Kafka on the Shore
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world's greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-bender" (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. "As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion." --The Chicago Tribune
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say "Kafka on the Shore" exemplifies Haruki Murakami’s lyrical, imaginative style, blending magical realism with deep philosophical and specul...
Even though I’ve read a lot of Murakami, I don’t know if I’ve ever read anything like this. “Kafka on the Shore” is a metaphysical journey to the nature of oneself that defies all expectations. It leaves you head-scratching in many moments, while also gripping on dear life around every corner.
With this novel, Murakami took magical realism and injected it with steroids. He layered on an extra dose of philosophy and speculative reflection on a Japan still feeling the aftershocks of WWII. I wish I had read this one before “The City and Its Uncertain Walls.” In a way, “Kafka on the Shore” brings that book and many other Murakami books into sharper focus.
The characters, the plot, the madness, and humor combine to form one giant Ouroboros tale. The two principal characters chase the same peace and leave scorched earth in their search. Spoiler warning, the Oedipus concepts and moments can be triggering and heavy. If those concepts don’t deter you, there is a lot to take in and nuggets of dialogue that will stay with you for a long time.
This book had some similar themes as other Murakami books, so if you’ve read some of his other work, it’ll feel familiar. It’s a little mysterious and a little weird, but that’s what makes it fun to read. The ending is satisfying, and despite all the weird parts, the messages and ideas are very compatible with average life.
Merged review:
This book had some similar themes as other Murakami books, so if you’ve read some of his other work, it’ll feel familiar. It’s a little mysterious and a little weird, but that’s what makes it fun to read. The ending is satisfying, and despite all the weird parts, the messages and ideas are very compatible with average life.
Merged review:
This book had some similar themes as other Murakami books, so if you’ve read some of his other work, it’ll feel familiar. It’s a little mysterious and a little weird, but that’s what makes it fun to read. The ending is satisfying, and despite all the weird parts, the messages and ideas are very compatible with average life.
I don't think I know what this book is about. Identity? Time? Love? Memories of love? I have no idea. Halfway through the book I started taking my pencil to it and underlining the "important" parts, hoping I'd get things connected. Yes, things are connected. For better or worse, I'm not sure that helps. It's got some incredibly great quotes, too numerous to try to list.
Still, I give it a 5, just for the sake of the incredible writing and being food for thought. Maybe I'll read it over, maybe some of it will fall into place. It's abstract art. Bring to it, from it whatever you want.
Still, I give it a 5, just for the sake of the incredible writing and being food for thought. Maybe I'll read it over, maybe some of it will fall into place. It's abstract art. Bring to it, from it whatever you want.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.