A beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's mesmerizingly surreal classic, now with a new introduction by the author 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 ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of ...
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A beautifully packaged hardback edition of Haruki Murakami's mesmerizingly surreal classic, now with a new introduction by the author 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 ghost-like pimp deploys a Hegel-spouting girl of the night; a forest harbours soldiers apparently un-aged since World War II. There is a savage killing, but the identity of both victim and killer is a riddle - one of many which combine to create an elegant and dreamlike masterpiece. 'Wonderful... Magical and outlandish' Daily Mail 'Hypnotic, spellbinding' The Times 'Cool, fluent and addictive' Daily Telegraph
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Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $16.39, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $16.42, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $20.29, new condition, Sold by Books2anywhere rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Publishing.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book from multilingual publisher. Shipped from UK within 4 to 14 days. Please check language within the description.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $16.11, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
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Fine. Murakami Collectible Classics . In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $16.32, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
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New. Murakami Collectible Classics . In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $20.88, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $24.42, new condition, Sold by Booksplease rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Southport, MERSEYSIDE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Classics.
Add this copy of Kafka on the Shore to cart. $21.55, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop International rated 2.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fairford, GLOS, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Vintage Publishing.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book from multilingual publisher. Shipped from UK within 4 to 14 days. Please check language within the description.
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.
