Kafka on the shore.

The drowning girl's fingers

Search for the entrance stone, and more.

Lifting the hem of her azure dress,

She gazes -

At Kafka on the shore.

About the book:

Running from his father's dark prophecy Kafka Tamura embarks on a journey where he finds friendship, love, and most importantly himself. Parallel to his tale is the story of Nakata who has suffered brain damage as a child and can talk to cats. His seemingly normal life changes when he meets a man who goes by the name Johny Walker who is a collector of souls.

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The major concept of the novel is " Metaphysical reality " or "Magical realism". This book was my window to the world of Murakami. Up until this book, I haven't read any of his works. I remember while reading this book, I was questioning everything I read. Then I stopped questioning the plot, that's when I started to enjoy the book. Quick advice: If you want to read any book of Murakami you have to dive in head-on without a sliver of doubt.

This novel is hands down one of the most beautiful and confusing books I've ever read. Confused would be an understatement to what I was when I read this book. Some books make you want to hurl it at a wall or yourself. This was such a book. It made me hard to differentiate between reality and dreams. It almost took me a week to get out of that Murakami induced Limbo. Coming to think of it the number of times I wanted to bang my head was a little amusing.

Honestly, it's good that it confused me and it's good that it kind of leaves an incomplete feeling at the end. That's what the beauty of this novel. It opens up the reader's imagination. Strange things happen in "Kafka on the Shore" and it's not immediately clear why. Like cats conversing with people, fish and leeches tumbling from the sky, a forest that's been harbouring soldiers unaged since World war - II. There is no logic behind as to why it happens. We could consider everything as a metaphor. The song "Kafka on the Shore" composed by Miss. Saeki is filled with such metaphors. The "shore" in the title itself is a metaphor for the border between the conscious and the unconscious minds. It's a story of two different worlds, consciousness and unconsciousness, one foot in one or the other and all of us living on the borderline. This point plays a vital role in the entirety of the story.

Murakami has given very nuanced details to every little thing in the story. The talk about classical music, food, literature, philosophy, poetry, history, etc is very abundant in this book. I've started to love Beethoven's Archduke trio after reading this

book.

Kafka, one of the protagonists of the novel has never had a happy and healthy childhood. His mother and sister left him with his father at a very young age. I think his attachment with Sakura and Miss. Saeki was mainly due to the reason of never having a motherly figure around him. Constantly being pushed on by his father and after being warped in an oedipal curse he finally leaves Tokyo and goes to remote Takamatsu where he meets Oshima and Miss. Saeki at a library. Kafka's nature of standing head-on to any challenge life throws at him is really admirable.

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An excerpt:

" And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what's this storm is all about."

- Kafka Tamura, Kafka on the shore.

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Nakata, an elderly man is one of the two protagonists of the story. He tracks lost cats. He has never recovered from a mysterious accident in his childhood due to which he has lost his ability to understand any concept as well as his ability to read. He can't remember what happened to him during the coma but he believes that his brain has travelled to the other world. He is open but enigmatic. His innocence is very endearing. He never leaves the safety of his area in Tokyo. But one chance encounter with a man named Johny Walker brings him out of his haven onto a quest of finding something. On his way, he meets Hoshino, a twenty-something truck driver who tags along to help Nakata. His storyline that goes parallel to Kafka's is woven quite beautifully that captures the reader's attention.

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An excerpt:

" I think that whenever something happens I'll always wonder - What would Mr Nakata say about this? What would Mr.Nakata do? I'll always have someone I can turn to. And that's kind of a big deal, if you think about it. It's like a part of you will always live inside me."

- Hoshino, Kafka on the Shore.

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Coming to the other characters, my personal favourite would always be Oshima, a soft-spoken young man who works at The Komura Memorial library. He meets Kafka who came from Tokyo. He is subtle but empowering, polite but reserved. His support for Kafka and also how he never ridicules some of Kafka's bizarre theories is amazing. If I keep talking about the greatness that is Oshima, this post would never end. He is the perfect friend anyone could ask for. For Kafka, he is a steady rock that could understand things beyond. He sees things for more than what they are. An excerpt from the book proves this point.

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An excerpt:

" If I listen to some utterly perfect performance of an utterly perfect piece while I'm driving. I might want to close my ears and die right then and there. But listening to the D major, I can feel the limits of what humans are capable of - that a certain type of perfection can only be realized through the limitless accumulation of the imperfect. And personally, I find that encouraging. "

- By Oshima, Kafka on the Shore.

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Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" is no doubt a page-turner. It's kind of perfect in its imperfect way. This book checks off every criterion you would expect a Murakami book to have. I've seen the interviews of the author where he said that you would have to read the book more than once to interpret anything as each time may open up something new altogether. This is what is very exciting about the book. Time to read it again. Adios!