well. today i have almost finished "kafka on the shore", and i think that novels have changed their function in my mind of late. there are places where murakami has hinted at direct communication with his audiance (cf. for instance christie's mum, or "the passion of anna") and in this he doesn't stand up the the cold water jolt that b. s. johnson provides. the murakami books are like a sparking, crisp roll of kitchen towl to johnson's chamois leather. to be honest i would like him to write less about cock and more about cake. that doesn't mean that i wont be trying to talk to cats for the rest of the summer or, for that matter, looking down as many wells as i can find.