Kafka Tamura runs away from home to escape his father's oedipal prophecy and to find his long-lost mother and sister. As Kafka flees, so too does Nakata, an elderly simpleton whose quiet life has been upset by a gruesome murder. What follows is a kind of double odyssey, as the two grope to understand the roles fate has in store for them.
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Kafka Tamura runs away from home to escape his father's oedipal prophecy and to find his long-lost mother and sister. As Kafka flees, so too does Nakata, an elderly simpleton whose quiet life has been upset by a gruesome murder. What follows is a kind of double odyssey, as the two grope to understand the roles fate has in store for them.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in Very good jacket. First American edition. Jacket is in great condition, with no apparent flaws apart from very minor handling wear. Cover boards are in excellent condition. Spine is shaken, but binding is secure. Inside is clean and unmarked.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Size: 6x1x9; Alfred A. Knopf; New York, 2005. Hardcover. First US Edition, First Printing. A Very Good, tan boards and blue spine with gilt lettering on spine, deckle fore-edge, binding sturdy and intact, book appears unread, bit of rubbing along board edges, slightly bowed boards, in a Very Good, trace handling/scuff marks to panels, mild edge/corner wear, small scratch mark and couple of tears top spine, Dust wrapper. A nice, clean and unmarked copy. 8vo[octavo or approx. 6 x 9 inches]. 436pp. We pack securely and ship daily with delivery confirmation on every book. Please Note: Depending on site, actual book for sale may differ physically from picture listed. Additional scan(s) are available for any item, please inquire.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in Near fine jacket. First American edition. Jacket is in excellent condition and protected by a mylar cover. Bottom edge of spine is bumped and spine is slightly shaken, but binding is secure. Inside is clean and unmarked.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in fine dust jacket. Signed by author. Signed and dated by World Acclaimed Author Haruki Murakami, in Japanese, on the Half-Title Page. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 448 p. Audience: General/trade. A Fine copy, which is clean and never has been read in a Fine dust jacket. American First Edition-Third Printing. Signed and dated on the Half Title page, in Japanese, on November 19, 2005. "Kafka on the Shore" is a masterpiece novel (powered by two remarkable characters-a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, and an aging simpleton named Nakata), that is a tour de force of metaphysical reality, comprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between both plots, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters. Kirkus opines on "Kafka on the Shore"-"A masterpiece, entirely Nobel-worthy. ' "Kafka on the Shore" won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2006; and was nominated for several additional literary awards. Translator to English professional Philip Gabriel won the 2006 Pen Translation Prize for this novel. Rest assured; this collectible copy is well protected in an archival Mylar cover; and will be very carefully packaged with protective material; and will be shipped in a new box. We always treat all of our books, and book buyers with the utmost respect.
Where do I even begin with this book? Should I start with the giant Oedipus complex that acts as the building foundation for the story? Or maybe with the author's never-ending quest to connect with the reader on a "deep" level? Or maybe with the lack of understanding of the female anatomy? Or perhaps I should start with the complete normalization of rape, even considering cultural boundaries?
No matter where I start, this book is a gigantic disaster. I regret spending $16 on such a waste of time. The author tries so hard -- too hard -- to connect with the reader on a spiritual level. It was an incessant storm of broad question after question. I never knew that the "what is wrong, what is right" shtick could become so outplayed. There is just no point to this book (or perhaps that is the point); it goes on and on just to end abruptly and uselessly. The characters, not for lack of trying, are shallow. Even though the author equips them with knowledge of philosophy, history, and mythology, they do nothing with it. They just question; they question everything. For. The. Whole. Book. Not answers, questions. "Why do we exist?" "Is it wrong to do this?" "Is it wrong to love?" "Do ghosts exist?" "What if they don't?" "What if they do?" I love deeper meaning in books, I really do. I enjoy books about loss, about cultural/spiritual identity, about finding yourself, etc. This book, however, just seems like it was written for the sole purpose of being deep -- not to instill something in the reader, not to express life as an art or skill, not even to give the reader a break from reality. It reminds me of when I wrote poetry in middle school and used general questions and comparisons to "deepen" my writing. All of the questions and the research that went into this book were just for decoration.
screwdskull
Mar 7, 2008
Great literature!
This is the best book I've read in along time. Such a great use of words and the story could only come from Murakami. You can never tell what's around the corner, although nothing is really all that clarified, I found myself getting increasingly more interested as the chapters jumped from character to character. Definitely a great achievement for Murakami and our luck for being able to read it. One to make you think.
P.S. When this book came out, Murakami told readers to submit their questions about the book, he replied himself to 1,800 replies from more than 10,000.
greebs
Mar 23, 2007
Utterly brilliant
The story takes place in Japan, where a boy, who calls himself Kafka, runs away from home. We learn this is to try to escape living out a horrific Oedipal curse his father has told him he has. Simultaneously, it is the story of an older man, horribly damaged as a schoolboy in an unexplained incident during WWII. Despite his mental limitations, he becomes a central figure in Kafka's life as he's drawn towards him in surreal, dreamlike encounters.
Like I said, summing it up is hard, even moreso if I mentioned that two characters are named Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders. You might think that makes the book funny, and you'd be right. It's also terribly sad, and poetic, and something else I'm not quite sure about. What I do know is that reading this book feels like I've found another writer whose work I wait for, and what's better is that he has a whole library I haven't explored yet. I could be disappointed, but Kafka On The Shore is clearly one of the better books I've read in years.
