Kafka on the Shore

by Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel (Translator)
Kafka on the Shore
book data
13,256 ratings, 4.03 average rating, 1,702 reviews (more data...)
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published
January 3rd 2006 (first published 2002) by Vintage

binding
Paperback, 467 pages

characters

setting
Iran, Islamic Republic of

isbn
1400079276    (isbn13: 9781400079278)

description
The opening pages of a Haruki Murakami novel can be like the view out an airplane window onto tarmac. But at some point between page three and fiftee...more




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Vanessa
07/15/07
Vanessa rated it: 1 of 5 stars

Read in August, 2007
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...more
Like this review?   yes   (23 people liked it)
  13 comments

Kelly Franklin Robinson
Read in April, 2006
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
Like this review?   yes   (7 people liked it)
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Martine
02/12/08
Martine rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2008
recommends it for: those who like their novels weird and poetic
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...more
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Naomi
06/11/07
Naomi rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: воображение
Read in November, 2007
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...more
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Jeff
08/03/07
Jeff rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in July, 2007
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...more
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erry
01/11/09
erry rated it: 4 of 5 stars (review of isbn 5551416399)

Read in May, 2009
recommends it for: Dahlia
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 ...more
Like this review?   yes   (7 people liked it)
  13 comments

Christina Stind
Read in October, 2008
recommends it for: fans of magical realism and everybody who likes stories that aren't easily predictable
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.
...more
Like this review?   yes   (3 people liked it)
  4 comments

Olly
06/16/08
Olly rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in June, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Like this review?   yes   (3 people liked it)
  3 comments

Donna
01/09/08
Donna rated it: 4 of 5 stars (review of isbn 0099458322)

Read in February, 2008
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 con...more
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  2 comments

ryan
05/27/07
ryan rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: 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. ...more
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Julian
08/02/07
Julian rated it: 3 of 5 stars

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.
Like this review?   yes   (4 people liked it)
  2 comments

Iris
09/20/07
Iris rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Read in October, 2007
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...more
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Matthew
09/14/07
Matthew rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in October, 2007
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...more
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Jamie
08/30/07
Jamie rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in August, 2007
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
Like this review?   yes   (2 people liked it)
  2 comments

Emily
07/06/07
Emily rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: fiction
Read in July, 2007
Once again, Haruki Murakami introduces us to one of his weird and wonderful worlds. Only in a Murakami novel would you find raining fish, ghosts, people who are able to talk to cats, and Colonel Saunders (yes, of KFC) popping up as if it's completely the norm. I've always loved that about Murakami - the way his completely ordinary characters find themselves in completely extraordinary circumstances, and still rise to the occasion without batting an eye.

However, I do have to say tha...more
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Greg
04/29/07
Greg rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2007
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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Walter
07/12/07
Walter rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in May, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Like this review?   yes   (2 people liked it)
  1 comment

Sandy
07/14/08
Sandy rated it: 4 of 5 stars

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2008
recommended to Sandy by: david and damon
recommends it for: our book club
David and Damon, thanks so much for introducing me to this new-to-me writer. I loved this book. There were so many layers to this book, like a delicious layer cake that you can peel off one by one. David and I want Tasha and Tris to finish reading this so we can discuss on the group site. If we don't do it soon, I'll have forgotten all about Kafka, Madame Seta, Nakata, the cabin in the woods, and the stone.
Like this review?   yes   (2 people liked it)
  2 comments

Desiree
02/07/08
Desiree rated it: 2 of 5 stars

Read in February, 2008
moments of genius shrouded by hours of wankery. the climax, which could have been the most compelling and redeeming portion of the book, seemed so rushed while everything else that led up to it seemed unnecessarily drawn out.... leaving room for nothing else but a lifeless, dull ending. read the wind up bird chronicle instead.
Like this review?   yes   (2 people liked it)
  2 comments

Becky
04/04/09
Becky rated it: 2 of 5 stars

bookshelves: east-asia
Read in April, 2009
I really disliked this book. It in fact made me angry to read it or sometimes to even think about reading it. It started off with an interesting premise and interesting characters (which is why it got two stars), but about midway through I thought it all spiraled apart into ridiculousness. I know this book falls into the magical realism genre, in which I know who just need to suspend your disbelief, which I can do, but only if I feel like the magical elements in the book have a meaning and co...more
Like this review?   yes   (2 people liked it)
  2 comments


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For the next read of the month will be Moderators choice... Ashley which her birthday is next month and my self have each chosen 5 books. Your vote will decide the group read for the month of May.

 
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Kafka on the Shore (Hardcover)
Kafka on the Shore (Paperback)
Kafka on the Shore (Hardcover)
海辺のカフカ (下) ( Kafka on the shore II )
Kafka on the Shore (Paperback)







quotes from this book

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


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