LiteratureBook · 2002
Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
A teenage runaway calling himself Kafka Tamura hides out in a private library in Shikoku while, on the other side of the country, an old man who can talk to cats sets off after something he cannot name. The two stories never quite meet in the way you expect, and Murakami lets talking cats, falling fish and an oedipal prophecy sit together without apology.
Why you should read this
Come to this for Murakami at his most overtly mythic, running two narratives on parallel tracks that share images and logic rather than plot mechanics. It suits readers already comfortable with his blend of the mundane and the surreal, since this one leans further into dream logic than his more grounded novels.
- Field
- Literature
- Form
- Fiction
- Published
- 2002
- Themes
- Japanese LiteratureLiteratureContemporary
