71 pages 2 hours read

Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2002

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Before You Read

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Super Short Summary

Kafka on the Shore follows the journey of Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old runaway who leaves Tokyo to escape a curse and finds refuge in a library in Takamatsu, where he encounters Oshima and Miss Saeki. Simultaneously, Nakata, an older man with unique abilities resulting from a childhood accident, embarks on a parallel quest that intersects with Kafka's fate, involving mystical events and introspective discoveries. Themes include violence and incest.

Reviews & Readership

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Review Roundup

Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore melds surreal elements with a coming-of-age narrative, offering readers a rich, layered experience. Praised for its imaginative storytelling and profound themes, some find its ambiguity and complexity challenging. The novel's dreamlike quality captivates many, while a few readers feel disconnected from its abstract nature.

Who should read this

Who Should Read Kafka on the Shore?

A reader captivated by Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami likely enjoys surreal, thought-provoking narratives with rich, metaphysical undercurrents. Comparable to fans of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami himself, they appreciate complex characters and intertwining plotlines.

Recommended

Reading Age

18+years

Book Details

Themes

Values/Ideas: Music

Emotions/Behavior: Memory

Values/Ideas: Fate

Genre

Asian Literature

Japanese Literature

Magical Realism

Period

Asian Literature