Kafka on the shore (some words i loved)

 Some absolutely stunning quotes from the book.

On Time, 

“Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through is now like something from the distant past. We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about every day, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.”

Johnnie walker,

"You have to look!" Johnnie Walker commanded. "That's another one of our rules. Closing your eyes isn't going to change anything. Nothing's going to disappear just because you can't see what going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That's the kind of world we live in, Mr. Nakata. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won't make time stand still."

On life's metaphors,

"But metaphors can reduce the distance." "We're not metaphors." "I know, but metaphors eliminates what separates you and me."

"Symbolism and meaning are two separate things. I think she found the right words by bypassing procedures like meaning and logic. She captured words in a dream, like delicately catching hold of a butterfly's wings as it flutters around. Artists are those who can evade the verbose."
"So you're saying Miss Saeki maybe found those words in some other space—like in dreams?"
"Most great poetry is like that. If the words can't create a prophetic tunnel connecting them to the reader, then the whole thing no longer functions as a poem."
"But plenty of poems only pretend to do that."
"Right. It's a kind of trick, and as long as you know that it isn't hard. As long as you use some symbolic-sounding words, the whole thing looks like a poem of sorts."

On people,

While they're still alive, people can become ghosts.

On a prostitute,

A philosophical prostitute with a special penchant for Hegel.

On Schubert and music,

That’s why I like to listen to Schubert while I’m driving. Like I said, it’s because all the performances are imperfect. A dense, artistic kind of imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keeps you alert. If I listen to some utterly perfect performance of an utterly perfect piece while I’m driving. I might want to close my eyes and die right then and there. But listening to the D major, I can feel the limits of what humans are capable of--that a certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect. And personally, I find that encouraging.”

"Do you think music has the power to change people? Like you listen to a piece and go through some major change inside?"
Oshima nodded. "Sure, that can happen. We have an experience--like a chemical reaction--that transforms something inside us. When we examine ourselves later on, we discover that all the standards we've lived by have shot up another notch and the world's opened up in unexpected ways. Yes, I've had that experience. Not often, but it has happened. It's like falling in love."

On memories

"Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart."
Nakata shook his head. “That’s a tough one. Nakata still doesn’t understand. The only thing I understand is the present.”
“I’m the exact opposite,” Miss Saeki said."

On death,

"Why did you have to die?"
"I couldn't help it,"