Murakami – Kafka on the Shore – Review

 

This novel surpasses the literary category of "Magical Realism". Of course, the story is magical and authentic in its presentation and content. For me, though, as the reader, the story's magic is real because the outlandish characters and subject matter are written as almost commonplace; these surrealistic actions and encounters are as concrete as a brick building or an old car.

Murakami is an adept storyteller. The prose is simplistic, descriptive, and the characters believable. When a writer can make a cat a character of depth, you know you're in the hands of an author at the peak of their craft.

Kafka Tamura is a 15-year-old boy with the emotional maturity of a man of 30. The boy speaks with his higher self he calls Crow. When Kafka is confused or needs advice, he consults the boy named Crow. The dialogue between the two can be pretty severe and generally humorous. Kafka runs away from home (on the advice of Crow) and thus begins this odyssey of self-realization and the harshness of the real world.

The most bewildering and fascinating character is the older man Nakata. Because of a mysterious illness, the old man has lost all his memory. He has lost his ability to read and has gained the ability to talk with neighborhood cats. Because of this gift, Nakata takes on the task of tracking lost cats, which he charges a small fee to the respective owners. When Nakata speaks, he always refers to himself in the third person. What Nakata has lost in natural human abilities has gained in supernatural powers; he also travels along his own odyssey towards a destiny that intertwines with all the other characters that may have cosmic effects on the world.

Wherever Nakata goes, a strange phenomenon occurs. While walking along the city street, he suddenly opens his umbrella, and leeches begin to fall from the sky in droves. During a thunderstorm, fishes fall from the heavens. We discover these strange events are connected to a shift in time and memory and our central character, Kafka.

Because I've read a few of Murakami's texts, mainly his non-fiction, I know his love for music and books. The author's love of food is also evident in Kafka.

Kafka is about self-realization and the Platonic notion of knowing thy self. One of the characters, the ex-military man who now drives a truck for a living, is introduced to Beethoven, where the music slowly changes his life. Most of the book takes place in a little library, where Kafka connects to and begins work.

Murakami can write about simple food or making a basic cup of tea, and I immediately cook myself some noodles and brew some coffee. He has a knack for making simple everyday things attractive and desirable.

Like all of Murakami's work, the reading experience is deceptively simple, easy-going, and highly addictive.

Even if you don't like "magical realism" type novels (intuitive writing), I recommend this one because it has an uncanny way of touching you unconsciously in indescribable ways.