Kafka On The Shore
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| Source; Harukimurakami.com |
The book starts with two different but interrelated stories.Odd-numbered
chapters focuses on Franz Kafka. Franz is on a run to Takamatsu in order to find his
sister and mother.Throughout his journey he would usually communicate with his
alter ego named Crow who would always remind him to be the toughest
fifteen-year-old.
“It's like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an
allegory, unhappiness a story.”
Even-numbered chapters talks about instinctive Satoru Nakata who lost his
memory and other mental functions after the Rice Bowl Hill Incident, as they
named it.However, after the incident he realized that he has the ability to
communicate with cats.
The story backs and forth with these two characters and in the end it
all gets in one chapter. If you ever heard of “The Butterfly Effect”; this is
the perfect example.There are not much of characters but they help to leave a
big impact on the readers by mentioning not only philosophy but also the classical
music, Greek mythology.
“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.”- Haruki Murakami
The book highlights how everyone is special in their own way. Although
the novel is full of riddles, dreams and fantasies, one may realize how vast
and mysterious our world is.
In order to make you curious even more, here's another tip for you. Following the publish of the novel, a conference was held due to numbers of questions regarding the story. When asked, Haruki Murakami said that the key to all the answers is by reading the book again and again. Well, now that will give you an idea how not-so-typical this book is.
Originally Published- 2005(Shinchosa) (JP)
Author- Haruki Murakami
