I’ve been reading “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami. I ploughed through the first 3/4 of the book but now I’m on page 478 out of 615 it’s very much gone downhill for me.
spoiler
Nakata is my favorite character in the book and I loved the journey with Hoshino. But since Colonel Sanders turned up, it seems to fall into a repititve pattern where Colonel Sanders tells Hoshino what to do and we watch him do it - no uncertainty, no suspense, just following orders. I’m also bored with how Nakata suddenly seems to know exactly what to do with complete conviction, which seems very much contrary to his childlike mind in the first part of the book.
As for Kafka’s arc, I find the philosophical discussions with the other characters anything but engaging. The sex scenes between a teenager and a 50 year old are just disgusting.
Is the ending worth it? I’m reading the French translation, sorry if the characters have different names.
I hope to read through Kafka on the Shore soon, so I’m not reading anything past the spoiler mention in your post, but I don’t think you should force yourself to read something you don’t want to read unless you really have to, or if you can see a positive in finishing it i.e. it’s a difficult read for you and finishing it will make you a stronger reader, which is something you want.