Mridula Gupta's Reviews > Kafka on the Shore

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

Kafka Tamura, a runaway, is being followed by a curse that says, he will bed both his mother and his sister, two people he has never really met. In this metaphorically rich novel, Murakami gives you an experience of a lifetime. It is surreal, dreamy, bizarre and one hell of a journey.

As in any other Murakami novel, there is an ingrained element of magical realism that is flawless. Kafka comes across a song named 'Kafka on the Shore' during his time in a library, narrating a story that will finally bring him home and give him the closure he seeks.
Nakata, in the same universe, seeks a stone that is an entrance to another world. He can talk to cats after a terrible accident in his childhood, an event after which his mind was wiped clean, leaving behind a darkness that Nakata has accepted as his own.

'In everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in 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.'

Kafka resonated with me mainly because most of the questions that dominated Kafka's mind has crossed my mind time and again, and this story not only gives perspective, but feels like an old friend. Murakami gives you a whirlwind of thoughts and later, puts you (and his beloved characters) in a calm and serene scenario to let it all settle in, a break we all need. Multiple times these characters pour their thoughts and think them through over a drink, some music or a cup of coffee.

Oshima is a character I was particularly interested in. She is fascinating, well read and a rescuer for Kafka. She will tickle your brain cells in a nice way, all along concealing a secret of her own.

I know this review makes very little sense, but to be very honest there's only one way I'll be able to grasp the essence of this story. And that is by reading it again.