Kafka on the Shore

I have read almost everything haruki murakami. and kafka on the shore is his best yet.

I haven’t held an actual novel/book in such a long time but i decided to read this book and by far it’s one of my favorite books!!! a lot of interesting scenes and events !!! cliffhangers too! personally i don’t think my reading comprehension is that good but this book was easy to understand:) recommend it !!!

in my opinion the book and the story was AMAZING, the whole book was a roller coaster but i did get confused if in some parts, i bought this books thinking it would be pg and like a book kids can read as a 14 year old this book has a lot of parts that are not appropriate to read, and some parts are uncomfortable BUT other then that the while books was a amazing book would recommend. the book came in perfect condition

Book came in a perfect condition, highly recommend.

Fast delivery and very nice cover Like it !

Kafka on the Shore is a mesmerizing read—dreamlike, surreal, and deeply emotional. Haruki Murakami weaves together mystery, fate, and identity in a way that keeps you thinking long after you finish the book. The storytelling is strange in the best way, with rich symbolism, unforgettable characters, and a quiet sense of wonder throughout. It’s not a traditional novel, but if you enjoy thought-provoking fiction with depth and atmosphere, this book is a masterpiece. Highly recommend.

"Kafka on the Shore" was my first Murakami book. I picked it out of pure chance, with no expectations at all, as I didn't know much about the author or the novel. After reading it from end to end in just a couple days, I couldn't prevent myself from reading, one after another, nearly all of Murakami's books in the last two months. From the beginning, it captivated me in a way no book has in a long time. Sure this isn't a book for everyone, and with this I don't want to be elitist or say it requires a certain level of philosophical awareness or knowledge to enjoy it: on the contrary. It requires being able to open your mind and forget about constrains, just accept the story as it is being told to you. The book raises many intriguing questions and offers just a few ambiguous answers for them, and many point this as a "flaw", but in fact, it's the book main motive. This is an eastern tale, and if you're familiar with things such as Zen koans, you'll understand that the fact it doesn't provide the answers is not important, because the important thing here are the questions. What the questions do to you. What they stir, how they make you feel. If this book had stirred nothing inside me, I'd easily rate it three stars. Murakami's style is neat and simple, easy to read and beatiful at some times, but certainly not as breathtaking as that of, let's say, Mishima, just to compare to another modern Japanese writer. He builds a great main character in his own way but many other characters in the book seem to be "thematic constructs", just there to make a certain point, not feeling like live people at all. And like many others have pointed out, the female characters (and this applies to most of his work) are often unrealistic succubi, seeming projections of sexual imagination more than characters at all. If you can't stand any of this nor the idea of loose ends, or feel revolted at the mention of incest, read something else. However, the way I see it, art is nothing you can analyze so easily. You can't take part by part of this book technical aspects, rate them one to ten, then make an average, like if you were choosing which is the Car of the Year. Like the book itself says, sometimes it is an "imperfect" work which somehow touches you, while other "perfect" books you can admire, yet they really left you the same you were before reading them. You may fall in love with someone you hate. You may feel better in your old small crammed apartment than in a larger, new, beautiful house. I think this is a central key to understand Murakami and enjoy it: he's not trying to write "the perfect western novel". He negates such a thing may even exist with his way of writing, and proposes you an entirely different deal. A pretty good deal, if you ask me.

Another great Murakami book. Maybe not as good as the rat trilogy or TWUBC but definitely worth the time and money. Great world building, easy prose, interesting narrative.

This was Haruki Murakami’s second book I read (after ‘Norwegian Wood’), due to its wide popularity. Murakami is one of the pioneers in ‘Magical Realism’ genre, and this is evident in this book too. This is one of the best works of Murakami, an extremely engrossing tale of two central characters – a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who has run away from his home in search of his long-missing mother and sister or to escape an Oedipal prophecy. Another central character is named Nakata, who, in his own words, is ‘not so bright’. Both these characters, living their individual lives, their destinies are somehow entwined. The book has brilliant instances of magical realism such as – - Cats having conversations with people - Colonel Sanders (of the KFC fame), appearing out of nowhere, employing a prostitute. - World War II soldiers who have not aged - Fish falling from the sky - A murder where the identity of both the victim and murderer is a mystery - A small stone so heavy, that a person can barely lift it - Concepts of reincarnation and destiny Murakami’s forte lies in using bizarre instances, simple but soul touching dialogues, interesting & quirky characters, to weave a magical tale. This novel is no different and is an absolutely crazy ride. If you’re picking this book, you should expect all this, and more. What I love about Murakami, is that the story almost always takes you beyond the normal bounds of human reality, into some sort of an alternate world where metaphysical magic happens! For people who are new to Murakami’s style of writing, they might find a lot of events really random. And yes, they are random at times. Not denying that bit. But maybe, that’s the whole charm of his writing, where certain things happen which are totally unexpected. ‘Kafka on the Shore’ is a story about a fifteen-year-old teenager, who runs away from home. He decides to leave his home in order to find his lost mother and sister, but mostly, as it’s described in the book, to get away from his father. The father figure has been shown in a negative light, but not much into detail. His fate lands him to a distant town, where he meets a gay friend, who helps him through a big part of his journey. He also meets two exceptional women, who could have been his mother or sister, and ends up copulating with them. This is one phase of the story. Simultaneously, Murakami introduces you to a simpleton sexagenarian, Nakata, who has kind of lost his reasoning abilities in an incident which in some way is related to the extra-terrestrial. Nakata, although not so bright, has a weird gift of talking to cats and making fish fall from the sky. Somehow, Kafka and Nakata’s destinies are interconnected, and the whole book is about their journey. The book is extremely engrossing and entertaining. Now, as it usually happens with Murakami’s work, some of the questions have been left unanswered and some events have an open-ended interpretation. So, if you’re someone who likes straightforward stories, you might be disappointed on these fronts. Favorite Quotes from the book: - “Each person feels pain in his own way, each has his own scars.” - “If you think God’s there, He is. If you don’t, He isn’t. And if that’s what God’s like, I wouldn’t worry about it.” - “Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.” - “If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.” - “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.” - “Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear.” - “Listen up - there's no war that will end all wars.” - “Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings we can never get back again. That’s part of what it means to be alive.” - “Closing your eyes isn't going to change anything. Nothing's going to disappear just because you can't see what's going on. In fact, things will even be worse the next time you open your eyes. That's the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won't make time stand still.” - “Chance encounters are what keep us going.” - “Being with her I feel a pain, like a frozen knife stuck in my chest. An awful pain, but the funny thing is I'm thankful for it. It's like that frozen pain and my very existence are one.” - “It's hard to tell the difference between sea and sky, between voyager and sea. Between reality and the workings of the heart.”

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