Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Format: Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0307275264 (ISBN13: 9780307275264)
Read from December 30, 2013 to January 4, 2014
owned book, second hand
My rating: ★★★★★

This is the third Haruki Murakami book that I've read. The first novel was Norwegian Wood, and the second one was After Dark, both rated with four stars. I really looked for a copy of this book because I need to read this for my Afro-Asian Literature class. I was surprised to find Haruki Murakami's name in the list; and because I am a fan of his works, I immediately picked his book to write a term paper on as a requirement for our Afro-Asian Lit.

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

Kafka on the Shore comprises of two distinct yet interrelated plots. The odd chapters tells the story of Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old boy who runs away from home to escape the oedipal prophecy made by his father, and to search for his mother and sister. On his journey, he met Sakura , and later finds himself in Komura Memorial Library run by Oshima and Miss Saeki. The even chapters, on the other hand, tells the story of Satoru Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction but could talk to cats, along with other extraordinary abilities.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kafka on the Shore. Reading this novel is like reading a poem. Or like watching an indie film. Or looking into an abstract painting. Everything seemed to be aesthetically senseless, like you were thrown into a whirlpool of jumbled artistry; but as the novel progresses, you gradually see meanings. However, I couldn't say that they were clear meanings, but the novel certainly does not give you that. Everything were vague, and in the end I was thrown to unanswered questions; but that didn't make the novel less beautiful. Actually, I think that's is what exactly makes Kafka on the Shore (and Murakami's writing style) unique and artistic. He does not give you concrete answers, but made the novel open for the interpretations of the readers.

Time weighs down on you like an old, ambiguous dream. You keep on moving, trying to sleep 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.

I also like the way that Kafka on the Shore is reflective and introspective. It's like some of the aspects of the novel are some of my musings I couldn't possibly put into words. "An insistently metaphysical mind-bender," says the blurb at the back of my copy, and sure enough, I was mind blown with the novel as I was reading it. It mixes reality and surrealism, and is very much entertaining. I also like the way how various musical and written works were referenced throughout the novel. And may I also add that I really like the characters of Oshima and Mr. Hoshino!

Kafka on the Shore very much deserve a five-star rating. And this has also become one of my favorites. Mr. Haruki Murakami, you never fail to amaze me! ♡

Every one of us is losing something precious to us. 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.

Also posted here.