Review
`His books are very moving and poetic' --Red Magazine
Haruki Murakami is the David Lynch of literature; everything doesn t always make sense, but it's so compelling you can't stop listening or trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Such is the case with Murakami's mind-bending Kafka on the Shore, which follows the lives of 15-year-old Kafka and an old man named Nakata, who might be aspects of the same person... or maybe not. What we do know is that Kafka runs away from home to find his lost mother and sister and winds up living in a library in the seaside town of Takamatsu, where he spends his days reading literature. Then he's suspected of being involved in a murder. In alternating chapters, we also hear the story of Nakata, who makes a living as a 'cat whisperer,' searching for lost pets. He embarks on a road trip searching for a particularly hard to find cat, traveling far away from his home for the first time, and the narrative suggests he's fated to meet Kafka. But does he? Oh, and there's also truly bizarre appearances by Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders. Oliver Le Sueur as Kafka and Sean Barrett as Nakata both give hypnotic readings of the main and supporting characters. Le Sueur performs double duty for Kafka and the teen's inner voice, Crow, reading with such gravitas that you might find yourself leaning forward a bit with expectancy for the next line of dialogue or intricate detail. Barrett's deep, warm voice is perfectly grandfatherly as Nakata, whose uncertain destination and deep wonder at the world he has never seen is the lynchpin of the novel. Barrett's voice is a national treasure in Britain having voiced Shakespeare, Dickens, and Beckett and you'll wish he narrated just about every book once you hear how he commits to Nakata. As Kafka prepares to leave home, his alter ego tells the boy that he's about to enter a metaphysical and symbolic storm. '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 if the storm is over, but one thing is certain when you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in.' That can also be said of any listener who chooses to explore Murakami's beautiful, enigmatic world --Audible --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Haruki Murakami is the David Lynch of literature; everything doesn t always make sense, but it's so compelling you can't stop listening or trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Such is the case with Murakami's mind-bending Kafka on the Shore, which follows the lives of 15-year-old Kafka and an old man named Nakata, who might be aspects of the same person... or maybe not. What we do know is that Kafka runs away from home to find his lost mother and sister and winds up living in a library in the seaside town of Takamatsu, where he spends his days reading literature. Then he's suspected of being involved in a murder. In alternating chapters, we also hear the story of Nakata, who makes a living as a 'cat whisperer,' searching for lost pets. He embarks on a road trip searching for a particularly hard to find cat, traveling far away from his home for the first time, and the narrative suggests he's fated to meet Kafka. But does he? Oh, and there's also truly bizarre appearances by Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders. Oliver Le Sueur as Kafka and Sean Barrett as Nakata both give hypnotic readings of the main and supporting characters. Le Sueur performs double duty for Kafka and the teen's inner voice, Crow, reading with such gravitas that you might find yourself leaning forward a bit with expectancy for the next line of dialogue or intricate detail. Barrett's deep, warm voice is perfectly grandfatherly as Nakata, whose uncertain destination and deep wonder at the world he has never seen is the lynchpin of the novel. Barrett's voice is a national treasure in Britain having voiced Shakespeare, Dickens, and Beckett and you'll wish he narrated just about every book once you hear how he commits to Nakata. As Kafka prepares to leave home, his alter ego tells the boy that he's about to enter a metaphysical and symbolic storm. '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 if the storm is over, but one thing is certain when you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in.' That can also be said of any listener who chooses to explore Murakami's beautiful, enigmatic world --Audible --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
The Book Magazine
‘truly staggering’
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky... A bewitching and wildly inventive novel from a master stylist
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
"A stunning work of art," the New York Observer wrote of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, "that bears no comparisons," and this is also true of this magnificent new novel, which is every bit as ambitious, expansive and bewitching. A tour-de-force of metaphysical reality, Kafka on the Shore is powered by two remarkable characters. At fifteen, Kafka Tamura runs away from home, either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister. And the aging Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction, finds his highly simplified life suddenly upset. Their odyssey, as mysterious to us as it is to them, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle. Yet this, like everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.
From the Publisher
The most unusual and mesmerising novel yet from Japanese cult author, Haruki Murakami
From the Back Cover
Kafka Tamura runs away from home at fifteen, under the shadow of his father's dark prophesy.
The aging Nakata, tracker of lost cats, who never recovered from a bizarre childhood affliction, finds his pleasantly simplified life suddenly turned upside down.
As their parallel odysseys unravel, cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a ghostlike pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since WWII. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle, one of many which combine to create one of Murakami's most elegant and dreamlike masterpieces.
'Wonderful... Magical and outlandish' Daily Mail
'A magnificently bewildering achievement... Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy and driven by a snappy plot... Exuberant storytelling' Independent on Sunday
'Hypnotic, spellbinding' The Times
'Cool, fluent and addictive' Daily Telegraph
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
About the Author
Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto in 1949. His works include A Wild Sheep Chase; The Elephant Vanishes; Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World; Norwegian Wood; Dance Dance Dance; South of the Border, West of the Sun; The Wind-up Bird Chronicle; Sputnik Sweetheart; and Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche; after the quake and Birthday Stories.
