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KAFKA ON THE SHORE

by Haruki Murakami & translated by Philip Gabriel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 2005

A masterpiece, entirely Nobel-worthy.

Two mysterious quests form the core of Murakami’s absorbing seventh novel, whose encyclopedic breadth recalls his earlier successes, A Wild Sheep Chase (1989) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1997).

In the first of two parallel narratives, 15-year-old Kafka Tamura drops out of school and leaves the Tokyo home he shares with his artist-sculptor father, to seek the mother and sister who left them when Kafka was four years old. Traveling to the small town of Takamatsu, he spends his days at a free library, reconnects with a resourceful older girl who becomes his de facto mentor, and begins to reenact the details of a mysterious “incident” from more than 60 years ago. In 1944, a group of 16 schoolchildren inexplicably “lost consciousness” during an outing in a rural mountain area. Only one of them, Satoru Nakata, emerged from the incident damaged—and it’s he who, decades later, becomes the story’s second protagonist: a childlike, scarcely articulate, mentally challenged sexagenarian who is supported by a possibly guilty government’s “sub city” and possesses the ability to hold conversations (charmingly funny ones) with cats. With masterly skill and considerable subtlety, Murakami gradually plaits together the experiences and fates of Kafka and Nakata, underscoring their increasingly complex symbolic significance with several dazzling subplots and texts: a paternal prophecy echoing the Oedipus legend (from which Kafka also seeks escape); a faux-biblical occurrence in which things that ought not to be in the skies are raining down from them; the bizarre figures of a whore devoted to Hegel’s philosophy; and an otherworldly pimp whose sartorial affectations cloak his true menacing nature; a ghostly forest into which Russian soldiers inexplicably disappear; and—in glancing allusions to Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki—a clever homage to that author’s beguiling 1905 fantasy, I Am a Cat . Murakami is of course himself an immensely reader-friendly novelist, and never has he offered more enticing fare than this enchantingly inventive tale.

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2005

ISBN: 1-4000-4366-2

Page Count: 480

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2004

LITERARY FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

by Haruki Murakami ; translated by Philip Gabriel & Ted Goossen

by Haruki Murakami ; translated by Philip Gabriel

THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD

by Claire Lombardo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019

Characters flip between bottomless self-regard and pitiless self-loathing while, as late as the second-to-last chapter, yet...

Four Chicago sisters anchor a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt.

Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. In the opening scene, Liza Sorenson, daughter No. 3, flirts with a groomsman at her sister’s wedding. “There’s four of you?” he asked. “What’s that like?” Her retort: “It’s a vast hormonal hellscape. A marathon of instability and hair products.” Thus begins a story bristling with a particular kind of female intel. When Wendy, the oldest, sets her sights on a mate, she “made sure she left her mark throughout his house—soy milk in the fridge, box of tampons under the sink, surreptitious spritzes of her Bulgari musk on the sheets.” Turbulent Wendy is the novel’s best character, exuding a delectable bratty-ness. The parents—Marilyn, all pluck and busy optimism, and David, a genial family doctor—strike their offspring as impossibly happy. Lombardo levels this vision by interspersing chapters of the Sorenson parents’ early lean times with chapters about their daughters’ wobbly forays into adulthood. The central story unfurls over a single event-choked year, begun by Wendy, who unlatches a closed adoption and springs on her family the boy her stuffy married sister, Violet, gave away 15 years earlier. (The sisters improbably kept David and Marilyn clueless with a phony study-abroad scheme.) Into this churn, Lombardo adds cancer, infidelity, a heart attack, another unplanned pregnancy, a stillbirth, and an office crush for David. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Grace perpetrates a whopper, and “every day the lie was growing like mold, furring her judgment.” The writing here is silky, if occasionally overwrought. Still, the deft touches—a neighborhood fundraiser for a Little Free Library, a Twilight character as erotic touchstone—delight. The class calibrations are divine even as the utter apolitical whiteness of the Sorenson world becomes hard to fathom.

Pub Date: June 25, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-385-54425-2

Page Count: 544

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019

LITERARY FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP

More About This Book

Mantel, Woodson on Women’s Prize Longlist

SEEN & HEARD

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

by Georgia Hunter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2017

Too beholden to sentimentality and cliché, this novel fails to establish a uniquely realized perspective.

Hunter’s debut novel tracks the experiences of her family members during the Holocaust.

Sol and Nechuma Kurc, wealthy, cultured Jews in Radom, Poland, are successful shop owners; they and their grown children live a comfortable lifestyle. But that lifestyle is no protection against the onslaught of the Holocaust, which eventually scatters the members of the Kurc family among several continents. Genek, the oldest son, is exiled with his wife to a Siberian gulag. Halina, youngest of all the children, works to protect her family alongside her resistance-fighter husband. Addy, middle child, a composer and engineer before the war breaks out, leaves Europe on one of the last passenger ships, ending up thousands of miles away. Then, too, there are Mila and Felicia, Jakob and Bella, each with their own share of struggles—pain endured, horrors witnessed. Hunter conducted extensive research after learning that her grandfather (Addy in the book) survived the Holocaust. The research shows: her novel is thorough and precise in its details. It’s less precise in its language, however, which frequently relies on cliché. “ You’ll get only one shot at this ,” Halina thinks, enacting a plan to save her husband. “ Don’t botch it .” Later, Genek, confronting a routine bit of paperwork, must decide whether or not to hide his Jewishness. “ That form is a deal breaker ,” he tells himself. “ It’s life and death .” And: “They are low, it seems, on good fortune. And something tells him they’ll need it.” Worse than these stale phrases, though, are the moments when Hunter’s writing is entirely inadequate for the subject matter at hand. Genek, describing the gulag, calls the nearest town “a total shitscape.” This is a low point for Hunter’s writing; elsewhere in the novel, it’s stronger. Still, the characters remain flat and unknowable, while the novel itself is predictable. At this point, more than half a century’s worth of fiction and film has been inspired by the Holocaust—a weighty and imposing tradition. Hunter, it seems, hasn’t been able to break free from her dependence on it.

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-56308-9

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016

RELIGIOUS FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

Hulu’s ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ Adds To Cast

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'Kafka on the Shore': Reality's Cul-de-Sacs

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By Laura Miller

Feb. 6, 2005

KAFKA ON THE SHORE By Haruki Murakami. Translated by Philip Gabriel. 436 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $25.95.

It is easier to be bewitched by Haruki Murakami's fiction than to figure out how he accomplishes the bewitchment. His novels -- in America, the best known is probably "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" -- lack the usual devices of suspense. His narrators tend to be a bit passive, and the stakes in many of his shaggy-dog plots remain obscure. Yet the undercurrent is nearly irresistible, and readers emerge several hundred pages later as if from a trance, convinced they've made contact with something significant, if not entirely sure what that something is.

Murakami's latest, "Kafka on the Shore," is no exception, although it is a departure for this Japanese novelist in other ways. Most of his protagonists have been men in their 30's, easygoing solitary types with spotty romantic histories and a taste for jazz, whiskey and American films. This time, Murakami's hero, a runaway boy calling himself Kafka Tamura, is only 15. Kafka is fleeing his father, a man whose shadowy malevolence takes the form of an Oedipal prophecy: Kafka, he insists, will kill his father and sleep with his mother and his older sister, both of whom vanished when the boy was 4.

Kafka relates his adventures in chapters that alternate with another story, that of Satoru Nakata, an elderly man. When he was 9, near the end of World War II, Nakata was part of a group of schoolchildren who, while on a school trip in the local woods, inexplicably lost consciousness. When he came to, weeks later, Nakata had lost all his memories, his ability to read and write, and most of his intelligence. On the upside, he acquired the ability to talk to cats, and so he supplements the small subsidy he gets from the government with fees his neighbors pay him to find their lost pets.

"The best way to think about reality," the narrator of "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" declares, is "to get as far away from it as possible." (This is just before he decides to cope with the disappearance of his wife by sitting at the bottom of a dry well for hours at a time.) You could call this Murakami's own method, except that in his fiction, the unreal elements are handled so matter-of-factly that they could hardly be called "far away" from the realistic ones; the two coexist seamlessly. Nakata may talk to cats, yes, but their conversations always begin with polite chitchat about the weather.

Murakami is an aficionado of the drowsy interstices of everyday life, reality's cul-de-sacs, places so filled with the nothing that happens in them that they become uncanny: hallways, highway rest stops, vacant lots. Although the dreamlike quality of his work makes the film director David Lynch his nearest American counterpart, Lynch's palette is primarily nocturnal while Murakami's welcomes the noontime sun. No one is better at evoking the spookiness of midday in a quiet neighborhood when everyone is at work.

A lot of things happen in Murakami's novels, but what lingers longest in the memory is this distinctive mood, a stillness pregnant with . . . what? Some meaning that's forever slipping away. The author achieves this effect by doing everything wrong, at least by Western literary standards. Over the years, his prose has become increasingly, and even militantly, simple. Although Murakami is both an admirer and a translator of Raymond Carver, this simplicity isn't the semaphoric purity of American minimalism. Partisans of the beautiful sentence will find little sustenance here.

Murakami can turn a pretty metaphor when he chooses -- headlights that "lick" the tree trunks lining a dark road, the "whooshing moan of air" from a passing truck "like somebody's soul is being yanked out" -- but he's just as likely to opt deliberately for a cliché: "Sometimes the wall I've erected around me comes crumbling down." He also makes free use of brand names. In American fiction, the sanctum of the literary must not be polluted by the trash of commercial culture -- not, that is, unless it's coated in a protective layer of satire. But when Murakami tells us that a character drinks Diet Pepsi or wears a New Balance cap it's not to sketch a withering little portrait of this person's social class and taste, but to describe exactly what he or she drinks and wears, creating a small tether to a shared reality.

Later in the novel, Kafka finds refuge in a job at a small, private library in a seaside town, while Nakata attracts the attention of a sinister cat catcher who wears leather boots, a red tailcoat and a tall hat. The cat catcher introduces himself as Johnnie Walker, but any inclination to see this as a bit of wacky humor is promptly squashed by the scene of sadistic violence that follows. Colonel Sanders, who appears farther on in the novel in a more helpful capacity, professes to be taking on the appearance of "a famous capitalist icon" as a convenience, when really, he says, "I'm an abstract concept."

Clichés, the ephemera of pop culture, characters who proclaim their thematic function -- these sound like the gambits of postmodernism, tricks meant to distance the reader from the artificiality of narrative and the sort of tactic that gets a novel labeled "cerebral." But "Kafka at the Shore," like all of Murakami's fiction, doesn't feel distant or artificial. Murakami is like a magician who explains what he's doing as he performs the trick and still makes you believe he has supernatural powers. So great is the force of the author's imagination, and of his conviction in the archaic power of the story he is telling, that all this junk is made genuine. Johnnie Walker becomes frightening, and Colonel Sanders a lovable if irascible incarnation of, say, the god Hermes.

The story, of course, is a very old tale in contemporary trappings. Can Kafka escape the legacy of violence he has inherited from his father, the DNA he equates with fate? The question has resonance for Murakami, who is keenly interested in his country's role in World War II and who has described himself as profoundly transformed by a nonfiction book he wrote about survivors of the Aum Shinrikyo cult's poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Toward the end, deep in a forest, Kafka will encounter two imperial soldiers who stepped out of time during the war because they couldn't stomach the kill-or-be-killed nature of their lot. They haven't aged, but they also haven't lived.

The soldiers aren't the only characters in "Kafka at the Shore" who have chosen suspended animation over suffering the depredations of time and loss. This links "Kafka" to an earlier keystone novel of Murakami's, "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World," which uses the same two-story format. In that book, a noirish science fiction yarn alternates with eerie dispatches from a walled fairy-tale village where nothing ever changes. The village is eventually revealed to be a cordoned-off section of the narrator's own unconscious mind. Because of some botched neurosurgery, he'll soon be confined there -- a kind of death, but also a kind of immortality, since in the unconscious there is no time.

The weird, stately urgency of Murakami's novels comes from their preoccupation with such internal problems; you can imagine each as a drama acted out within a single psyche. In each, a self lies in pieces and must be put back together; a life that is stalled must be kick-started and relaunched into the bruising but necessary process of change. Reconciling us to that necessity is something stories have done for humanity since time immemorial. Dreams do it, too. But while anyone can tell a story that resembles a dream, it's the rare artist, like this one, who can make us feel that we are dreaming it ourselves.

I'm suddenly covered in goosebumps, but there's nothing to worry about, I tell myself. The path is right over there. As long as I don't lose sight of that I'll be able to return to the light. . . .

Now I know exactly how dangerous the forest can be. And I hope I never forget it. Just like Crow said, the world's filled with things I don't know about. All the plants and trees there, for instance. I'd never imagined that trees could be so weird and unearthly. I mean, the only plants I've ever really seen or touched till now are the city kind -- neatly trimmed and cared-for bushes and trees. But the ones here -- the ones living here -- are totally different. They have a physical power, their breath grazing any humans who might chance by, their gaze zeroing in on the intruder like they've spotted their prey. Like they have some dark, prehistoric, magical powers. Like deep-sea creatures rule the ocean depths, in the forest trees reign supreme. If it wanted to, the forest could reject me -- or swallow me up whole. A healthy amount of fear and respect might be a good idea. From "Kafka on the Shore."

Laura Miller is a frequent contributor to the Book Review.

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But First, Kafka

book review haruki murakami kafka on the shore

Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Summary: Kafka on the Shore displays one of the world’s great storytellers at the peak of his powers. Here we meet a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who is on the run, and Nakata, an aging simpleton who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. Genre: magical realism, fantasy Rating: 1/5 stars

Kafka on the Shore has always been a someday book for me. Someday I’ll get around to reading it. Someday I’ll pick it up and fall in love with it. It probably would have sat on my shelf even longer had I not heard from so many friends how great this book is. I bumped it to the top of the list, ready to sink my teeth in and be completely in love and overwhelmed with the wonders of this book. That is not at all what happened.

Before I get to the real meat and potatoes of this review, I should preface this by saying I heavily associate this book with a Bad Time TM . The week I started reading this, I went through a root canal procedure, which was actual hell for me thanks to my dental anxieties. I spent a grueling week avoiding solid food, barely existing on my living room couch, and not being able to sleep through the night because of the pain I experienced. I took countless baths to try to relax during that week, and each time I got in the tub I opened this book, crawling my way through it with gritted teeth.

Had I put this book on hold until I felt better, would I have enjoyed it more? Honestly, no. I don’t think Kafka ever stood a chance against me.

I have a lot of problems with this book, but the biggest issue is the writing. The actual story is interesting, and I loved watching the lives of Kafka and Nakata weave so closely together until they finally intertwined. But 85% of this book is pure filler, and had this been cut down considerably it would have been so much stronger. Kafka’s chapters were boring to me, since the magical realism aspect happens mostly during the chapters following Nakata, but also because so much of his story is unnecessary. Here’s an example, which actually came from a chapter about Nakata:

“Nakata set off down the hall, plastic bag with toilet kit inside hand, to the communal sinks. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, and shaved with a safety razor. Each operation took time. He carefully washed his face, taking his time, carefully brushing his teeth, taking his time, carefully shaved, taking his time. He trimmed his nose hairs with a pair of scissors, straightened up his eyebrows, cleaned out his ears. He was the type of person who took his time no matter what he did, but this morning he took everything at an even slower pace than usual.”

Look. I honestly do not have time to read a book like this. I do not have the patience to deal with a book like this. I was so sick of reading about Kafka’s workout routine every day, or how many times Nakata mentioned going to the bathroom, or what meals were made, although with how dense the details were I could probably have learned to cook from those paragraphs, but I digress. I kept waiting for the story to pick up, and by the time it finally did, I had lost interest. I actually put this book down and read two others before coming back to finish the last 60 pages. SIXTY! I was at the peak of the plot and still needed a break.

I don’t know if this was Murakami’s way of trying to world build, to make the reader feel so invested in the characters that they fall in love with them, but it did the exact opposite for me. I didn’t care about the miniscule details of their lives. I wanted excitement and a plot.

One of the bigger issues I had with this story is a specific plot point in Kafka’s chapters. We learn early on that Kafka’s father has prophesied that Kafka will kill his father and be with his mother and sister. Kafka runs away from home in order to escape an unhealthy home life and to search for his mom and sister, who left him when he was a child. Do you see where this is going? I mean, Murakami isn’t exactly subtle , but I wasn’t really in the mood for incest or rape.

In general the sex scenes in this book are strange because they involve a 15 year old boy who narrates the details in such a cold, direct manner. But the kicker is when Kafka meets a 52 year old woman and falls in love with her because sometimes he sees her teenage spirit. There’s a scene where he begins to put pieces together about the possibility of her being his mom, and she refuses to say if it’s true or not. They have sex multiple times before she finally calls off their relationship.

Murakami decided to leave the answer of whether they’re related or not open for speculation, and a majority of readers have said the relationship exists where they could both be what the other person needed. Miss Saeki saw Kafka as her long-lost lover returned and Kafka saw her as his mother. Neither, or maybe both, are true, but either way it was more than I bargained for.

The rape scene is equally as bad, with Kafka vividly dreaming of a girl he met early on in the story. He begins to assault her when she’s asleep, and once she wakes up she tells him to stop and get out of her dream. She tells Kafka she’s his sister and it’s wrong for them to have sex. And then instead of Kafka respecting that and realizing that if they’re siblings maybe he shouldn’t be assaulting her, he tells her it’s too late and he’s already decided to have sex with her. Even if this book is based on the theme of Oedipus, these scenes were uncomfortable for obvious reasons.

I rated this book one star for a reason, but truthfully I think maybe if I had read it as a teenager I would have enjoyed it more. I might have picked it apart less and found the prose to be endearing and earth-shattering. But as a grown adult, no matter how pretty some of the writing can be, there are certain aspects to a story that I refuse to work around or accept, and Kafka on the Shore hits on a few of them.

If you’re curious about the story or have heard good things and want to know where they could possibly be hidden in this 467-page dumpster fire, I highly encourage you to just skim through the quotes page on Goodreads . Save yourself the time, I promise.

Book Review: Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami

I’ve theorized that Japanese literature seems to be the best adjusted to modern life. A singular lack of angst distinguishes novels such as Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore , in which I take vicarious delight as its protagonists go about their lives at such places as diners, noodle shops, convenience stores, bus stations, bookstores, museums, and other mundane oases. Of course, Murakami’s characters aren’t simply going about their lives but are engaged in quests that are of great consequence to themselves if not to the universe as a whole. Isn’t that what we’re all doing: adventuring through the turnpike rest areas and shopping malls, like Don Quixote without the satire, discovering meaning wherever it is to be found?

Japanese fiction doesn’t abstract itself from the humdrum environment that produces it. Rather than to imagine more exciting times and places via historical fiction, say, Japanese writers make do with where and when they are. Or as Mr. Hoshino says in this book:

“We’re all pretty much empty, don’t you think? You eat, take a dump, do your crummy job for your lousy pay, and get laid occasionally, if you’re lucky. What else is there? Still, you know, interesting things do happen in life – like with us now.” (p. 306)

As a matter of fact, Mr. Hoshino is addressing his remarks to a man with the ability to talk to cats and to make it rain leeches.

But this book, like all of Murakami’s books, isn’t really about the paranormal. It’s about those not supernatural but nonetheless magical things that give our modern lives meaning: music and books and libraries.

A deserted library in the morning – there’s something about it that really gets to me. All possible worlds and ideas are there, resting quietly. (p. 313)

A library, even in the middle of a boring place like Takamatsu or Tacoma (or Taipei, as in the photograph), gives us all the magic we need. The same could be said of this dream of a book.

Author: Harry Miller

I have traveled and lived in Taiwan, China, and Japan and am now a professor of Asian history and author of Southern Rain, a novel of seventeenth-century China. View all posts by Harry Miller

5 thoughts on “Book Review: Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami”

Loved this review. I agree with every bit of it. You have captured the essence of the book so well. I had read this book back in 2018 and it is the one book that I can’t stop recommending. The way I feel about the book is similar to what I felt after reading your review. Thank you.

Thank you. I see from your blog that you are a fan of Japanese literature. What is your opinion of Norwegian Wood?

Like Liked by 1 person

I haven’t read that one yet. Having read 3 of Murakami books I thought I needed a break. But, thanks for the reminder. I need to read that one soon.

Thanks for your reply. I wanted to make sure you weren’t a robot. I would be keen to know what you think of Norwegian Wood, if and when you read it. Opinion on it is divided. As you may know, it is an early book, with no paranormal content. There is also a good movie, which deals with some but not all of the book’s themes.

Sure, will definitely share my thoughts with you. I have also heard mixed opinions on it but that doesn’t dampen my will to read it. Along with Norwegian Wood, I am keen to read Sputnik Sweetheart and hopefully 1Q84.

BookBrowse Reviews Kafka on The Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on The Shore

by Haruki Murakami

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A masterpiece, entirely Nobel-worthy. Novel

From the book jacket: A tour de force of metaphysical reality, powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Comment: I thought this was a marvelous novel, although I'm not sure that I entirely understood it. The upside is that I'm not the only one, it seems that even Murakami had trouble understanding it! As he says, 'This may sound self-serving, but it's true. I know people are busy and it depends, too, on whether they feel like doing it, but if you have the time, I suggest reading the novel more than once. Things should be clearer the second time around. I've read it, of course, dozens of times as I rewrote it, and each time I did, slowly but surely the whole started to come into sharper focus.' 'Occasionally, the writing drifts too far into metaphysical musings—mind-bending talk of parallel worlds, events occurring outside of time—and things swirl a bit at the end as the author tries, perhaps too hard, to make sense of things. But by this point, his readers, like his characters, will go just about anywhere Murakami wants them to, whether they "get" it or not.' - Publishers Weekly.

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Book Review: Kafka on the Shore By Haruki Murakami

Every one of us has had to show strength at some point in our lives because of trials or adversities we have encountered. It's not just about physical strength, but mental, emotional, and spiritual strength as well. Now, it's not a matter of winning or losing; instead, the stakes are far higher: your life. You must summon the strength to absorb and withstand oppression, loneliness, despair, mistakes, and misunderstandings. All of these difficulties blend to form a menacing sandstorm, and you find yourself right in the middle of it. It's similar to the case of Kafka Tamura in the story Kafka on the Shore , the world's toughest 15-year-old boy. On his 15th birthday, Kafka decides to flee his home for an unknown destination, but the journey is not easy. Although this journey is already doomed by Kafka's father's sinister self-fulfilling prophecy, Kafka does everything in his power to avoid it. But does Kafka succeed? What steps would you take if you were in his shoes? Would you accept fate or fight against it? You would have to not only escape the sinister prophecy, but also deal with living ghosts, mysterious and cruel mascots, un-dead World War II soldiers, and a visit to the Land of the Dead.

Kafka on the Shore is a story about a 15-year-old boy named Kafka Tamura, who is the protagonist (of the novel's first string). Kafka decides to flee his home under the shadow of his father's sinister prophecy, " Oedipus' Curse ," and is determined to find his mother and sister, who abandoned him when he was 4 years old. Another protagonist (from the novel's second string), Satoru Nakata, is a simpleton, a 60-year-old man who lives alone but possesses special abilities such as the ability to talk and track cats. Murakami has divided the novel into two threads: one that follows Kafka's story and the other that follows Nakata's. Moving forward in the story requires a decision from both protagonists; failing to do so will have disastrous consequences. When it comes to making decisions, Kafka has two options: accept his father's prognostication of his future fate or fight against it and achieve something meaningful in his life. Unlike Nakata, who is content with simply existing, talking, and tracking lost cats as part of his normal daily routine until he encounters a cruel mascot named Johnnie Walker, who forces him to choose between killing Johnnie Walker and saving the cats for the greater good. Both Kafka and Nakata, the protagonists, meet a couple of terrifying antagonists, but along their separate journeys, they meet and encounter peculiar characters who appear in the story occasionally and help the protagonists complete their journey and achieve meaning in their lives. Both threads intertwine and combine to create a mind-bending and trance-inducing masterpiece for the reader.

Themes in Kafka on the Shore

The plot of Kafka on the Shore revolves around a few themes that are prominent throughout the story. The following section explores a few of these themes briefly.

Fate and Prophecy vs. Self-reliance

Kafka on the Shore takes place in a bizarre universe where characters struggle to make sense of out-of-the-ordinary events and encounters as well as their personal feelings and actions. Kafka's story begins with a conflict between his fate, which manifests itself in the form of his father's sinister prophecy, and Kafka's aspiration to live a meaningful life on his terms. His father's prophecy is reminiscent of the Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex . Kafka flees his home not only to avoid the prophecy but also to find his mother and sister, who abandoned him when he was only four years old. But, because he is bound by the unforgiving curse, he will murder his father and sleep with both his mother and sister. Characters like Nakata and Hoshino, on the other hand, believe that destiny has placed them on a challenging quest, which they can only complete through sheer willpower. Miss Saeki and Oshima, two more characters who are convinced they know when they will die. Because of this, both of them live their lives without fear and deal with serious issues when the time comes.

Mind, Body, and Soul

The world of Kafka on the Shore is written by Murakami in a paranormal and transcendental manner, which is obvious because the genre of the novel is magical realism, which involves the real world having a certain degree of magic and fantasy with restricted information and a unique world-building structure that is visible throughout the story. The tone of the story is paranormal from the start because the characters encounter otherworldly beings and milieu that keep raging a constant conflict between the minds, bodies, and souls of the characters, leaving them befuddled and psychologically damaged. Nakata was not born dumb and unintelligent but inherited it after being involved in a traumatic and bizarre accident on Rice Bowl Hill that left him in a blackout for several weeks and detached from reality, resulting in mind, body, and soul segregation. The soul of Miss Saeki, who is twenty years old at the time of her boyfriend's death, also breaks away with her body. Nakata and Miss Saeki both suffer from soul segregation, becoming mentally detached and physically living in an empty shell. In addition, both of them only cast their shadows partially because they are trapped in a parallel universe. Speaking of our main protagonist, Kafka, who experiences more mystic incidents than any other character, Kafka completes half of the sinister prophecy by entering Nakata's body and separates his soul in his dreams to complete the other half of the prophecy, resulting in conflict between Kafka's physical, mental, and spiritual states.

Parallel Universe and Supernatural Events

As previously stated, the story is set in a transcendental setting, and paranormal activities occur on occasion. A few paranormal activities that occur in the story and over which the characters have no control but are involved are as follows:

Rice Bowl Hill Incident – A group of students inexplicably falls into a coma during a class field trip on a hill called Rice Bowl, and the Secret Service of the USA investigates the matter.
Fish Rain – 2,000 sardines and mackerel fall from the sky in a shopping district.
Leech Rain – A huge amount of leeches rain down in the middle of a highway.
Land of the Dead – Nakata's and Hoshino’s quest leads them to flip an Entrance Stone , allowing Kafka to enter and make a daring escape from the land of the dead.

Musical Stimulation and References

Anyone who is an aficionado of Murakami’s work is well aware that musical introspection and references, chiefly classical music, are prevalent throughout his short stories and novels. Similarly, Kafka on the Shore presents a wide range of music and its influence on the emotions of characters like Kafka, Miss Saeki, and Hoshino. Kafka is often seen hearing the classical musicians and music bands like Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Prince, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Radiohead, etc. Miss Saeki was a musician who sang only a single song in her work, titled " Kafka on the Shore ." Hoshino, on the other hand, is not initially interested in classical music, but during his quest with Nakata, he visits a café and falls in love with music after hearing Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert. Characters are influenced by the power of music, their emotions reorient, their perspective on life changes, and this leads to reworking their decisions. They also feel detached and nostalgic as well as acknowledge the incredible beauty and puissance of music.

A few bizarre and standout characters in Kafka on the Shore

The boy named crow, satoru nakata, johnnie walker, the living ghost of miss saeki , colonel sanders, the title's meaning and interpretation: kafka on the shore.

Murakami describes the “ shore ” in Kafka on the Shore as the border between the conscious and the unconscious minds. It's “ a story of two different worlds, consciousness, and unconsciousness. ” Most of us are living in those two worlds, one foot in one or the other, and all of us are living on the borderline. J. M. (n.d.). Into the Labyrinth: The Dream Logic of Kafka on the Shore | Steppenwolf Theatre. Into the Labyrinth: The Dream Logic of Kafka on the Shore. And it’s also clear in the story how characters struggle to distinguish between the real and parallel worlds. Despite the author's brief explanation, the reader will notice a few clues to the title, which are as follows:

Kafka on the Shore (Photograph)

Kafka on the shore (painting), kafka on the shore (song).

Kafka on the Shore is a magical realism masterpiece and unquestionably one of the Top 10 magical realism novels. Many people regard this as Haruki Murakami's magnum opus. It is a puzzling and mind-bending story with a rustic prose style that takes the reader on a wild ride where reality and fantasy are difficult to distinguish. Murakami has used dualistic elements in the story, such as fate vs. willpower, consciousness vs. unconsciousness, mind vs. body, real-world vs. parallel world, mundane vs. supernatural, living vs. dead, and the power and beauty of nostalgia and music. A fantastic blend of magical realism and everyday life that makes the reader think about and question their own life. In a nutshell, Murakami's storytelling is evocative, polarizing, and Kafkaesque, but it is also fascinating in every way.

Sources of Information and References

H. M. (2005). Kafka on the Shore. (P. G., Trans.). (NaN ed.). Vintage Books.
Kafka on the Shore - Wikipedia. (2021, July 24). Kafka on the Shore - Wikipedia
Kafka on the Shore | Haruki Murakami. (2014, October 6). Haruki Murakami
Kafka on the Shore Themes | LitCharts. (n.d.)LitCharts
Kafka on the Shore Themes | GradeSaver. (n.d.). Kafka on the Shore Themes | GradeSaver
J. M. (n.d.). Into the Labyrinth: The Dream Logic of Kafka on the Shore | Steppenwolf Theatre. Into the Labyrinth: The Dream Logic of Kafka on the Shore

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February 1, 2021

Review of Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami

Book Review , Criticism

book , fiction , imagination , Japan , literature , review , society

As you might have noticed from previous reviews , I’m a great fan of Japanese literature. I’m also a great fan of Haruki Murakami as well as Kafka (one of Murakami’s inspirations). And so, Kafka on the Shore felt like a great fit. Alas, it’s probably the most disappointing Murakami story I’ve read.

Why that is will be interesting to analyze, as there are important lessons to learn about how to write symbolism , among other things.

In a nutshell, it takes quite some… skill to alienate your readers from the perspective of symbolism in a context of magical realism.

Review of Kafka on the Shore : Genre, Plot, Narrative

Haruki Murakami’s style is often non-realist. I did use the term “magical realism” above, so let’s take a quick look at a definition.

What Is Magical Realism in Murakami’s Fiction

Generally, we can define magical realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe” (Strecher 1999, 267) Strecher, Matthew C. “Magical Realism and the Search for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki”. Journal of Japanese Studies . 25.2 (1999): 263–298. .

Wendy Faris adds that space-time and preconceptions of identity are typically undermined in such fictions, as magical realism entails “the closeness or near-merging of two realms, two worlds … The magical realist vision exists at the intersection of two worlds, at an imaginary point inside a double-sided mirror that reflects in both directions” (Faris 1995, 173) Faris, Wendy B. “Scheherazade’s Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction”. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community . Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. .

In simpler terms, Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore occurs in our world, our reality, and yet it contains elements that simply cannot take place. More importantly, perhaps, there isn’t any supernatural weight in these events. That is, they aren’t really treated as supernatural.

Raining Fish and Talking Cats

And so, with this in mind, Kafka on the Shore involves a man talking with cats . It also involves fish and leeches falling from the sky. “Entrance stones”, Colonel Sanders (sort of), Johnnie Walker (ditto), ghosts of living people, and the list goes on.

The plot is fairly simple to begin with: Kafka Tamura, 15, decides to run away from home. He takes a bus away from Tokyo, meeting Sakura – a few years older than him. He ends up in a new place, spending time in a small library, where he becomes impossibly infatuated with the 50+ year-old Miss Saeki.

There are basically two parallel storylines going on, with some additional, thinner narrative strands: Kafka in the library, and Mr. Nakata, a mentally impaired senior citizen who can’t read. Still, he has some peculiar abilities, talking to cats being one of the most intriguing. Talking, thinking cats , we all love that, right?

The plots do converge, eventually, but the process is forced and not particularly sense-making. Meanwhile, a multitude of narrative details and journeys remain unexploited.

Review of Kafka on the Shore : Characters

Characters in Kafka on the Shore are not particularly well written, I’m afraid.

Suffice to say this: I had no problem accepting fish falling from the sky and cats that talk, Johnnie Walker wanting to steal feline souls to make magic flutes, Colonel Sanders as a pimp, a prostitute who talks about consciousness, Hegel, and Bergson while offering oral sex to her client, but I could not accept a 15-year old who likes Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, and François Truffaut films.

This might sound ludicrous. I mean, there surely are some 15-year-olds who like jazz. However, I offer this as a marker of how oddly (in a bad way; there’s also a good way) constructed the characters in Kafka on the Shore really are.

Tangled Symbolism

The worst part of it all is that, in Kafka on the Shore , Murakami seems to have lost control of his symbolism. To put it bluntly, there are too many things going on, symbolically, and there is nothing to unite them.

Take a deep breath:

Kafka (intertextually speaking, it creates a whole universe of connotations).
The act of reading.
Portals, entrances, alternate realities.
Yeats and the responsibility in dreams.
Morality of thought.
Relationship with one’s parents (possibly hinting at abuse)

The list could continue for quite a while, and one reason is that the reader can’t really group any of these elements together under a conceptual umbrella term.

Indeed, I would claim the whole novel is a giant, meandering mixed metaphor . It contains symbolism that, while complex and overlapping, does little to bring everything together – and whenever it attempts to, the result is forced.

At best, the only concept one can come up with is how difficult feelings are for a teenager. Yawn…

Review of Kafka on the Shore : General Impression

Enjoying Murakami and Kafka, I really wanted to like this. Indeed, I liked it until about a third of the way, maybe halfway. But it quickly disintegrates, as its symbolism can’t come together in a proper, all-encompassing way.

There is too much allusion going on, without the proper weight required to hold it accountable.

In dreams begin responsibilities, the novel emphatically alludes to Yeats, but forgets about its promise. Actually, it does so within its own plot: There is a scene where Kafka, in a sort-of-a-dream, basically rapes Sakura (whom, on top of everything, he thinks of as a sister). She explicitly tells him that there will be no turning back after this, but he ignores her. Still, there are no repercussions.

More importantly, on a narrative level, Kafka on the Shore offers all these dreams without any serious thought of how they come together. It feels as if Murakami became too absorbed by his own fantasies – of all sorts – and forgot his authorial responsibility to create a symbolically coherent narrative.

All in all, there are things to enjoy in Kafka on the Shore , but I would call it a missed opportunity for something phenomenal.

In dreams begin responsibilities, Mr Murakami.

I swear this is one of your best reviews ever. The organic unity of the artwork, a reflection sparked by the romantics, remains a necessary criterion for work. An author’s self-absorption is the end of all literature, simply for language posits the other when it happens, if it fails this minimal criterion, it fails completely. Also, because art itself is a truth(-making) process. If no truth comes out of it, no art has happened.

Thanks! I guess the best texts are born when your emotions are accentuated, and this was the case with this review as well. I really felt disappointed – almost upset at Murakami – that, in my opinion, he wasted this opportunity.

What remains unresolved (perhaps a text for another day, one which perhaps you could write!) is the threshold between “your emotions [being] accentuated” and “author’s self-absorption”.

I mean, one piece of advice I often give is that authors need to write from their heart (their fucking heart, as Bill Hicks would’ve put it), focusing on expressing what’s burning inside. But where do we cross into self-absorption? Is there, even, a way to tell? Perhaps this fault line is to be found precisely in the (lack of) organic unity, as you described. This is an intriguing topic.

Art for art’s sake, I say. Truth can be found in any art, each truth according to the viewer. I also wonder if a lack of organic unity is a sign of self-absorption – it may simply be honest art. I loved this Murakami novel, and found the unresolved symbolism intriguing, for it allowed me to draw my own conclusions, as such is the process of life. This is indeed a great topic, guys.

One thing most of us would agree, I believe, is that true art should inspire multiple interpretations. Thanks for your comment, Glenn.

I don’t want to be devil’s advocate, but defining the unity proposed by the romantics is beyond difficult. Yet, it is of critical necessity (in both senses: necessary and necessary for criticism). One must not, may I insist, fall for the artist’s side, as that concerns the artist, but not the critic. Of course the critic must be minimally acquainted with artistic procedures, but as the name implies, they are impersonal, just as style is. If it is not concerned with the artist, neither will it be with the viewer. The critic is not merely a commentator, that is, a privileged viewer. The critic is a reader, which is to say, a truth-extractor whose endeavour consists precisely in linking and excavating the truth-making processes at play in the work. One could say the critic is a philosopher specialized in not claiming a bunch of bullshit about art, unlike most philosophers. Also concerned with thinking properly and not subordinating art to any other truth-making procedure (science, politics, love…). Viewing itself is both a passive reception and a volitional act, but because interpretation (reading) is not a volitional act, that is, it does not depend on will, interpretation cannot happen at will (unlike vision). Interpretation concerns thinking at the same intensity that thinking concerns itself (with itself) and both concern linking, which is a gesture, that is, a volitional action. The critic posits, not himself, but criticism opposite to the work. Neither the artist nor the viewer.

This is, to put it mildly, a spectacularly eloquent way of describing it. Of course, we must also admit that it speaks about ideal conditions that are despairingly absent in real-world scenarios – where critics not only bring their own ideologies into interpretations, but, more damagingly, do so subconsciously Alas, we must still have something to aspire to.

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Book Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

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Format: 467 pages, Paperback Publisher: Vintage International Publication Date: January 3, 2006 Genre: Magical Realism; Japanese Literature Goodreads Rating: 4.13/ 5 stars

Kafka on the Shore , a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.

Haruki Murakami once again impressed me with his imaginative writing in Kafka on the Shore. As soon as I started reading, I was drawn into the mysterious world he created, where reality and fantasy blend seamlessly . The story follows Kafka Tamura, a runaway teenager, and Nakata, an elderly man with a unique ability to talk to cats, as their lives intertwine in surprising ways. Murakami’s use of magical realism adds to the intrigue, making the book both puzzling and captivating . In the world of magical realism, Haruki Murakami’s storytelling really stands out , and KAFKA ON THE SHORE showcases his ability to mix deep ideas with whimsical elements perfectly. I admire how Murakami mixes regular things with magical elements in the story. It really adds to what makes the book special and interesting. This book challenges and surpasses what I expected from the genre, with its blend of the real and the magical creating a truly unique reading experience.

The characters, especially the thoughtful Kafka and the simple-yet-mysterious Nakata, are so well-developed and intriguing that I was completely pulled into their stories. Their adventures, both in the real world and beyond, are believable and rewarding, showcasing the author’s talent for creating intricately crafted characters. The additional cast of quirky characters makes the story even more lively and colorful. The story’s themes of destiny, memory, and duality really captured my attention, leading me to reflect deeply on life’s mysteries. Haruki Murakami cleverly includes these ideas in the story, which has two different but connected parts. This setup lets him look at things from different angles, like thinking about fate versus free will. I think it’s interesting how the author mixes Greek tragedies, Japanese myths, and today’s pop culture into a story that feels both wide-reaching and very personal. You can also see the impact of Western books and music, with nods to Beethoven, the Archduke Trio, and various famous writers. Although the ending left me with some unanswered questions, I felt that this ambiguity added to the overall mysterious tone of the book. Despite any small inconsistencies, Murakami’s pacing kept me engaged throughout, with each chapter drawing me further into the story. His writing style, both simple and profound, mesmerized me, transporting me into the world of the book. After finishing KAFKA ON THE SHORE, I was filled with a mix of wonder and contemplation, lingering on its themes long after I’d finished reading. I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to anyone who loves mysteries, deep philosophical questions, or surreal stories. Haruki Murakami’s book is more than just a novel—it’s a unique experience that goes beyond simple labels and deeply affects its readers. Whether you’re already a fan of magical realism or just discovering it, this book offers an extraordinary adventure that stands out from the rest.

I obtained a copy of this book from our Local Library. This review is based solely on my honest opinion, and receiving it through the library does not influence the content of my review in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.

And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.

If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets.

Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine. And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others. And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.

Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back. That’s part of what it means to be alive. But inside our heads – at least that’s where I imagine it – there’s a little room where we store those memories. A room like the stacks in this library. And to understand the workings of our own heart we have to keep on making new reference cards. We have to dust things off every once in awhile, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library.

In everybody’s life there’s a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can’t go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That’s how we survive.

Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what’s going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. 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.

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 everyday, 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.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami Book Review

Rebecca Skane
4 responses
May 22, 2017

Haruki Murakami is an international bestselling author from Japan with a number of massively popular books to his name. A few years back, I read his 1Q84 omnibus and became an instant fan. It was a slipstream mix of literary and surreal fantasy that captivated my imagination. Kafka on the Shore dwells in the same vein of literary fantasy, dabbling in supernatural lore. When the author has been described as “Kafkaesque”, the title is all too alluring.

Kafka Tamura, an assumed name, is a young teenage boy on the run. He left Tokyo with no real destination in mind except somewhere warm. He left to escape his father’s troubling prophecy that would damn Kafka as a murderer. Things gets strange when he wakes up in the woods covered in blood and no memory of what happened. It looks like his father’s prophecy is coming true no matter how far he runs. With money running low and the police looking for him, Kafka finds a safe haven at a small, public library where its staff of two looks after Kafka.

Nakata was once a normal boy who became a shadow of his former self after a strange incident on a class hiking trip. Now an elderly man who is able to converse with cats, the simple-minded Nakata is tricked into committing a heinous act in order to save the lives of his feline friends. Unable to understand what is happening or why, he inexplicably knows to follow a path set forth by an unseen force. Making friends with a young truck driver, Nakata heads south out of Tokyo and on a collision course with Kafka.

The supernatural and fantastical elements are light but intriguing: the ability to converse with cats, human shadows that aren’t quite natural, fish and leaches raining from the sky, a non-human entity disguised as Colonel Sanders and Johnnie Walker, an invisible boy who is part crow, an otherworldly dimension hidden in a forest and a stone portal. Neither Kafka nor Nakata can really explain was is happening or what is driving them, but the reader is able to see the events happening to both characters as they move toward each other – not that the reader understands what is going on either. Although the characters are largely in the dark, they possess an innate sense of the supernatural world around them, a sense that grows stronger as we reach the final encounters.

The otherworldly being is the most difficult facet to make sense of. It uses bodies as hosts but appears to take the form of whatever it likes – in this case Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Friend Chicken and Johnnie Walker from the scotch label. It seems to be controlling events and people in order to have a gateway opened, something it needs a human to do. This thing, this being, apparently wants to get to this supernatural dimension – but why? We never find out.

“But I don’t have a character. Or any feelings. Shape I may take, converse I may, but neither god nor Buddha and I, rather an insensate being whose heart thus differs from that of a man .”

The connections between characters are conceptual in a manner of speaking. Kafka’s friend and intellectual companion at the library, Oshima, discusses the topic of people who aren’t completely whole – who are broken in some way or missing their other half. In different ways, this accounts for each major character: Kafka who has the invisible boy name Crow speak for him on many occasions, Oshima who is both male and female, Miss Saeki who is an empty vessel mourning her true love, Nakata who feels that he has no soul, and Hoshino who feels an emptiness filled by Nakata. Gradually, we see more connections between the characters as their journeys converge.

Kafka is involved in a lot of spiritual, philosophical, and existential debate with Oshima and Miss Saeki from the library. Although he often lets “the boy named Crow” speak for him, he can also hold his own.

“Strength itself becomes morality.” Miss Saeki smiles. “You catch on quickly.” “The strength I’m looking for isn’t the kind where you win or lose. I’m not after a wall that’ll repel power coming from outside. What I want is the kind of strength to be able to absorb that outside power, to stand up to it. The strength to quietly endure things – unfairness, misfortune, sadness, mistakes, misunderstandings.” “That’s got to be the most difficult strength of all to make your own.”

Don’t expect everything to be tied up in ribbons and bows by the end. Explanations are not provided and there is a lack of information regarding the supernatural events. It’s a vagueness that keeps a level a continuity to the very last page. It’s strange and beautiful and bizarre and it stays that way, keeping an air of beautiful mystery and letting the individual reader theorize on the possibilities.

You don’t have to “get it”. It’s a Murakami thing.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Tagged: Haruki Murakami

Rebecca Skane is the editor-in-chief for the Portsmouth Review. She holds a Bachelor of the Arts degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and resides in Portsmouth, NH with her husband and two children. She is the founder of The Portsmouth Book Club which boasts over 1,000 members. She also doubles as a professional escapist. Her genres are scifi and fantasy, both adult and young adult - but she often reads outside of her preferred genres. You can follow her on GoodReads . Aside from her love of good books, she is a professional website developer, content editor, and SEO expert. You can visit her web design and development site at RebeccaSkane.com .

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Bob on Books

Thoughts on books, reading, and life

Review: Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore , Haruki Murakami. New York: Vintage International, 2002.

Summary: In two parallel plots Kafka tries to escape a curse and find his mother and sister (and himself) and Nakata tries to recover the part of him lost during a strange school outing incident in his youth.

This represents my first encounter with Murakami, one that left me strangely fascinated. I’ve not always found myself drawn to magical realism, but I could not put this down.

The story involves two connected plots, advanced in alternating chapters. The first follows the title character Kafka, a fifteen year old who runs aways from his father, the famous sculptor Koichi Tamura, to search for his mother and sister, who left when he was four. He makes his way to Takamatsu where he meets an accommodating young woman, Sakura, who shelters him when he awakens to find himself covered with blood and no memory of how it got there. His trek eventually takes him to a private library in a former wealthy home administered by Miss Saeki, who many years before had recorded Kafka on the Shore , remembering a young lover lost. He’s welcomed and protected, by Oshima, a transgender man. For a time he lives at the library, and then when in danger of being found by the police, who are seeking him as a material witness in the murder of his father, Oshima shelters him in a cabin deep in a forest in the Kochi Prefecture

The second plot involves Nakata, an aging man who as a child was part of a group of school children who fell unconscious during a school outing during the Second World War. The others recovered to lead normal lives. After several weeks of lying unconscious, Nakata awakened but couldn’t remember anything and could no longer read or write or learn how to do so. He’d led a quiet life, working in a kind of sheltered furniture workshop. He eventually received a government subsidy on which he lived alone. He had a unique ability to understand the language of cats and to find lost ones and restore them to his owners. On one such search, he encounters a sinister character, Johnnie Walker, who has been capturing and beheading cats to make a magic flute. To recover the cat he is seeking, Johnnie Walker tells Nakata that he must either kill Johnnie Walker or he will kill the cat. Nakata, utterly non-violent, eventually does so, returns the cat, and then flees. Hitchhiking, he meets up with Hoshino who takes him to Takamatsu, where they have a variety of strange adventures including an encounter with Colonel Sanders, who is a kind of spirit guide (or concept).

That raises one of the main ideas in the novel–the way spirits leave the body encountering others. Though Kafka has fled his father to evade a kind of Oedipal curse, Kafka’s bloody clothes episode and Nakata’s murder of Johnnie Walker, who turns out to be Koichi Tamura, occur at the same time. Miss Saeki visits the room where Kafka sleeps in the library each night as a fifteen year old girl looking at a painting, eventually having sex with him, as later Miss Saeki herself does.

As I mentioned, there is a kind of Oedipal curse going on with Kafka, murdering his father, and sleeping with both mother (Miss Saeki) and sister (Sakura, in a violent rape dream).

Meanwhile, Nakata is also on a quest of the kind that he knows it when he finds it, trying to the patience of Hoshino, who is also transformed by his time with the old man. He’s only had a thin shadow since the childhood incident. Likewise, Miss Saeki, always at her desk writing…and waiting.

Two people, Nakata and Miss Saeki, trying to find what was lost. Kafka, trying to find himself, in his lost mother and sister. And Oshima? What is his role? Perhaps as a wiser guide than Crow, the alter ego of Kafka (which in Czech means “crow” or “jackdaw”), who just tells him he has to be “the toughest fifteen-year-old in the world.” As the novel concluded, I found myself wondering, what of Oshima?

There is so much more, and I find myself with many questions like this one. It’s a book that invites multiple readings. As one may pick up from this review, there are scenes of violence, a vivid dream of a rape, and descriptions of sexual intimacies, so this may not be for everyone. None of it is gratuitous (well, maybe the scene in which Colonel Sanders fixes up Hoshino with a hooker, although there is something going on with sexual energy here). There is also the compelling power of music, whether it is Miss Saeki’s Kafka on the Shore or Beethoven’s Archduke Trio. I wonder about archetypes, if that is the right word, like Colonel Sanders and Johnnie Walker. This is one of those books I’ve finished but it isn’t finished with me….

Book Review – Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

On the surface, a surreal and fantastical story about the intertwining narratives of a teenage boy running away from home to escape an Oedipal prophecy, and the journey of an elderly mildly retarded man who can talk to cats, doesn’t seem exactly like the kind of material I normally post about on this blog. But Kafka On The Shore really struck me with some fantastic insights about the mind and the nature of consciousness and I felt compelled to write about it. So much so that I wasn’t sure whether it’d be best to write this as a review of the book, or a post about consciousness; hopefully at the end it will be both. I’m going to do my best not to spoil specific events in the story, but since I WILL be talking about ideas at the heart of this book, you are officially SPOILER warned.

There was one fundamental insight and idea in this story that all the important aspects of the book stem from. This is the idea that “everything is metaphor”. Now, on this surface this might simply sound like it means that the events in the book and story being told are really a metaphor for something bigger that the author is trying to tell, and this certainly the case. But on a deeper level the author, Haruki Murakami, is making a really profound statement about the nature of human existence and consciousness….EVERYTHING is metaphor. Let me explain. Metaphor is normally defined as understanding one thing in terms of another. And as we go through our lives talking with and interacting with people, we think of most of our communications as literal communication, with metaphor being used only at certain times in story telling or when illustrating a point, or what have you. But if we take the perspective of cognitive science, and what we know about the nature of mental phenomena and communication, we’re forced to the conclusion that everything IS metaphor.

Our basic mode of communication, language, is already a way of understanding something in terms of something else. Using language is an interpretive act. And it’s an interpretive act in two ways. One is in the sense that one person’s mental states are interpreted by another person, by means of the words that are said from one person to another. Words are symbols, which I must use to interpret the contents of your mind. We forget to that while communication presents to us the façade of direct access, this is really an illusion, or at least a not quite solid assumption. I have no real access to what’s going on in your head, I only have an interpretation based on the words that come out of your mouth, themselves sometimes second rate approximations of a much more complex storm of mental activity. A slightly finer point is that we sometimes forget that words themselves are meaningless. Words are just mechanical waves moving through the air. They are sounds, like any other sounds. And when they interact with our auditory system, they are turned in electrical impulses in the brain. And somewhere down the line we (or our brains) interpret these impulses as having some sort of special meaning that other sounds don’t have. We are interpreting words in terms neuronal firing, metaphor at its best if you ask me. There is a great character in the story that brings these ideas home. Being somewhat slow and lacking in intelligence, the character doesn’t understand metaphors. But he also doesn’t understand many common things we forget are really metaphors, like money. Money to him is not “real”, it is this hard to grasp abstract idea, as are all sorts of other common phrases and things in our world. By embodying the antithesis to “everything is metaphor”, this character reminds us of that simple truth which we take for granted.

This idea of metaphor doesn’t stop at language. Our entire conscious perceptual experience of the world can be looked at as a metaphor in the same way. I’ve written about this before , but we look out at the world and we think we’re really seeing the world, directly perceiving what is around us. But we now know that this isn’t the case, that our conscious experiences (and thus our perceptual experiences) are a constructed process. You are constantly being bombarded by various “signals” from the outside world. Mechanical waves in air, electromagnetic waves, free floating molecules, and your brain interprets these interactions, what we call signals, by first converting them into electrical impulses and somehow along the way making sense (no pun intended) of them. We interpret the outside world via our senses, we never really experience that outside world directly.

This fact has all sorts of implications for the nature of consciousness, the self, the content of mental states and the objects we interact with, which Murakami delves into in some pretty creative ways. But as a way of explaining what I mean here, let’s think about the nature of objects out there in the world. You don’t have direct access to any objects. You experience objects through the interactions they have with your sensory systems. So while an object may have its own independent existence outside of you, your experience is not the same as that object. This table here in front of me…it looks real. It feels real. But all of this a constructive process my brain is doing. Think about the myriad of hallucinations and perceptual illusions we are susceptible to, as well as altered states of consciousness that come about through drugs or brain damage. What we experience is not necessarily how things are…out there. It is an interpretation based on our various sensory signals and interactions. Objects can simply be viewed as features of our own consciousness. Objects, as we experience them, are the content of our mental states, nothing more.

But we can’t stop there; people must be the same in this way. I’m a real conscious being, and you’re a separate real conscious being. I’ll grant that. But if all I really have access to is my own conscious experience, then other people, like any other objects, are just an aspect of my conscious experience. You are just an object out there in the world, and like any sensory experience, my experience of you is just a content of my mental state. Who you are to me is not the same as who you are to you (at least there is no necessary relationship between the two), rather, who you are to me is simply my interpretation of you, an aspect of my consciousness. (I should note though, one of the goals, or at least one of the most wonderful things about language, is that it allows us to bridge the gap between reality and our mental concepts of other people in amazing ways, something Murakami doesn’t really focus on.)

These are all important elements of Kafka on the Shore (in a metaphorical way), but what stems from these ideas next, is what ends up being most important to the story Murakami tells. If objects and people are just features of our conscious experience, then what they mean to us is a matter of personal interpretation, it is a matter of choice. We have to accept that to a certain degree we all “use” the people in our lives for our own purposes, no matter how altruistic those purposes are. People are objects (in the strict mental content sense of the word) that provide very responsive interactions for our conscious experience, but because who these people are, is an interpretation, it’s almost as if who they are is something we impose on them. And we interact with them based on this interpretation/imposition.

So who you are to me is a choice I make, not you. And how I choose to interact with you is based on how I believe my conscious experience will progress based on that interpretation. If I do something because I believe it will make you happy, it is because making you happy is somehow in my self interest, something I desire, and why I think it will make you happy, and who I think you are, is all part of my consciousness, with no necessary relation to reality (i.e. – it might not actually make you happy, because I could be wrong about you). If I write a letter to you bearing all to get something I need off my chest, it is the process of writing the letter that was important, it was getting it off my chest that was important. How you respond to it and whether you even read it, is not something I can control, but I used you as a vessel to go through a certain process (this is an example from the book). And so similarly, throughout this book you see characters choosing to view people in certain ways, choosing to interact with people in certain ways, imposing their own metaphors on the world that they are interacting with. It is filled with people doing things, kind acts, for other people, not *for* the other people, but for themselves, for their own reasons. Objects of our consciousness are like vessels for a process of self growth (ideally). And it is only when the main character of the story realizes the truth behind choice, consciousness, and metaphor that he is able to complete the journey he is on.

In the end this book is about a lot of things, but you take away some strong ideas about choice and the nature of the self, and how this all plays apart in personal growth and development. It’s a very interesting exploration of this balance between self reliance and human relationships, between love and friendship and the self, given that everything must be interpreted by me in one way or another. Everything, every relationship we have, every interaction we have is all part of this feedback loop of this ongoing temporal process that we call consciousness, and it is in understanding the truth of this that allows us to grow and develop. (This last bit is what I’m interpreting Murakami to be saying, but it’s something I happen to agree with myself) But I’d like to add my own addendum of something that Murakami doesn’t focus on (he brings this up briefly when discussing Hegel and content and relations), which is that interpretations aside, lets not forget that other people are real people with their own thoughts and feelings and desires. And in the same way that you are an aspect of my consciousness, I am an aspect of your consciousness. I am your content. We all exist and interact in this tangled web of cause and effect. How I act towards my friends and loved ones (or anyone) aren’t simply features of my consciousness that help me grow, they are real interactions that themselves affect the lives of others. A process of self development, of interaction, that doesn’t respect this fact, will I think forever limit the capacity of the individual to truly grow in the way Murakami describes.

Building off a background in Cognitive Science, Greg Nirshberg is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spends what little free time he has these days thinking, and arguing, about consciousness, free will, morality, and whatever else comes up over tea. When he's not doing these things you might find him outside running, or holed up inside designing websites.

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Kafka on the Shore – A sensational journey into the mesmerizing realm of forbidden love and fantastic concepts which is both haunting and enlightening. Your Comments

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Haruki Murakami: Making the Mundane Magical

Here+is+Haruki+Murakami+lecturing+at+the+National+Theater+of+the+House+of+Ecuadorian+Culture.+His+writing+has+created+a+lasting+impact+all+over+the+world.+%28Photo+Credit%3A+Ministerio+Cultura+y+Patrimonio%2C+Public+domain%2C+via+Wikimedia+Commons%29%0A

Haruki Murakami, a figure shrouded in as much mystery as the characters in his novels, remains a major presence in the literary world after 46 years of writing. Despite his aversion to the spotlight and limited presence in the media, Murakami’s voice has never been louder or clearer than in his intricate narratives.

His novels serve as portals into alternate universes, where reality and fantasy intertwine to create a rich plot that mirrors the complexity of life. Murakami’s first bestselling novel, Norwegian Wood , named after the famous Beatles song, is one of the only works of his to have more appeal to his Japanese audience than his Western audience.

The book, set in 1960s Japan, follows the main character, Toru Watanabe, on his journey through the loss of his high school friend, Kizuki. It remains unanswered why Kizuki committed suicide. After finding comfort in talking to Naoko, Kizuki’s girlfriend, the two fall in love over their shared grief. This setting forms a nostalgic and strange tone, with characters bonding over grief and the past, which is seen in many of Murakami’s other novels.

The toll of suicide on adolescent characters throughout the story is clear and while the whole story leaves many questions unanswered, the ominous tone informs the reader that nothing good will happen.

The discussion of teen depression, suicide, and grief within the novel was considered taboo in 1987 Japan (when it was first published). The introduction of these new and uncomfortable topics was one of the main reasons for the novel’s major success in Japan. Disconnecting from tradition and focusing on the newest generation of young adults, Murakami formed a new mainstream in Japan gaining, much to his dismay, tremendous fame. In Japan, tradition was vitalized in literature; therefore, Murakami’s focus on teenage struggles reached a whole new audience.

Although Norwegian Wood follows Toru, the book tells the story of many teenagers struggling with mental health around the world, forewarning dark futures for those with no outlet. Norwegian Wood is far from a biography but its setting models that of Murakami’s own life as a student.

Despite the openness of his stories, discussing issues and themes that the majority of people face, and putting his life into his novels, Murakami is considered a hermit. Novels based on his own experiences and his memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, are the best ways to learn about Murakami as both a writer and person.

He agrees to be interviewed only when encouraged by his publishers or attempting to introduce a new novel to the world. It’s understood that while creating a book he works for more than five hours a day writing and brainstorming,and as he has turned seventy-five this past January, it’s clear why he chooses not to do interviews. Murakami’s old age is not the only reason that fuels his desire to stay out of the public eye. He said in an interview, “I’m the kind of person who likes to be by himself. To put a finer point on it, I’m the type of person who doesn’t find it painful to be alone.”

Yet despite his elusive nature, Murakami remains the best-selling living Japanese author. His fusion between realistic fiction and fantasy blurs the line between ordinary and extraordinary, all forming his revered writing style, of magical realism. Using aspects of reality, Murakami bends human understanding, creating strange from the most mundane items and creatures every reader knows. Organizations such as cults or the Yakuza in Japan, as well as harmless creatures like birds, cats, and sheep, are juxtaposed almost whimsically to enhance the strange fantastical plot of a Murakami novel. Without using complex rhetoric Murakami conveys deep emotion through juxtaposition and intricate plot.

The Wild Sheep Chase , Murakami’s third novel, begins with a mysterious visitor approaching the narrator, a man working at a newspaper publishing agency, and showing him a photo of a sheep with a star on its coat. The visitor gives the narrator the task of removing the photo of the sheep published in the newspaper and finding the mysterious sheep. If the tasks are not completed in a month, the mysterious man threatens to close the agency where the narrator works. The story unravels as we learn that the photo was given to the narrator by his friend, “Rat,” and the narrator starts to look for the sheep.

On his wild journey, the mystery behind the incident unfolds, but readers also get a look into the narrator’s somewhat mundane life. His divorce from his wife over an adultery scandal as well as his unhealthy addiction to smoking blends realism into the question about the star sheep, as it seemingly gets deeper when the narrator uncovers its political significance. Murakami’s language is simple, clearly conveying a mysterious, fantastic sheep chase, hooking the reader on unraveling a unique mystery.

Murakami chose to write in English, his second language, because of his desire to reach more people. He understood that because he was not writing in Japanese, simple language would be vital, focusing mainly on the plot. While initially writing in Japanese, Murakami was not happy until he started to write in simple English as he favored its essence and unique rhythm. This led to the creation of his legendary light humor and dark juxtaposition.

Moreover, Murakami’s writing does more than convey a story. He teaches readers about the importance of their struggles, no matter how mundane they may seem. Murakami, through his magical realism, exemplifies the importance of discovering what makes one’s identity distinct.

Furthermore, Murakami’s dedication to his craft starkly contrasts with the current media and celebrity culture, which focuses on quick snippets of bleak entertainment produced by select characters presented to the public to evoke simple emotion and dopamine release. Murakami’s focus on writing in simple language allows him to have a complex plot but also provides a nuanced message to his audience. His novels do not push understanding but curiosity, not focusing on what is right and wrong but rather why.

Intrinsic fears and emotional problems potentially plaguing readers are reflected among the characters who often fall victim to emotional turmoil and resort to dabbling in dangerous vices as a result. However, Murakami illustrates reality through resonance with his characters with his strange fantastical stories. In essence, Murakami’s characters have their flaws just like any real person as they struggle to find their life’s purpose.

Furthermore, Murakami’s unique blend of Eastern and Western influences creates distinctive messages with a sense of cultural ambiguity and universal relevance. He draws from Japanese mythology and Western pop culture, specifically music and art. The title, Norwegian Wood, mirrors the Beatles song, and the rest of the novel constantly mentions Western music such as ‘Yesterday’ and ‘People Are Strange,’ by the Rolling Stones. Murakami’s obsession with Western music is evident through his novels but is also seen through Peter Cat , Murakami’s jazz bar, which closed in 1981.

Similarly, in Kafka on the Shore , Murakami masterfully intertwines elements of magical realism with profound philosophical insights. Through the parallel narratives of Kafka Tamura and Nakata, the two main characters, the novel explores themes of identity, fate, and the search for meaning in a seemingly chaotic universe. Murakami’s evocative imagery and dreamlike sequences blur the lines between reality and fantasy, inviting readers to ponder the mysteries of existence. The presence of talking cats and surreal encounters with otherworldly beings in the narrative add layers of symbolism and intrigue.

In 1Q84 , Murakami crafts a sprawling epic that defies conventional genre categorization. Set in a dystopian alternate reality, the novel follows the intertwined destinies of two protagonists, Aomame and Tengo, as they navigate a world filled with cults, conspiracies, and parallel dimensions. Murakami’s intricate plotting and rich character development draw readers into a labyrinthine narrative that challenges perceptions of reality and truth. Through Aomame’s reflections on her isolated existence and Tengo’s quest for artistic fulfillment, Murakami explores themes of agency, autonomy, and the search for authenticity in a society governed by oppressive forces. The story is loosely based on 1984 , George Orwell’s masterpiece, with even its title being a sly play on words. ‘Q’ represents the alternate reality in which the main characters find themselves as Q and 9 are homonymous in Japanese.

Furthermore, Murakami’s non-fiction works, such as What I Talk About When I Talk About Running , offer intimate insights into the author’s own life and creative process. By comparing long-distance athletics like running to his writing, Murakami expresses the value of discipline over motivation and explains that the struggle to write is often when writing becomes the most reflective. This book is not the fantastical novel he is mainly known for but rather a memoir discussing his own life. It is clear though, that Murakami himself is similar to many of the characters he creates in his novels with clear ambitions but also flaws.

The fantastical Murakami presents to his readers helps to get a clearer view of one’s reality. While no writer may be perfect, Murakami conveys the nuanced purpose of an individual conveying that purpose is derived from experience. The magical world of Murakami shows the reader the importance of tedium in a character’s world and their own.

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Haruki Murakami - And Once The Storm Is Over

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Haruki Murakami

Book: Kafka on the Shore

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive.

You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over.

But one thing is certain.

When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in .

That’s what this storm’s all about.”

Illustration by Laurent Guidali

Translated from Japanese

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Where to start with: Franz Kafka

Inscrutable bureaucracy and monstrous insects may not sound immediately appealing, but once you’re lost in Kafka’s world you won’t want to escape

K afka has become such a cultural icon that even the most private, obscure, or fragmentary of his writings have reached huge audiences: diaries , letters, unpublished notes, mystifying aphorisms, or conversation slips he made while dying. Because so much of his work is available to readers (even a selection of documents from his day job at the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute has been translated into English), it can be daunting to know where to begin if you want to try his work for the first time. Academic and Kafka expert Karolina Watroba suggests some good ways in.

The entry point

By the time he died on 3 June 1924 at the age of 40, Kafka had drafted three novels – The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika – but hadn’t finished or published any of them, aside from a couple of excerpts. Today, after some editorial interventions, all three are perfectly readable, and their fragmentary, enigmatic conclusions are intriguing. Start with The Trial: it’s one of Kafka’s most iconic stories of shadowy courts, cryptic judgements and inscrutable bureaucracy, and it draws the reader in by playing with the conventions of detective fiction. Both aspects are encapsulated in its famous opening sentence: in Mike Mitchell’s translation, “Somebody must have been telling tales about Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.”

Franz Kafka with his fiancee Felice Bauer in Budapest, July 1917.

If you’re in a rush

Kafka wrote dozens of shorter pieces, varying in length from just a few lines to substantial novellas. Start with those published in his lifetime, conveniently collected in Penguin’s Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Here you’ll find famous stories such as The Judgement and In the Penal Colony, alongside numerous compelling, gently humorous one-pagers. My favourites, A Message from the Emperor and The Worries of a Head of Household, introduce two key themes in Kafka’s fiction – his fascination with cultural difference, whether Czech or Chinese, and mysterious anthropomorphic creatures.

Worth persevering with

Of Kafka’s three novels, The Castle is the hardest to get through, and not just because it’s the longest. Enclosed within an oppressive snowy landscape, its protagonist – known only as K. – seeks access to the titular castle, a nebulous institution enveloped in fog. The novel is circular and exhausting, but that’s the point. If you do surrender to this classic of claustrophobia, you’ll experience an interminable winter in an inhospitable village whose inhabitants have adapted to life in the shadow of an intricate bureaucratic machine.

If you’ve been put off by Kafka before

For a taste of something different from the “classic” Kafka titles, try Amerika, also known as The Man Who Disappeared . At times Dickensian, it follows its teenage hero on a perilous journey across the early 20th-century United States, as his fortunes rise and fall (mostly the latter – it is Kafka, after all). The setting is broadly realistic, with a few fantastical elements thrown in, allowing Kafka to channel his fearful fascination with modern technology and big city life.

The inside story

Kafka’s father was an old-fashioned, brusque man who had to fight his way out of poverty. He found the sensitive nature and literary ambitions of his only son bewildering and irritating. At 36, Franz wrote him a long letter, a blow-by-blow account of scarring childhood episodes and hurtful behaviours. His father never read this juicy case study in individual psychology and family dynamics – but you can!

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The TikTok favourite

For yet another facet of Kafka, follow the lead of Gen Z BookTokkers who idolise him as … the ideal lover. Kafka’s Letters to Milena have had teenage girls dub him their “bare minimum”: the attentive romantic who will send you thoughtful epistles. These were in fact the main draw if you were romantically involved with Kafka – he was so scared of the tight confines of a bourgeois marriage that he called off three engagements (twice to the same woman). Milena Jesenská deserves attention not just as Kafka’s lover, but also as a journalist, translator and political activist in her own right.

If you only read one

“When Gregor Samsa woke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed right there in his bed into some sort of monstrous insect.” Thus begins Susan Bernofsky’s translation of The Metamorphosis (one of many you can choose from). Tightly structured and visceral, this story has become a lens to examine all manner of personal, social and political crises. Burnout, motherhood, race, war, pandemic, dictatorship, Brexit – The Metamorphosis has been rewritten and adapted in countless ways by Lemn Sissay, Rachel Yoder, A Igoni Barrett, Haruki Murakami, Bruno Latour, Ian McEwan, Han Kang, and Yoko Tawada, among many others.

Where to start with
Franz Kafka

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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator) 4.13. 471,327 ratings38,079 reviews. Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an ...
KAFKA ON THE SHORE
KAFKA ON THE SHORE. A masterpiece, entirely Nobel-worthy. Two mysterious quests form the core of Murakami's absorbing seventh novel, whose encyclopedic breadth recalls his earlier successes, A Wild Sheep Chase (1989) and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1997). In the first of two parallel narratives, 15-year-old Kafka Tamura drops out of school ...
Kafka on the Shore, readers at sea
Kafka on the Shore, readers at sea. Reaching the end of Murakami's novel has done little to explain its mysteries, but has brought some appreciation of his ability to blend the fantastic and the ...
Reviews of Kafka on The Shore by Haruki Murakami
Book Summary. A tour de force of metaphysical reality, powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy who runs away from home to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy, and an aging simpleton. With Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami gives us a novel every bit as ambitious and expansive as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which has been acclaimed ...
'Kafka on the Shore': Reality's Cul-de-Sacs
Feb. 6, 2005. KAFKA ON THE SHORE By Haruki Murakami. Translated by Philip Gabriel. 436 pp. Alfred A. Knopf. $25.95. It is easier to be bewitched by Haruki Murakami's fiction than to figure out how ...
Kill me or the cat gets it
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, translated by Phillip Gabriel 656pp, Harvill, £12.99. When the English translation of Haruki Murakami's bestselling A Wind-Up Bird Chronicle transformed one ...
Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka) is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.Its 2005 English translation was among "The 10 Best Books of 2005" from The New York Times and received the World Fantasy Award for 2006. The book tells the stories of the young Kafka Tamura, a bookish 15-year-old boy who runs away from his Oedipal curse, and Satoru Nakata, an old ...
Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. Genre: magical realism, fantasy. Rating: 1/5 stars. Kafka on the Shore has always been a someday book for me.
Book Review: Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
I've theorized that Japanese literature seems to be the best adjusted to modern life. A singular lack of angst distinguishes novels such as Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, in which I take vicarious delight as its protagonists go about their lives at such places as diners, noodle shops, convenience stores, bus stations, bookstores, museums,…
Review of Kafka on The Shore by Haruki Murakami
Reviews. BookBrowse: A masterpiece, entirely Nobel-worthy. Novel. From the book jacket: A tour de force of metaphysical reality, powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton ...
Book Review: Kafka on the Shore By Haruki Murakami
The world of Kafka on the Shore is written by Murakami in a paranormal and transcendental manner, which is obvious because the genre of the novel is magical realism, which involves the real world having a certain degree of magic and fantasy with restricted information and a unique world-building structure that is visible throughout the story.
Review of Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
As you might have noticed from previous reviews, I'm a great fan of Japanese literature.I'm also a great fan of Haruki Murakami as well as Kafka (one of Murakami's inspirations). And so, Kafka on the Shore felt like a great fit. Alas, it's probably the most disappointing Murakami story I've read. Why that is will be interesting to analyze, as there are important lessons to learn ...
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami: 9781400079278
About Kafka on the Shore. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world's greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-bender" (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Now with a new introduction by the author. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly ...
Book Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami once again impressed me with his imaginative writing in Kafka on the Shore. As soon as I started reading, I was drawn into the mysterious world he created, where reality and fantasy blend seamlessly. The story follows Kafka Tamura, a runaway teenager, and Nakata, an elderly man with a unique ability to talk to cats, as their ...
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami Book Review
Haruki Murakami is an international bestselling author from Japan with a number of massively popular books to his name. A few years back, I read his 1Q84 omnibus and became an instant fan. It was a slipstream mix of literary and surreal fantasy that captivated my imagination. Kafka on the Shore dwells in the same vein of literary fantasy, dabbling in supernatural lore.
Review: Kafka on the Shore
Review: Kafka on the Shore. June 13, 2023 / rtrube54. Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami. New York: Vintage International, 2002. Summary: In two parallel plots Kafka tries to escape a curse and find his mother and sister (and himself) and Nakata tries to recover the part of him lost during a strange school outing incident in his youth.
Kafka on the Shore review
Kafka on the Shore review - Murakami's novel becomes a sensuous spectacle. T he great Japanese director Yukio Ninagawa, now 79, has given us some memorable productions over the years. But even ...
Kafka On The Shore Book Review
Haruki Murakami's prescient, and exceedingly lyrical novel Kafka on the shore portrays a brilliance, I have not come across since reading Bukowski's Women. Kafka Tamura the fifteen year old stowaway who runs away from home is on an existential journey to find out who he really is.
BOOK REVIEW: "Kafka On The Shore" by Haruki Murakami
The plot picks up when Kafka's life becomes unexpectedly dark. All at once, he begins being visited by a ghost and becomes the subject of a murder investigation. He has to go into hiding in the woods where he experiences all levels of surreal delusions. All of this seems fascinating enough, but it falls flat.
Book Review
These are all important elements of Kafka on the Shore (in a metaphorical way), but what stems from these ideas next, is what ends up being most important to the story Murakami tells. If objects and people are just features of our conscious experience, then what they mean to us is a matter of personal interpretation, it is a matter of choice.
All Book Marks reviews for Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Murakami has now given us Kafka on the Shore, an epic work that blends the sprawling designs of Wind-Up Bird with the psychological ruminations of Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the emotional sensitivity of Norwegian Wood. It thus presents itself as the most ambitious and lucid account thus far of Murakami's wide-ranging and deftly entwined ...
Book Marks reviews of Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Murakami's novel, though wearying at times and confusing at others, has the faintly absurd loft of some great festive balloon. He addresses the fantastic and the natural, each with the same mix of gravity and lightness. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami has an overall rating of Positive based on 9 book reviews.
Kafka on the Shore
Kafka on the Shore. Posted on October 13, 2014October 13, 2014 by chung. Bookmark the permalink . ← South of the Border, West of the Sun. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World →. The official US site of Haruki Murakami. Enter Murakami's world to explore the books, read interviews, discover music, browse image galleries, and much ...
Nothing like Kafka on The Shore : r/murakami
Subreddit dedicated to the works of author Haruki Murakami. Murakami has written acclaimed novels such as Killing Commendatore, 1Q84, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Kafka on the Shore. ... Out of all these books, I searched for "kafka on shore" in all these novels, but nothing comes close to it. It was the first Murakami novel I read, and ...
Haruki Murakami: Making the Mundane Magical
Murakami's obsession with Western music is evident through his novels but is also seen through Peter Cat, Murakami's jazz bar, which closed in 1981. Similarly, in Kafka on the Shore, Murakami masterfully intertwines elements of magical realism with profound philosophical insights. Through the parallel narratives of Kafka Tamura and Nakata ...
Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami. Book: Kafka on the Shore "And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in . That's what this storm's all ...
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami [Fantasy](2002)
The entries are sourced from /r/books 'What Are You Reading'-thread, which is posted in /r/books every Monday. ... RedditReadsBot. ADMIN MOD Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami [Fantasy](2002) goodreads.com Open. Share Add a Comment. Sort by: Best. Open comment sort options. Best. Top. New. Controversial. Old. Q&A. ...
Where to start with: Franz Kafka
The entry point. By the time he died on 3 June 1924 at the age of 40, Kafka had drafted three novels - The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika - but hadn't finished or published any of them ...

KAFKA ON THE SHORE

THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD

WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES

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Kafka on The Shore

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Book Review: Kafka on the Shore By Haruki Murakami

Themes in Kafka on the Shore

Fate and Prophecy vs. Self-reliance

Mind, Body, and Soul

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Book Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami Book Review

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