Book Review: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

About the Author: 

Haruki Murakami is a bestselling Japanese writer who his famous for his writings not only in his native country but also worldwide with his books being translated into over fifty languages. He has also won a number of awards including the World Fantasy Award and is an author who is loved by all bibliophiles. You can check out his website by clicking the link here.

About the Book: 

Kafka on the Shore is a Japanese book which was released in 2002 and was translated in English in the year 2005 and also made it to the list of “The 10 Best Books of 2005”. It is a fantasy set in Japan which focuses majorly on two main characters. Kafka Tamura, who is a fifteen year old boy who has run away from his house to escape his father’s weird curse and Satoru Nakata who is an old man over sixty years of age who met with an accident when he was nine and as a result is not at all bright, he can’t read and write but has a special ability to talk to cats. The story basically is about a parallel universe which exists apart from our universe where people go when they die. It’s a place where time doesn’t move forward and memories have no place. The gate to this parallel universe is opened which results in the events of the story taking place. It’s by Nakata along with a character named Hoshino that the entrance gate to this parallel universe is finally closed. The story starts at a note where it moves forward describing the lives of these characters but soon turns out to be a fantasy driven novel with a lot of theories about reality and dreams. The events of the story take place in various settings with a major highlight being the Komura Library. The story leads Nakata to finally reach his destiny by closing the entrance gate and Kafka to finally realise who he is and how his previous and current lives were connected. The story ends with Kafka returning back to his house with a lot of questions left open for the readers to ponder upon about the story.

Review: 

I had been eyeing this book since a long time and it was finally after my exams that I picked up this five hundred pages long story. I had read two Murakami books in the past and though I liked them, none of them was able to leave a mark of satisfaction in my heart. After reading Kafka on the Shore, I realised that Murakami books are actually always about open endings. They give you a lot to think about. When I started reading this story, I completely fell for it for the first major part of it. The way the scenes have been described, the way some outstanding pieces of writing and music have been mentioned and the way the story progresses at a lazy speed is something which made it even more interesting for me to read. I took my time and read it slowly since it felt like meditation to me. I’m also thankful to the book for introducing me to the world of classical music specially the Beethoven’s Archduke Trio which has been mentioned several times in the book. I loved the story, though as I mentioned above, answers to all the questions aren’t provided at the end of the story and the major plots remain as it is for the readers to ponder upon and decipher. The story is full of philosophy, love, sex, books and fantasy. All these elements make this book a perfect read. Though I’m not a major fan of philosophy, but this book really made me feel every bit of it because of it’s amazing story line. Something which I feel was so different was that the story line was very bold which made me enjoy it even more. Overall, I loved the book and even though I didn’t get all my answers regarding the story, it did teach me a lot about life.

To Read or not to Read: 

To be honest, though I loved this book but I don’t feel it’s a book which will be enjoyed by everyone. If you are someone who is not at all into philosophy or is not a fan of open endings, then this book is definitely not for you. But, if you are a major fantasy lover like me, then trust me you are in for a treat. It’s a beautiful book and you’ll definitely enjoy the process of reading it and would’ve learnt a lot till you reach it’s end.

You can buy the book from amazon by clicking the link here.

“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 a while, let in fresh air, change the water in the flower vases. In other words, you’ll live forever in your own private library.”- Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Rating: 4.5/5

Thank you for reading. :)