aspect of the story, characters, writing style or fictional universe is new, weird or relatable enough to me to pique my interest.
So I've read a couple of Haruki Murakami novels: Kafka on the Shore and Sputnik Sweetheart. They were recommended to me years ago, Kafka on the Shore in particular because...
Spoilers for Kafka on the Shore
... it features a gay trans man.
I liked some aspects of the books, I'm not even sure if I liked them as a whole. But they've certainly left some impression in me, which is something I value. Both felt quite slow and uninteresting to me at the start, but somewhere along the middle of the book the story picked up, and interesting, suspenseful and crazy things were constantly happening—which made it difficult to put the book down at times.
I'm still not sure if I didn't totally get the stories or if there's not that much I should get. But I appreciate their dreamy quality, imagery and characters.
Here's a list of my favorite things from each story:
Spoilers for both books
Kafka on the Shore:
- The "afterlife" town after the "entrance stone".
- Nakata and Hoshino. Nakata is a really calming character to me; so is Hoshino learning to let go of things in order to follow Nakata and "see what happens".
Sputnik Sweetheart:
- The Ferris wheel scene and Miu's two selves.
- The mysterious music K hears outside and how it appears to connect the "two worlds".