Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami > Reviews

Advantages: absorbing, well-written, thought-provoking
Disadvantages: bizarre, disturbing

Kafka Tamura is the most conflicted 15-year-old anyone could ever meet. Escaping his father and a dark Freudian prophecy, he runs away from his home in Tokyo, inexplicably drawn westwards to Shikoku. On his way he meets remarkable individuals, all of whom help him on his journey without intrusively questioning Kafka's motives. Parallel to Kafka's journey, we follow the elderly Nakata, a charming old man with a low appreciation for the complexities ... Read review

Advantages: beautifully written with perfect imagery, surreal
Disadvantages: bizarre storyline, uncertain ending

...brought into the world of Kafka and Murakami, it seemed to me that these events are really happening. I sympathise with the main character; I thought he was really unhappy,. had not much of a purpose and was plagued by this prophecy of killing his own father. I enjoyed the uncertain ending and bizarre storyline, but I understand it is not for everyone. So a 4 star for Murakami. If you really like surreal storylines and enjoying getting lost ... Read review

Advantages: You won´t stop reading
Disadvantages: You won´t stop reading and you might have some work to do!

This is probably my favorite book by Haruki Murakami together with the Wind up Bird Chronicle. Which was the one I first read and turned me into a fan of this marvelous JAponese author. Murakami has this amazing ability to create fantastic worlds that are perfectly interlinked with reality. So once so get into the plot... you long for more fantastic surprises. He also has the ability to create stories within the main story... which makes the ... Read review