Kafka on the Shore

Aug 26, 2007

Vanessa rated it

Recommends it for: Masochists

Few books have infected me with boredom-induced ADD, the desire to gnaw my own foot off at the ankle, and the state of mind you might experience if forced to sit upon a nest of hornets while watching your home being burglarized, but this was one of them. It took me until page 70 to stop wanting to hop up and rearrange the spice cupboard or my sock drawer every few sentences, but then the feeling returned at page 243. Only 224 pages to go! From then on, my hatred and resentment of this book prog...moreFew books have infected me with boredom-induced ADD, the desire to gnaw my own foot off at the ankle, and the state of mind you might experience if forced to sit upon a nest of hornets while watching your home being burglarized, but this was one of them. It took me until page 70 to stop wanting to hop up and rearrange the spice cupboard or my sock drawer every few sentences, but then the feeling returned at page 243. Only 224 pages to go! From then on, my hatred and resentment of this book progressively grew like a dead cow bloating in the heat.

“Kafka on the Shore” is a mess. It is such a mess that it makes my six-year-old son’s post-playdate bedroom look like Buckingham Palace. Loosely based on the Oedipus myth, and taking some obvious inspiration from Catcher in the Rye, this book seems to be little more than a random hodgepodge of ideas held together with pipe cleaners and raspberry jam.

There was so much to hate about this book. Here are just a few things:
1. Boring, unnecessary descriptions – that do nothing to further the story – of what people are wearing, what Kafka likes to do during his workout, what he decides to eat, what he is listening to on his Walkman, and so on. I wouldn’t have been surprised to read a monologue from Kafka along the lines of: “When I wipe my arse, I like to use just four squares of toilet paper, no more, no less. I count them out – one, two, three, four. Then I fold the length over once, and again. Equipped now with the perfect, handheld quilt, I wipe in a single, expert, sweeping motion – front to back. Examine the paper to determine whether I need to repeat the process. However, I would add that this is only if the paper is two-ply. For one-ply paper, I need a minimum of eight sheets, but only if they are of high quality. If not of high quality, the boy Crow reminds me, ‘Remember, you’ve got to be the toughest 15-year-old on the planet.’”
2. The gratuitous cat torture scene. Johnnie Walker (him off the whiskey bottle) has to cut the hearts out of living cats and eat them so that he can collect cat souls to make a special kind of flute. There is no freakin’ point to this scene whatsoever – we never hear about Johnnie or his cat-flute again.
3. The annoying way characters – Oshima in particular – deliver sermons about philosophy, art, literature and classical music. It took me right out of the story (tangled mess though it was) and smacked of “Look at me – aren’t I clever?”
4. The screechy-preachy scene with the “feminist” caricatures in the library.
5. Hate to be ungroovy or whatever – but I just couldn’t stand any of the sex scenes, particularly with Miss Saeki, the 50-something librarian who gets it on over and over again with the 15-year-old protagonist even though he and she both know she might be his long-lost mother. Excuse me while I go mop the vomitus off of my living room wall.

After the first 100 pages I thought that I might end up giving this book three stars. Another 100 pages on, I decided two stars. By page 331 I decided one star, and by the end of this frustrating, pretentious, and completely unsatisfying book, I felt like I’d squandered so much of my precious life reading this pile o’ doo-doo that I didn’t want to give it even one star. However, since Mr. Murakami knows how to spell (or at least, I’m assuming he does since this is a translation) I will relent.

In the end, love or loathing of a book is entirely subjective, and scores of critics loved this one. As for me, I feel that if I’d wanted to find meaning in a random jumble of junk, I would have had more luck going to the thrift store and sifting through the bric-a-brac box than wasting time on Mr. Murakami’s brain-omelette.
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Hi I'm Bob Hi John!

John wrote: "I think a lot of the criticisms leveled at Murakami's work has more to do with readers' expectations and definitio...more
updated Jan 27, 2012 01:20am

John Caulfield Hi Bob, despite getting involved in these literary debates, to be perfectly honest, I tend to judge books by only two criteria: one - having read the ...more
Jan 27, 2012 01:50pm

Jul 04, 2011

Joel rated it

Shelves: 2011, 52-in-2011, favorite-authors, japan, translated, cats, 30-day-book-challenge, murakami

When I awoke, I realized I had slept through the night. But had it been a dream or not? It was impossible to tell. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth and shaved, paying special attention to my neck. When my face was again smooth and slightly pink from the razor, I went into the kitchen for breakfast.

I washed down an English muffin and jelly with two cups of strong black coffee, no sugar added, and walked out onto the balcony. The sun was still creeping higher in the sky, struggl...more

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May 10, 2007

Kelly Franklin Robinson rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, surrealism-and-magical-realism, japanese

No wonder Kafka on the Shore was on the New York Times "10 Best Books of 2005" list. It's one of the most engaging and magical pieces of literature I've read. Reality is unclear. The book presses the boundaries of what exists around the characters versus what exists in their minds. Powerful forces guide the characters--some known, some unknown. Odd things happen within the context of everyday Japan. Mackarel rains from the sky. A metaphysical overseer appears under the guise of Colonel...more

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Mar 11, 2010

K.D. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Tata J and Ranee (who loves Murakami)

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Shelves: 1001-core

Definitely a page-turner! Once you start, you just keep on reading. Well, why do we stop reading a book? I think we can group the reasons into three: (1) Natural - work, eat, toilet, eyes are tired, other distractions, etc; (2) Boredom - the book or its part is boring; and (3) Need to Digest - sometimes I read a phrase or an idea and it is either hard to understand so I read several times or too beautiful that I want it to sink in and I want to remember it forever.

For my first Haruki...moreDefinitely a page-turner! Once you start, you just keep on reading. Well, why do we stop reading a book? I think we can group the reasons into three: (1) Natural - work, eat, toilet, eyes are tired, other distractions, etc; (2) Boredom - the book or its part is boring; and (3) Need to Digest - sometimes I read a phrase or an idea and it is either hard to understand so I read several times or too beautiful that I want it to sink in and I want to remember it forever.

For my first Haruki Murakami book, Kafka on the Shore, I could not put it down because there is never a boring part especially the first third and on a lesser degree, the second third. I was expecting the last third to be the part where he should give the conclusion: tie up the many loose ends. All the while, that was the part where I though I should see his utter brilliance. He did not. He chose to let all ends hang loose.

So, when I closed the book, I was groaning in front of my daughter. What? That's it? Ganun na lang ba?. So, I said, hmmm 3 stars. Then I remembered what Doris Lessing wrote in her introduction to The Golden Notebook that if a novel is not open for interpretation, it is a boring novel. What makes a story interesting is if it open for interpretation and the more interpretations, the better.

I am giving this a 5 star. But this book is not for everyone. If you are the type who asks questions like: so what happened to this character? why was he like that? where did he come from? how did this happen? what is the connection of this and that? Then don't ever lay your hand on this Murakami masterpiece. Stick with your John Grisham or Dean Koontz thrillers where everything is explained thoroughly to please your rationale mind. Most readers are like you anyway. That's why those books sell more and they are always there occupying shelves and shelves of your nearby second-hand bookstore.

Murakami, just like other literary masters, does not write to please. He seems not care about public reading preference but he puts in brilliance in his work and it is up to the readers to appreciate his talent.

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Sep 29, 2009

mp rated it

Shelves: reviewed

Not a complete dis-appointment, but probably not worth the time I spent reading it either. Especially when it took me 200+ pages to get into it and some of the chapters were a chore to get through.
Most of the things which I love about Murakami's writing are missing in Kafka on the shore. I missed the endearing humor which I had so enjoyed in Hard-boiled.. and A Wild Sheep Chase. I missed the music of the words which brought to life the prose of Norwegian Wood. I missed the splendid descrip...moreNot a complete dis-appointment, but probably not worth the time I spent reading it either. Especially when it took me 200+ pages to get into it and some of the chapters were a chore to get through.
Most of the things which I love about Murakami's writing are missing in Kafka on the shore. I missed the endearing humor which I had so enjoyed in Hard-boiled.. and A Wild Sheep Chase. I missed the music of the words which brought to life the prose of Norwegian Wood. I missed the splendid descriptions of scenes which made Wild Sheep.. so memorable. I did find something similar to the dream-like quality and bizarre, surreal imagination of Wind-up.. here, but it was not quite as gripping and entrancing.

What I do admire about Kafka.. is its dichotomous structure and the way the two stories are interwined and brought together towards the end. Not surprisingly, parallel worlds begin to intersect, the real world and the other side get all mixed up. While I appreciate the way this was done, I do not get the significance of all of this. I couldn't put my finger on where the heart of the novel lies. In all the other Murakami novels I have read so far, there were always some strong themes that stood out even in wild, mind-bending storylines. However, Kafka.. fails to contribute much towards any particular theme. There are the ideas of loss and precious-ness of memories which the novel deals with to some extent, but neither is addressed in a manner strong enough. What I got out of the novel, doesn't feel like it was worth 467 pages.
One could potentially enjoy the passages devoted to philosophical discussions and some works of literature. However, being unfamiliar with those concepts and works, I was unable to appreciate them. And the dull prose didn't help pique my interest either.

It is not unusual for me to not feel strongly towards/against any of Murakami's characters, with their apathetic attitude and strange ways. Hoshino, from Kafka.., however, is one of the more "normal" characters of Murakami novels and is kind of fascinating. I loved his simple and trusting mind. One of my favorite parts of the novel was the way Beethoven's music struck a chord with him and stirred something inside him. I wish there was a bit more about how music brought about some kind of transformation of his persona.
I also feel a lot of sympathy for Nakata. Due to a strange accident during the WWII he lost his ability to have feelings and memories. Imagine what living like that would be like!

Other than that, I do not have much to say about this novel. It mostly failed to provoke thoughts and bring out emotions. The prose isn't too impressive either. I came across an interesting insight in a NY-times review though, an excerpt from which is posted below:

"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."
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Nov 22, 2011

Odai Alsaeed rated it

تتقاعس الكلمات في وصف أسلوب الرواية العظيم ....هاروكي موراكامي اسم لم أقرأ له من قبل ياللخجل....أحتاج لبعض الوقت كي أستفيق من تأثير الرواية الأفيوني وما فعلته بي من خدر ونشوة ثقافية تغلغلت أحداثهاالى فكري المتواضع اذا ما قارنته ببراكين الكاتب الثائرةالخلاقة.......رواية هاروكي تتضمن ثلاثة أحداث تسير في خط متواز ولكنها تتقاطع في نفس الوقت .....انقلابه على السرد النمطي حدث جلي بحد ذاته....... جمع من خلالها المتناهي واللامتناهي في صور جلية.... قسم أشخاص الرواية الى عالم اتسع للجميع فمحدودية الف...more

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Oct 19, 2011

Shovelmonkey1 rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, read-in-2010, bookcrossing-books, japanese-literature

I thought this book was brilliant - probably my favourite of all the Murikami books i've read so far. Is it cowardly to admit that Johnny Walker scared the living bejesus out of me? Definately a candidate for the weirdest book character ever. I liked this book so much I bought a copy of it for my best friend for his birthday.

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Jan 07, 2008

Jeff rated it

Recommends it for: The noble Samurai warrior, or that indie guy who works at the used CD shop

Really?
What just happened? Who? What? I’m sorry, what?

This is how it starts:
“You’re going to love this book.” Someone says to someone else. “I loved this book, and I know you’re going to love this book.”

Someone said this to my friend, and she read the book, and she thought, “eh.”

But there were more people out there. They love this book! This book is the book that will change everything! If they were to build a time machine and travel back i...moreReally?
What just happened? Who? What? I’m sorry, what?

This is how it starts:
“You’re going to love this book.” Someone says to someone else. “I loved this book, and I know you’re going to love this book.”

Someone said this to my friend, and she read the book, and she thought, “eh.”

But there were more people out there. They love this book! This book is the book that will change everything! If they were to build a time machine and travel back in time with several copies of this book, and if they were to give copies of this book to Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael then there would be absolutely no problems in the Middle East. There would be no homeless. Unicorns would run free through fields of grass. We’d all have universal health care.

“A friend of mine gave me this book. Matt really likes this book. Joe really likes this book. I thought it was ‘eh’. But maybe you’ll like it.” She said as she handed me the book.

So I read it. And I’m inclined to agree with the woman who gave it to me. It’s “eh”. Kafka is a young kid looking for something that’s been missing in his life. It maybe his mother, but that’s really just a metaphor. Then there’s this simpleton old man who can talk to cats. Then there’s this secret world in the mountains. Then there’s a magical stone. Then Godzilla, then a comet hits Mars and we all grow a third arm. I felt as if the story spiraled out of control, maybe. I think part of the problem is that Karuki Murakami doesn’t write in English, and I can’t read Japanese, and while I’m sure Philip Gabriel is a perfectly nice man, and can translate Japanese into English perfectly well, I still felt like there was something lost in the translation while reading the book. So, IF I were to suggest you read this book, I would first suggest you learn to read Japanese, then maybe spend some years in Japan. Then read the book. Then write me and tell me what you thought of it. Cause for me- it’s a little too metaphor-y, and at the end of the book, all I could think was, “Really?”
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Nov 28, 2007

Naomi rated it

Shelves: воображение

Magical! A beautiful weave of metaphysical, philosophy, and wonderful characters that are both 'global' and 'Japanese'. Oedipal theory put to music, Hegelian subject given a body, Beethoven symphonies come to life. Murakami is obviously someone who thought deeply and originally about his world and theories he comes in contact with. Much like Kafka and Nakata and many of those they meet including some of the kitties. This was one of those books that totally engulfed me. It was a trial having to p...moreMagical! A beautiful weave of metaphysical, philosophy, and wonderful characters that are both 'global' and 'Japanese'. Oedipal theory put to music, Hegelian subject given a body, Beethoven symphonies come to life. Murakami is obviously someone who thought deeply and originally about his world and theories he comes in contact with. Much like Kafka and Nakata and many of those they meet including some of the kitties. This was one of those books that totally engulfed me. It was a trial having to put it down to go to work or sleep or feed the cats. This is the first Murakami book that I've read so I'm not familiar with his themes but I would love to know something about his biography.

^spoilers^
I obviously wrote the above review shortly after finishing the book! I have had time to think about it and attempt to describe it to others and I realised in the process that reading this book was very much like dreaming. Like a dream, the book has its own internal logic which makes perfect sense from within its pages. Yet, from without it appears very strange indeed and Murukami left many threads untied. I have some questions: firstly, was the father 'johnny walker' or did Johnny Walker appropriate Kafka's father's body to serve the purpose of being murdered? I certainly didn't get that impression, but then, according to the description of 'it' as 'nothing' having no presence and unable to touch or lift anything (when 'it' was Colonial Sanders), if Kafka's father was 'it' then how did Ms. Saike get pregnant etc? I forget the name of the girl he met on the bus, but though he imagined that she could be his sister, it appeared that she wasn't (by her own family history). Which raises my next question: What did Ms. Saike do with Kafka's sister? She took her away with her 11 years before but there doesn't seem to be any explanation for what happened to her after that. Why did Nakata loose his ability to speak to cats after killing Johnny Walker? And, why did Mr. Horoshino gain this ability once Mr. Nakata died? One last point: I speculated, when the school teacher admitted in the letter that Nakata had found her bloody towels, that the 'trigger' for hypnotising the children was blood. The pattern of blood recurs quite often - when Johnny Walker dies (and kills the cats), when Ms. Saike sticks her hairpin in her arm and Kafka sucks on it. Judging by the two solders who managed to 'enter' that half way zone, obviously somehow the entrance stone had been opened about the same time as Nakata went into his coma. Ms. Saike opened the stone perhaps 15 or 20 years after that. The stone glowed red when 'it' was crawling towards it. So was blood and perhaps sacrifice the key element in the entrance stone's operation? Also the teacher describes her dream of the night before, and considering Kafka's 'rape' of his 'sister', perhaps the event initially described was not as random it seemed. (less)

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Feb 21, 2008

Martine rated it

Recommends it for: those who like their novels weird and poetic

Shelves: asian, modern-fiction, magic-realism

I could write a one-sentence review of this book, saying that it features Beethoven, talking cats and obsessive love and that therefore I couldn't but love it. Or I could write another one-sentence review, stating that it's Murakami and that therefore it's inherently good and interesting. Both of these statements would be true and more or less complete, but all the same I think I'll go into slightly more detail.

Kafka on the Shore is a story about a fifteen-year-old bookworm who calls...moreI could write a one-sentence review of this book, saying that it features Beethoven, talking cats and obsessive love and that therefore I couldn't but love it. Or I could write another one-sentence review, stating that it's Murakami and that therefore it's inherently good and interesting. Both of these statements would be true and more or less complete, but all the same I think I'll go into slightly more detail.

Kafka on the Shore is a story about a fifteen-year-old bookworm who calls himself Kafka (as you do) and runs away from home, partly to look for his lost mother and sister, but mostly to get away from his horrible father, whose crimes against him are never fully explained. Fate draws him to a town where, among other things, he meets two women who may well be his mother and sister, which doesn't prevent him from having sex with them. His story, which is as Oedipal as they come, is intersected with that of Nakata, a sixty-year-old simpleton who, among many other unique gifts, can talk to cats. It quickly transpires that Kafka's and Nakata's lives are interconnected, but exactly how this is doesn't become clear until the end, if indeed it does then.

There is much to enjoy here. As always, Murakami's prose is supremely efficient; every sentence matters and takes you closer to the inevitable denouement. As always, the characters are tremendously likeable and off-beat. One could argue that they're not entirely three-dimensional, but who cares when they have such a story to tell? For theirs is quite a story. Like all of Murakami's 'weird' books, Kafka on the Shore is light on facts and heavy on metaphysical stuff. It's not a book for those who like straightforward stories; many of the questions raised are left unanswered, which I love but which will leave those who are of a slightly more literal bent unsatisfied. Nor is it a book for people who care about realism. What with its curses, entrances to other worlds, mackerel rainstorms, ghosts, concepts assuming human form and heavy emphasis on fate, destiny and reincarnation, Kafka on the Shore has a distinctly fairy-tale-like atmosphere, which is probably why I liked it so much (apart from it featuring Beethoven, talking cats and obsessive love, I mean). Parts of the story were clearly inspired by Japanese mythology. In its own turn, I can see this book being the inspiration for a very good Japanese movie. Maybe it has a little too much violence and incest in it to be turned into an anime film, but I can think of quite a few 'regular' Japanese directors who could do great things with this particular brand of mysterious magic realism. Which begs the question: how come the book hasn't been adapted to the screen yet?

Anyhow, to cut a long story short (and to prevent this turning into a panegyric on Japanese cinema), I loved this book. If I'm not giving it five stars, that's because it lacks the emotional resonance of Norwegian Wood (my favourite Murakami book so far) and because Philip Gabriel's translation is a little too American for my taste. If I could give it four and a half stars, though, I would -- for the skilful way in which Murakami weaves together his two storylines, for his haunting descriptions of the power of memories and longing, for the many matter-of-fact weird touches he adds (Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders, anyone?), and, naturally, for his throwing in Beethoven, talking cats and obsessive love. It doesn't get any better than that, does it?
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Feb 26, 2010

Greg Tatum rated it

Shelves: fiction

Murakami's novels are always a little hard to get through, because they are rather long, and more often than not, very little actually happens throughout them. They are full of a myriad of tedious details, illogical plot twists, and unbelievable happenings. However despite all of this, I find them to be amazing novels that affect me on a level very different than the average book. Kafka on the Shore was no exception, and listening to it in audiobook form only helped to enhance the experience.
...more

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Sep 22, 2007

Julian rated it

Having read and loved The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, this is a book I wanted to like more than I ultimately did. The surreality adds up to very little here; if I'm going to get sick reading (spoiler!) about a guy eating the hearts of cats, there'd better be a very good reason. Male-ego-centered sexual self discovery just isn't enough. I picture a Sigmund Freud action figure sitting on Murakami's desk while he wrote this.

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Jul 18, 2011

إبراهيم عادل rated it

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هذه رواية ملحمية، وراااائعة فعلاً ... يجب أن نشكر المترجمة "إيمان رزق الله" فالترجمة جعلت النص وكأنه مكتوبًا بالعربية :) رحلة في البحث عن الذات في جانب منها ورحلة في عالم غرائبي مدهش وشيق في ناحية أخرى مزج بينهما الراوي ببراعة وإتقان
.
حسَّنت أيضًا هذه الرواية من علاقتي بالأدب المترجم بشكل عام، وعرفتني على الأدب الياباني الذي يبدو أصيلًا وأصليًا هو الآخـر ...
لا أحب أن أضيَّع على القارئ استمتاعه باكتشاف عوالمها، ولكنها ممتعة وشيقة فعلاً
.
تتميز رحلة البحث ...more

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Jun 01, 2008

Walter rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 15, 2011

Odai Alsaeed rated it

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تتقاعس الكلمات في وصف أسلوب الرواية العظيم ....هاروكي موراكامي اسم لم أقرأ له من قبل ياللخجل....أحتاج لبعض الوقت كي أستفيق من تأثير الرواية الأفيوني وما فعلته بي من خدر ونشوة ثقافية تغلغلت أحداثهاالى فكري المتواضع اذا ما قارنته ببراكين الكاتب الثائرةالخلاقة.....رواية هاروكي تتضمن ثلاثة أحداث تسير في خط متواز ولكنها تتقاطع في نفس الوقت .....انقلابه على السرد النمطي حدث جلي بحد ذاته.... جمع من خلالها المتناهي واللامتناهي في صور جلية.... قسم أشخاص الرواية الى عالم اتسع للجميع فمحدودية الفكر لأشخاصه...more

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Jul 16, 2010

Ben Babcock rated it

Shelves: own, 2010-read, fantasy, literary-pretentious, translated

So, yeah, I don't really understand this book.

It is not often that I admit a book has defeated me intellectually; upon the rare occasion that it happens, however, I will admit it. This review is, like any review, a meditation on the unique experience I had reading the book, but it is also ruminations about why I feel that Kafka on the Shore is a mountain whose summit I never reached.

I'm starting to suspect that I have a penchant for magic realism. On one hand, the term smac...more

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Ben Babcock John wrote: "My only comment is that I, very firmly, don't believe in genres, and have no interest in even looking up what 'magical realism' may ...more
Aug 02, 2011 03:09pm

John Caulfield Ben, you express yourself so well. I don't have a "problem" with genres as such. Where the problem, for me, begins, is where the language of...moreBen, you express yourself so well. I don't have a "problem" with genres as such. Where the problem, for me, begins, is where the language of genres starts to exclude "ordinary" readers from the debate. Thinking in terms of music, for example, all music is based around three key aspects, rhythm, harmony and melody, and I do have a problem with arguments based around the fact that a particular piece of music should not be judged in these terms because, actually, it falls into the sub-sub genre of proto-neo-noise-death-metal. Either the piece of music has an interesting / original chord structure and "tune" or it "don't," regardless of the classification. In this regard I think of surfers who speak there own lingo about waves, etc, thus excluding everyone else who has the presumption to think they know anything about the sea. I believe that literature should be judged on literary criteria (starting from the basics - lucidity, grammar, expression, and working its way up thru originality of theme), and that its genre is very much secondary to its inherent worth.
Personally, I don't like to think of Murakami's work as a sub-genre of fantasy, because I don't like fantasy, and again, very personally, I generally don't find fantasy novels worth reading.
I like to think of Kafka and Wind up bird as realistic novels whose "magical' moments can be explained away via hallucinations induced by sensory deprivation (Bird in the well) / madness (the man who speaks to cats in Kafta) the vague boundaries between dreams and reality, or, at "worst", credible science fiction (time-loops, etc, such as the entrance stone in Kafka).
I also believe that the best authors (and I include Murakami here) do not set out to write a novel within the boundaries of a particular genre (that is what second rate writers do when they jump on the bandwagon of JK Rowling or Dan Brown type books). The classifications come later, by critics, students or lecturers, while the real writers just keep on writing great and original new works that defy classification (for a while) until some critic invents a new sub-genre ...(less)
updated Aug 03, 2011 01:44pm

Jun 01, 2009

erry rated it

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Recommends it for: Dahlia

Shelves: sastra-luar-negeri

The drowning girl’s finger
Search for the entrance stone, and more
Lifting the hem of her azure dress,
She gazes
At kafka on the shore

At beginning, reading this book just like we read two different and not connected stories. It’s about Kafka, a 15 years old boy who runs away from home either to escape from a gruesome oedipal prophecy and to search for his long missing mother and sister. And an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affl...moreThe drowning girl’s finger
Search for the entrance stone, and more
Lifting the hem of her azure dress,
She gazes
At kafka on the shore

At beginning, reading this book just like we read two different and not connected stories. It’s about Kafka, a 15 years old boy who runs away from home either to escape from a gruesome oedipal prophecy and 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 towards something for reasons that, like the most basic activities of his daily life, he can’t fathom.

Try to escape from his former life, try to escape from his father curse. Kafka go to wherever as far as he could. Without any place to go, without any relatives he knew and without any plan what will he do next. After take some travel days, kafka comes to takamatsu city. and stay at a private library.

In the other part of this story, after a murderer of a cat stalker called Johny Walker, Nakata started his jouney towards something he can’t describe. With help from many people, nakata continue his journey until he meets Hoshino, a middle twenty years old truck driver who drove him until Tokyo and then accompany him to Takamatsu.

The two uncorrelated seem stories came to have connected step by step. As their paths converge and the reasons for that convergences become clear. What and whose Nakata search for and what the reasons for that. And what’s the correlation between Kafka and Nakata’s jouney.

Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats can talk, fish fall from the sky, and the spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or to commit murder. There’s just very thin border between reality and illusion or dream. This is unpredictable stories, just like Murakami’s. Some part of this story takes me to the other worlds, and I could imagine a place where no ages and no time.

At the end, it comes to the conclusion “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.”

“Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to slip through it. But even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won’t be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there-to the edge of the world. There’s something you can’t do unless you get there.”
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Oct 29, 2008

Christina Stind rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of magical realism and everybody who likes stories that aren't easily predictable

Shelves: fiction, 1001-books-2006-edition, 2008, favourites, 1001-books-2008-edition, 1001-books-2010-edition, 1294-books-all-3-lists

My first Murakami book - but definitely not the last. Loved it so much all the way through, it's an amazing book and I just want to read more Murakami to see if it's all this fantastic. Just fell completely in love with this book. I already want to read it again - I think some parts of it will be even better when you know what comes... And I don't think you can get the entire story and all it's elements in just one read. This is a book to read over and over and to ponder during and afterwards.
...moreMy first Murakami book - but definitely not the last. Loved it so much all the way through, it's an amazing book and I just want to read more Murakami to see if it's all this fantastic. Just fell completely in love with this book. I already want to read it again - I think some parts of it will be even better when you know what comes... And I don't think you can get the entire story and all it's elements in just one read. This is a book to read over and over and to ponder during and afterwards.

Anyway, the book consists of two somehow connected stories, the storylines play out in alternating chapters - one about a 15 years old boy, Kafka, who run away from his father and his home to search for his mother and the other storyline about a man in his sixties, Nakata, who's not very bright but is able to talk to cats.
Kafka finds a place to stay and hide from his father and the police in a small private library in a small town. He ran away from home because his father put a curse on him similar to the one put on Oedipus and he is trying to escape it becoming reality.
Nakata works as a cat finder - he finds lost cats. He is very good to this job because he is able to talk to cats and ask them for help. But one lost cat leads him on an adventure that takes him away from home and heading towards his destiny in a way.

The novel is - to repeat myself - amazing. You never know where it'll take you and you sit wondering what Nakata and Kafka have to do with each other, if anything. With surprise appearances by Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders, weird things falling from the skies and of course the talking cats, it paints a picture of a reality that is our reality, but not completely so.

I found this quote by Murakami where he sort of explains his intention with the book, after having pointed out that it is a book that you only get completely after reading it several times: "Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write." (http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_intervi...) Still, it is very enjoyable in the first read so it's not absolutely necessary to read it several times - although I think most people will want to read it again because it is such a wonderful novel.(less)

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Jun 26, 2008

Olly rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So here goes:

For some reason I keep being drawn back to Murakami. With each new book that I read, I find myself wanting to like him more than I ever really do. I'm pretty sure I only started reading him after having read a couple of David Mitchell books. I think my problem is that I went looking for the Murakami that David Mitchell was emulating (or the Murakami to whom Mitchell was paying tribute) and apart from a few allusions that I now understand, I don't think I've found him yet...moreSo here goes:

For some reason I keep being drawn back to Murakami. With each new book that I read, I find myself wanting to like him more than I ever really do. I'm pretty sure I only started reading him after having read a couple of David Mitchell books. I think my problem is that I went looking for the Murakami that David Mitchell was emulating (or the Murakami to whom Mitchell was paying tribute) and apart from a few allusions that I now understand, I don't think I've found him yet. That's not to say that I don't enjoy reading his books; I enjoy them for the most part but I definitely don't love them. I think my favorite so far is SPUTNIK SWEETHEART the first book of his that I read (a couple books ago) which felt a little like parts of THE MAGUS and LE GRAND MEAULNES.

I guess I enjoyed KAFKA ON THE SHORE in the end, even if I found it mostly frustrating. There were a number of things (not just dialogue) that really bothered me for the first three-quarters of the book. After that, I was able to let it go a little...I'd like to give the author the benefit of the doubt and blame the translator/translation quality...but I'm skeptical.

In response to the Kafka question: I don't think there's anything wrong with liking Kafka. I haven't read anything that recently (I reread THE CASTLE a year or two ago) so this commentary might not be too accurate. I'm not 100% sure how relate this book to Kafka. Kafka is clearly one (of many)influences for Murakami (SPUTNIK SWEETHEART had a character named "K"). The narrator tells us that Kafka means crow...and the Kafka in this book has a sort of imaginary counterpart named crow (who becomes a crow at one point...possibly in a dream(?)). But other than that, this didn't feel too much like Kafka (even, I suspect, where it was supposed to). What I like about the surreal or magical-realistic aspect of Kafka is that it's so grounded in reality, all of the details have been so thoroughly researched, that it feels real. But with Murakami, the surreal episodes feel like they've just been plunked in, on a whim and there's so many of them that don't seem at all related. Compared to THE METAMORPHASIS, the deus ex machinae of the fish and leeches falling from the sky (which as far as I can tell was never explained except by saying that one of the characters "made it happen") seems like just that...an easy out...a means of not having to explain or resolve plot holes or allow the story to progress organically.

It doesn't bother me that the Nakata character talks with cats...but does the dialogue have to be so bad (even with the character being mentally challenged)? And then there was the whole Johnny Walker, Colonel Sanders thing; which I guess could have been some sort of critique of western export...consumer culture or whatever which would have been fine)...but all I could think of was Murakami with writer's block over a half-eaten bucket of popcorn chicken and half-empty bottle of scotch trying to come up with something useful. Oh, I almost forgot the description of sex in his books that always seems so creepy, cold and generally off-putting.

To his credit: one of my favorite parts of the book was where the boy goes to the cabin in the woods and then on to the utopian limbo...I feel like I've read a lot of things like this lately that did what HM was trying to do (only better) but this was still good...and this section did feel intentional and deliberate...(and I guess just a little bit like an episode of Lost). Also, I should probably mention that I liked his essay on running in the New Yorker a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry this review might be worse than before, but I don't have time (or probably the capacity) to make it any better.

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Mar 03, 2008

Donna rated it

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Shelves: expanding-horizons, japan, 1001-books, new-york-times

There is something so intriguing and mesmerizing about Murakami’s books. I can’t put my finger on it, nor can I fully explain it in simple words in a short review. Murakami isn’t just a book, it’s an experience. His characters are quirky, interesting, looking for answers, and wise beyond belief:

“That’s why I like to listen to Schubert while I’m driving. As I said, it’s because all the performances are imperfect. A dense, artistic imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keep...moreThere is something so intriguing and mesmerizing about Murakami’s books. I can’t put my finger on it, nor can I fully explain it in simple words in a short review. Murakami isn’t just a book, it’s an experience. His characters are quirky, interesting, looking for answers, and wise beyond belief:

“That’s why I like to listen to Schubert while I’m driving. As I said, it’s because all the performances are imperfect. A dense, artistic imperfection stimulates your consciousness, keeps you alert. If I listen to some utterly perfect performance of an utterly perfect piece while I’m driving, I might want to close my eyes and die right then and there. But listening to the D major, I can feel the limits of what humans are capable of – that a certain type of perfection can only be realized through a limitless accumulation of the imperfect.” [Oshima, p. 119]

The characters in a Murakami novel – in this case Kafka, a 15-year-old runaway; Oshima, who manages the library that Kafka lives in; Nakata, an old man who speaks to cats; and the elusively sad Miss Saeki – draw you into a story that is partly narrative, partly plot-driven, peppered with philosophical insights and linguistic manipulations, but mostly mythical in nature.

“The world of the grotesque is the darkness within us. Well before Freud and Jung shone a light on the workings of the subconscious, these two forms of darkness, was obvious to people. It wasn’t a metaphor, even. If you trace it back further, it wasn’t even a correlation. Until Edison invented the electric light, most of the world was covered in darkness. The physical darkness outside and the inner darkness of the soul were mixed together, with no boundary separating the two.” [Oshima, p. 242]

Kafka on the Shore is a most unusual coming of age novel. It’s a murder mystery, a love affair, and a magnificent example of seamlessly beautiful storytelling:

“It’s as if when you’re in the forest, you become a seamless part of it. When you’re in the rain, you’re a part of the rain. When you’re in the morning, you’re a seamless part of the morning. When you’re with me, you become a part of me.” [Miss Saeki, p. 472]

I preferred Norwegian Wood to Kafka on the Shore, but admittedly I didn’t give Kafka much of a fighting chance. I’ve been buried in academic reading, with little time for novels, and it took me over a month to read Kafka. I suspect that a re-read, conducted under different circumstances, would raise my rating to a perfect 5. In the meantime, I’ve added three more Murakami titles to my “must-read” list. :)
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Apr 21, 2009

Dottie rated it

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Shelves: 1001-read, 2009

I've just finished Kafka on the Shore and am left a bit at
sea to extend the metaphor a bit.

First off, I set out relatively well and even that first encounter with the recurring conversations between Nakata and the cat didn't faze me which for those who know how I tend to balk at fantasy or magical realism, etc. may surprise some folks.

The book came close to getting the heave-ho at one point but I refrained from actually hurling it at the wall. Still, while there ...moreI've just finished Kafka on the Shore and am left a bit at
sea to extend the metaphor a bit.

First off, I set out relatively well and even that first encounter with the recurring conversations between Nakata and the cat didn't faze me which for those who know how I tend to balk at fantasy or magical realism, etc. may surprise some folks.

The book came close to getting the heave-ho at one point but I refrained from actually hurling it at the wall. Still, while there was some serious thought given to putting it back on the shelf, I kept going with encouragement from my friend who had persuaded me to read it and from our own Sheila and a couple of others over on Facebook.

There are many things I liked about it. I loved the character of Nakata and I thought the trucker pal was marvelous fun. I liked most of the others also so it isn't the characters, I conclude that are causing me unrest. I think it's the loose-jointedness of the general package. Does that make any sense? I feel like I'm left with big chasms in the story with no marvelous, lovely long bridge like the one Nakata and Oshino crossed to get me from one part of the story to another. I "got" the concept personified in Colonel Sanders to some small degree. I can even live with the entrance stone thread. But there are other bits
which seem to float free from the overall tale and dance about just beyond my comprehension. Maybe it will just take a second visit -- but I'm positive I'll never read this again straight through -- I'll pick and choose -- which will likely leave me as confused as I feel now.

As for the Oedipal thing I found little substance to it given that whether or not it did or did not actually exist was never fully resolved nor was the connection clarified as to his father's meeting with his mother at any point so far as I could tell. Or did I miss something in fact as well as feeling like I've missed so many things overall? I remember at one point thinking 'ah-ha -- this connects to that' but that promptly got lost in the soup and now I can't even recall what I was thinking. Boy, it is so obvious that I'm befuddled with this one.

I rather doubt this review will be very helpful for anyone either in understanding the book or in dec iding whether this is a book they wish to read for themselves -- but at the momment this is the best Ican do with it.(less)

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Jun 07, 2007

ryan rated it

Shelves: fiction

Just finished this on the train ride into work and its now one of my favorite of Murakami's. Kafka on the Shore reads like a cross between the languid, repetative, dreamlike atmosphere of The Windup Bird Chronicle and the converging dual story narrative of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

The main first-person story is that of Kafka Tamura, a 15-year-old runaway fleeing from an Oepidal prophecy, but by running away just sort of vaguely winds up fulfilling it instead. ...moreJust finished this on the train ride into work and its now one of my favorite of Murakami's. Kafka on the Shore reads like a cross between the languid, repetative, dreamlike atmosphere of The Windup Bird Chronicle and the converging dual story narrative of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

The main first-person story is that of Kafka Tamura, a 15-year-old runaway fleeing from an Oepidal prophecy, but by running away just sort of vaguely winds up fulfilling it instead. The second story is that of Nakata, a simpleton who can speak with cats and follows in Kafka's path as he flees.

Like Mailer's An American Dream, the line between reality, dreams and the supernatural is nonexistant--things happen which seem beyond belief, but the story just keeps chugging along like they're real. Dream sequences become crucial plot points. Also like that Mailer book, Kafka implies other levels of reality, that unseen spirits on some other plain are manipulating the character's actions like puppetmasters. The surreal edge is livened up even more with some choice elements of David Lynch mindfuckery: corporate icons used as villains, slugs raining from the sky, eating cats' hearts to make a flute, a huge and evil white slug crawling out of the mouth of a dead body.

Much is made of symbolism and metaphor in the book--Kafka winds up working at a library where the characters discuss literature, in particular the books and authors that are direct influences on Murakami and the story (yes, including Franz Kafka) but much of the basic plot is left entirely ambiguous. Did Kafka really sleep with his mother? His father winds up dead, but did Kafka kill him? Just what was it that turned Nakata from a promising student into a dimwit? Connections are made and implied but never fully explained.

A wonderfully twisted and mindbending surreal roller coaster. I had my doubts about the book--particularly the slow pace of the begining, and some parts of the middle that seemed to drag on--but I wound up loving it. One of Murakami's best.(less)

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Dec 15, 2011

Kevin Xu rated it

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Shelves: favorites

This book like many of the novels of Haruki Murakami is about a young man discovering about himself. This time it is through the eyes of a fifteen year old who has run away from his dad in the city of Tokyo to the small town of Takamatsu, where he spends his time at a local small private library where he meets Oshima who looks after him, and the owner of the library, Miss Saeki. This is the story of how he finds about the past, and discovers something magical.

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Jul 13, 2011

Yuki rated it

I hate this story.
First, I hate his idea of karma, which I think the story is about.

I also hate how he writes. He likes to add details that don't really enrich the story, as well as lots of foreign references as if he wants me to know how much he knows...
I also hate that the main character is a teenager, and how he separates his story so the chapters alternate between the main character and another story about a mentally disabled old guy which I suppose will come toget...more

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Jul 03, 2011

Nojood rated it

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Shelves: 2011-readings, arabic-books, translations

على الأقل اثنتين من الصديقات ينتظرن هذا التعليق
كانت قراءة هذا الكتاب تجربة فريدة بحق. تتحدث الرواية عن شخصين أحدهما في الخامسة عشر والثاني في الستين. وحين تقراعن الاثنين لا تملك إلا أن تتساءل هل أخطأ الكاتب في اختيار شخصياته؟ فابن الخامسة عشر يبدو لك كبير جدا بينما يبدو لك ابن الستين طفل بريء لم يتجاوز سنوات عمره الأولى. وبالرغم أن حياة كل منهما تختلف كليا عن الآخر إلا أن الرابط بينهما قوي (لا أزعم أني فهمت هذا الرابط حتى الآن). وتنتهي الرواية بدون لقاء حقيقي بينهماومع ذلك يظل القاريء...moreعلى الأقل اثنتين من الصديقات ينتظرن هذا التعليق
كانت قراءة هذا الكتاب تجربة فريدة بحق. تتحدث الرواية عن شخصين أحدهما في الخامسة عشر والثاني في الستين. وحين تقراعن الاثنين لا تملك إلا أن تتساءل هل أخطأ الكاتب في اختيار شخصياته؟ فابن الخامسة عشر يبدو لك كبير جدا بينما يبدو لك ابن الستين طفل بريء لم يتجاوز سنوات عمره الأولى. وبالرغم أن حياة كل منهما تختلف كليا عن الآخر إلا أن الرابط بينهما قوي (لا أزعم أني فهمت هذا الرابط حتى الآن). وتنتهي الرواية بدون لقاء حقيقي بينهماومع ذلك يظل القاريء يفكر بأنهما لابد امتزجا في النهاية. كيف؟ لا نعرف.
للدم أهمية كبرى في أحداث هذه القصة فهو مرة مصدر عار ومرة مصدر حيرة ومرة موت وأخيرا حياة.
أعجبني التنويع في الراوي فإن كنا مع كافكا نراه من خلال أفكاره هو أما ناكاتا وهوشينو اللذان يتوحدان في النهاية) فلا نراهما إلا من خلال الراوي مما يجعلنا نعيش الفتى ونكون دائما في معزل عن العجوز. والصوت الثالث الهزيل جدا في الرواية هو صوت الغراب والذي استخدم ضمير المُخاطَب: أنت وكأنه يعزل نفسه تماما عن الأحداث ويتفرج دوما من مكان عال فلا نعرف عنه شيء سوى احكامه التي يطلقها على الآخرين.
للحيوانات صوت قوي في هذه الرواية فالقطط تتحدث بلغة خاصة بها وتعرف كل شيء وهي تشبه البشر في كثير من الأشياء والغراب يتحدث حتى لتظن أنه شخص في البداية ثم تكتشف أخيرا انه طائر. هنا أعترف أن ثقافتي تدخلت في قراءتي للكتاب فالغراب عندي رمز سلبي بينما انتبهت في منتصف الرواية أن للغراب نظرة إيجابية جدا في الثقافة اليابانية. عندها فقط بدأت أفهم الشخصية بطريقة أخرى.
لم أفهم رمزية الجنس في الرواية ولا علاقة عقدة أوديب بالقصة. يتركنا الكاتب بخيوط مفككة كثيرة فبالرغم من طول الرواية تظل كثير من الأسئلة معلقة دون إجابة. هل قصد الكاتب أن يقول لنا أن هناك الكثير من الأشياء في الحياة تظل غير حتمية ولا يمكن أن نعرفها حتى النهاية؟ لماذا هذه النظرة التشاؤمية جدا للأب الغائب دائما ولكن الحاضر طول الوقت؟
الرواية بصفة عامة تستحق القراءة ففيها الكثير من الحديث عن نظريات فلسفية وكتب كلاسيكية قد لا نكون نعرف عنها شيئا.
تمنيت لو استطعت سماع أغنية كافكا على الشاطيء(less)

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Aug 20, 2010

Mrs. Crane rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It took me about 9 chapters before I was able to become somewhat interested in the characters of this story. The novel was simultaneously split into three stories: Kafka, Nakata, and the teacher in the forest.
What I like most about Murakami is that he makes me want to read his work, although I'm not big on things that are not easily explained. He's the kind of writer who's work you think you might not enjoy until you start reading it. He's a great writer, and the simplicity if his prose i...moreIt took me about 9 chapters before I was able to become somewhat interested in the characters of this story. The novel was simultaneously split into three stories: Kafka, Nakata, and the teacher in the forest.
What I like most about Murakami is that he makes me want to read his work, although I'm not big on things that are not easily explained. He's the kind of writer who's work you think you might not enjoy until you start reading it. He's a great writer, and the simplicity if his prose is his charm. He's got an incredible imagination. Some of these stories are so bizarre, you couldn't make it up even if you tried, but obviously, Murakami did.
I feel so comfortable reading his work that even when I don't know where the direction of story is headed, I am very patient in seeing where Murakami is leading me.
The reason I also enjoy reading Murakami's stories, although I may not think the stories themselves are 5 star, is because you get the sense there is so much more to the characters life, beyond anything written in the book and what he chooses to present to you. You have this feeling that all the characters in his stories have a much bigger life outside of what murakami is allowing you to see.
That's how I feel about his work as a whole, however this particular novel left a lot to be desired and again, as in with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I felt Murakami didn't wrap things up as satisfying as I would've liked. I'm willing to be liberal-minded about metaphysics, but things ultimately still need to make sense. I'm huge on cause and effect, and there needs to be a reason for why things happen. Reading Murakami makes me feel like there's a course on symbolism I need to take in order to fully comprehend the message he's putting out there.
It seems that to get Murakami, you have to posses a certain level of insight and enlightenment. Not that this is the case with all readers who claim to love this novel, because I know that there are a lot of idiot readers out there that are all like "OMG I love Murakami, and I totally get it" and really, they have not the slightest fucking clue.
But I noticed the story had a lot to do with second chances. Nakata was given a second chance when he woke up from his coma, Mrs Saeki was given a second chance with her lost murdered love, Hoshino was given a second chance after his grandfathers death to make it up to him through Nakata, and Kafka was given a second chance when he came back from the dead. But there was a lot left unexplained. Like why did Kafka's father have to kill cats? yeah, I know it was to make flutes from souls, but why? Why did he put an Oedipal curse on his son? Why did his mom abandon Kafka? I know she sort of gave a reason, but after all that I expected a more profound metaphysical reason. Plus kafka really didn't have sex with his sister. That girl was just someone he met. You see, I guess I'm just not that insightful to understand all of it. I was really disappointed with this story and I felt that Murakami failed to make the metaphysics aspect of it accessible. (less)

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Oct 11, 2011

Lausº rated it

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Shelves: favorites

Hay una parte de este libro en la que habla sobre Aristófanes, un dramaturgo griego que decía que el mundo antiguo estaba formado por tres clases: hombres-hombres, hombres-mujeres y mujeres-mujeres… pero un buen día los dioses los partieron a la mitad y desde entonces los seres humanos están buscando desesperadamente a la mitad faltante. Hago referencia a esto, porque creo que en un principio, Murakami escribió dos historias… por un lado tenemos a Nakata, el cual durante su infancia sufrió un mi...moreHay una parte de este libro en la que habla sobre Aristófanes, un dramaturgo griego que decía que el mundo antiguo estaba formado por tres clases: hombres-hombres, hombres-mujeres y mujeres-mujeres… pero un buen día los dioses los partieron a la mitad y desde entonces los seres humanos están buscando desesperadamente a la mitad faltante. Hago referencia a esto, porque creo que en un principio, Murakami escribió dos historias… por un lado tenemos a Nakata, el cual durante su infancia sufrió un misterioso evento que provocó que cayera en coma y al despertar se le otorgó la habilidad de hablar con los gatos y quitándole a su vez, parte de sus facultades mentales. Por el otro, esta Kafka Tamura, que para huir de una maldición edípica, decide irse de su casa a la edad de 15 años en compañía de un joven llamado Cuervo.

A simple vista los protagonistas no tienen nada en común, excepto la soledad y melancolía que el autor tiende obsequiar a sus personajes… sin embargo conforme avanza la lectura empiezas a ver que las dos historias forman parte de un mismo ser, que página a página va intentando encontrar su otra mitad

De alguna manera, Murakami logra ambientar la rareza de su universo imaginario con mucha credibilidad; creo que nunca más podré disfrutar Blanca Nieves de Disney, de la misma forma. Ya que para su imaginación no parece haber límites, no puedes imaginarte el desenlace (o siquiera si existirá uno), puedes esperar cualquier cosa desde una lluvia de sardinas, maldiciones ancestrales, objetos mágicos y hasta gatos que hablan. No se alarmen si después de leer este libro, comienzan a ver a los gatos de una forma distinta, incluso tal vez a dirigirles la palabra... pero (y este es un gran “pero”)..... si el gato les contesta, tal vez deban empezar a buscar ayuda.

Lo que más me gusto de Kafka en la orilla, es que cada uno de los personajes, son interesantes y complejos, me atrevería a decir que Murakami podría escribirle a cada uno su propio libro; pero de ser así, creo que no resistiría el impulso y arrojarlos al viento para después reagruparlos como uno solo.
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There is a part of this book in which it talks about Aristophanes, a Greek playwright who said that the ancient world was formed by three classes: male-male, male-female and female-female... but one day the gods cut them in half and since then, humans are desperately searching for the missing half. I mention this because I believe that initially, Murakami wrote two stories... one side we have Nakata, who as a child suffered a mysterious event, that make him fell in coma and he recover conscience he was given the ability to speak with cats but also lose part of his mental faculties. On the other side, is Kafka Tamura, who in order to escape an oedipal curse, decides to run away from home at the age of 15 years in the company of the boy named Crow.

At first this stories have nothing in common, except the loneliness and melancholy that the author tends to give to his characters... but as the reading progresses you begin to see that both are part of a single being that page by page is trying to find its other half.

Somehow, Murakami manages to acclimate the peculiarity of its imaginary universe with much credibility. I believe that I never will be able to enjoy Disney’s Snow White. Since for his imagination seems to have no limits, you cannot imagine the ending (or at least if one will exist), you can expect anything, from a rain of sardines, ancestral curses, magic items and even cats that talk. Do not be alarmed if after reading this book, you begin to see cats in a different way, maybe even speak to them..... but (and this is a big "but")... if the cat speak back, you may have to start looking for help.

What I like most of Kafka on the shore, is that each of the characters are interesting and complex, I would say that Murakami could write to each of them their own book, but if so, He would probably not resist the urge to throw them to the wind and then regroup them as one.
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Dec 06, 2007

Iris rated it

I can't say this book is one of my favorites, but I can't say I hated it. This wasn't one of the books that I would want to read in one sitting.

Murakami writes in many different points of view; he begins with first-person, then switches to third-person omnipresent, and sometimes even uses second-person narration. From the two protagonists of the novel, Kafka Tamura and Nakata, Murakami uses the different narration depending on which character he describes. When describing Kafka, he u...moreI can't say this book is one of my favorites, but I can't say I hated it. This wasn't one of the books that I would want to read in one sitting.

Murakami writes in many different points of view; he begins with first-person, then switches to third-person omnipresent, and sometimes even uses second-person narration. From the two protagonists of the novel, Kafka Tamura and Nakata, Murakami uses the different narration depending on which character he describes. When describing Kafka, he usually writes with first-person narration, but occasionally he uses second-person. When describing Nakata, third-person is used. The way that he uses these narration makes sense; Kafka is able to think,(you could say, like a normal person), while Nakata, having been in an accident which left him "empty" has thoughts rarely related to how life happens to others. Although he is only fifteen, Kafka's thoughts are a learned person's thoughts while Nakata's are harder to understand because it may seem incoherent.

Kafka has a history of reading a lot, and from reading so much, it is gathered that he has learned a lot from these authors. When talking to Oshima, an employee in the Komura Memorial Library, their discussions focus on metaphors that can be found in books and/or in real life.
Nakata, on the other hand, had a lifestyle quite different from Kafka's. Unable to read, his way of learning differed from other people's. He didn't learn in school and he obtained his skills from life experiences.

The way the novel is written can be quite confusing at times; since Murakami writes about the two different characters with distinct writing styles, the timeline of both is different. The way the days pass by each character is baffling; take for example, a specific Monday in the book. when Kafka describes this specific Monday, it is a few chapters away from when Nakata experiences that same Monday. The days in the book pass by so quickly that it isn't mentioned what day of the week it is. (I can't really describe this writing style.)

Although I didn't love this book as I originally thought, I would want to try Murakami again. Perhaps my reasoning for wanting to read him is his popularity, but I have an urge to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.(less)

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Oct 23, 2007

Matthew rated it

Recommends it for: those detached souls in the universe who love the man

in the swirl of madness, i flew into this book with high expectations, and to a certain extent, they were not quashed. although, yes, you see but three lonely stars from me for this book. but wait, we're getting a head of ourselves. this was, and i suppose is, a murakami. i have only gone as far in as this one and the wind up bird, but somehow i feel like i may not be too far off by making sweeping statements about his view on the human psyche. one has to be prepared for metaphorical metaph...morein the swirl of madness, i flew into this book with high expectations, and to a certain extent, they were not quashed. although, yes, you see but three lonely stars from me for this book. but wait, we're getting a head of ourselves. this was, and i suppose is, a murakami. i have only gone as far in as this one and the wind up bird, but somehow i feel like i may not be too far off by making sweeping statements about his view on the human psyche. one has to be prepared for metaphorical metaphors, quirkily apt social commentary, and a character named johnnie walker, who may or may not be in my freezer right now. this dual narrative tale was quite engaging for much of the duration. it is rare for me when i enjoy, equally, mind you, both stories that are woven together, but at the end of each of the chapter i felt prepared and expectant at what lay ahead. it was, for lack of a better word, quite fun most of the time. you have kafka, a teenager who at the onset runs away from his dear old dad in search of a reason why. you also have a dear old man, who talks to cats, claims a hearty incompetence to the world because of a mysterious incident involving a field trip to pick mushrooms for wartime sustenance, and a propensity for bringing out the very best in people who are in need of something to do. the stories both leave the station with equal tenacity, and keep rolling to the end. eventually there are no more words in the book. it ends. it ends well, actually, which is more then one can say for most books.

nevertheless, which is still quite a long word, i had to give this one the three. a strong three, though, for those of you whom are still counting. and for you, goodreads, whomever you are...can we get on the whole half star thing, becuase that would be great - maybe iTunes could take a hint as well. sorry. anyway, overall, for first timers, i would stick with the wind-up bird, which overall has more to talk to its readers about. this book was almost content talking to itself and didn't mind that you, as the reader, were easedropping. it's a good conversation, don't get me wrong, but once in a while you just wish you could get a word in edge wise.(less)

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Sep 04, 2007

Jamie rated it

Recommends it for: i'm not really sure...

This book was sort of like a modern-day, Japanese version of Through the Looking Glass meets Lord of the Flies meets Cather in the Rye/To Wong Fu, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar and some slightly more dense romain-a-clef...Joyce or something, maybe and a dash of Dahl, too. (Mix in a bit of Sophie's World (you learn philosophy, Keats and a bit of Beethoven with out even trying so you'll sound propetually smart at cocktail parties!)
So...women are men, mother's are lovers, sisters are p...more

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Xboxworld.nl Read...: Haruki Murakami - Kafka op het Strand	18	6	Dec 26, 2011 03:01am

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