Kafka on the Shore Book Summary

In 'Kafka on the Shore,' Haruki Murakami weaves a surreal narrative intertwining the lives of a fifteen-year-old boy named Kafka and an older man named Nakata, who possesses a unique ability to talk to cats. As Kafka flees from his tumultuous family history, Nakata embarks on a quest to find lost memories and uncover a mystery shrouded in magic and the metaphysical. The novel is a profound exploration of the self, fate, and the intersection of reality and dreams. With Murakami's signature blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary, readers are drawn into an enchanting world filled with philosophical musings and haunting beauty. Prepare to be captivated by a story that challenges the boundaries of perception and the depths of the human experience.

By Haruki Murakami

Published: 2006

"‘I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.’"

Book Review of Kafka on the Shore

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and one of the world’s greatest storytellers comes "an insistently metaphysical mind-bender” (The New Yorker) about a teenager on the run and an aging simpleton. Now with a new introduction by the author. Here we meet 15-year-old runaway Kafka Tamura and the elderly Nakata, who is drawn to Kafka for reasons that he cannot fathom. As their paths converge, acclaimed author Haruki Murakami enfolds readers in a world where cats talk, fish fall from the sky, and spirits slip out of their bodies to make love or commit murder, in what is a truly remarkable journey. “As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion.” —The Chicago Tribune

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‘I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way.’

Kafka on the Shore

By Haruki Murakami