Book Blog #5

"But the most interesting part of the story is that Lady Rokujo had no inkling that she'd become a living spirit. She'd have nightmares and wake up, only to discover that her long black hair smelled like smoke. Not having any idea what as going on, she was totally confused. In fact, this smoke came from the incense the priests lit as they prayed for Lady Aoi. Completely unaware of it, she;d been flying through space and passing down the tunnel of her subconscious into Aoi's bedroom. This is one of the most uncanny and thrilling episodes in Genji. Later, when Lady Rokujo learns what she;s been doing, she regrets the sins she;s committed and shaves off her hair and renounces the world (225)."

This passage gives us an example of a spirit that is both inside and outside of the conscious body. As the reader progresses into the book questions such as; who is Kafka's family, where did they go, has he perhaps found them without knowing it? And better; is Kafka fulfilling the prophecy that his father predicted. Has or will Kafka be with his sister and mother? Not only are these questions intriguing in and of themselves but atop of all his family issues Kafka is beginning to realize the lapses in his memory are perhaps crimes he just doesn't remember. He wakes up somewhere and doesn't realize where he is, how he got there, and what he did. There 'lapses' are also happening to other characters in the story, only he becomes part of their lapses, he gets involved with these lapses.

This passage begins, just slightly, to translate by examples how these acts of his spirit moves outside of his conscious mind. They let the reader know that somehow these unexplainable incidents happening to the people in this story did in fact happen. This passage is one of the first clues to finding out one of the misteries of this book.