Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Although I found the majority of the book beautifully written with fascinating elements, I felt the story sort of fell apart at the end. The protagonist felt very much like a self-insert of the author, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but somehow the abundant philosophical musings resulted in a lack of introspection. The (dream) rape scene was a poor artistic choice in my opinion, and I felt my attention wane after it occurred. Hoshino the truck driver was my favorite character, and I did enjoy the "village outside of time" scenes. I also enjoyed the Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders characters, who take on the appearance of pop culture mascot icons in a way I felt was fascinating.

Ultimately, I wish there had been a closer look at the actual family history of the main character instead of what is apparently Murakami's typical dream-like style, focusing on the abstract. I felt the style and references leaned on the pretentious side. Still, his writing style is fascinating and I could probably read another Murakami someday