Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore (2002)
NUMBER: 104
Genre: Fiction; Origin: Japan; Pages: 500
Satisfaction rating: 7.5
OVERVIEW:
Kafka on the Shore 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. As their paths converge, and the reasons for that convergence become clear, 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. Kafka on the Shore displays one of the world’s great storytellers at the peak of his powers.
MATTHEW’S COMMENTS:
I’ve gotten to the point where I can safely say that I have read quite a bit of Murakami, Kafka on the Shore is the ninth. Those who have read a range of his novels from The Wind-up Bird Chronicle to the Norwegian Wood will know that Murakami can push surreal storytelling from the subtle to strong. Kafka on the Shore is certainly on the surreal side.
I had been saving this work for some time as it is often referred to as one of Murakami’s best works. Perhaps this build up didn’t help but I was slightly disappointed. That said, my overall satisfaction was high, but I would say that this is because of the central storyline but the wonderful characters he has developed, some of the best I’ve read in any of his works, Colonel Sanders is a fine example.
I have a theory, but maybe this is one for the scholars to throw around. In many of his works like Hardboiled Wonderland and Wind-up Bird, Murakami has a central character that is an outsider to the surreal work in which (usually) he has been thrust by a series of events. These characters give the reader someone to latch onto, someone to guide through the often complex mysteries. The character that takes on this role in Kafka on the Shore is truck driver Hoshino, yet he is only a player.
The upshot is that by the end of the book I was no closer to understanding the central themes although I enjoyed the ride. The most frustrating thing is that Murakami suggests in the final paragraphs that ‘the world is a metaphor’. I’m sure it is, but I might need a little more guidance to understand them all.
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Comments (One comment)
I didn’t understand this one either, and (I think) I’ve understood everything else of his I’ve read. I felt like he lost sight of what he was doing with this one, maybe. Still, I found it quite compelling up until the very end.
Colleen / March 29th, 2009, 2:03 am
What do you think?
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