Kafka on the Shore
Technical:
- ID: 74
- Added: 2025-08-30
- Updated: 2025-08-30
- Reviews: 3
Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy. The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down. As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece. *PRE-ORDER HARUKI MURAKAMI’S NEW NOVEL, THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS, NOW* 'Hypnotic, spellbinding' The Times 'Cool, fluent and addictive' Daily Telegraph ‘Addictive... Exhilarating... A pleasure’ Evening Standard
Reviews
Pull quotes
- His female characters in Kafka on the Shore were written by a man who systematically cannot write women.
- It becomes painstakingly obvious that his female characters were problematic.
- This aspect overshadows other elements of the book.
Pull quotes
- The unusual nature of the storytelling means that 'Kafka on the Shore' isn't a book that will resonate with everybody.
- A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its narrative.
- Its mix of magical realism and psychological depth makes it a distinctive literary experience.
Pull quotes
- Murakami's Kakfa on the Shore is a strange, lurid book.
- Kafka is a character that seems kinda hollow and vague, yet intriguing.
- Nakata’s ability to talk to cats is charming—he’s clearly spent a lot of time with them!