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Kafka on the Shore

By Haruki Murakami

(400)

| Hardcover | 9781843431107

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Book Description

村上春樹の『Kafka on the Shore』（原題『海辺のカフカ』）は『The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle』（原題『ねじまき鳥クロニクル』）と同様、どの点をとっても、壮大で無限な広がりを感じさせる小説だ。『ねじまき鳥』が、並々ならぬ意欲作で完成度の高い作品として世界中で絶賛され、その人気がいまだ衰えることをしらないことを考えると、この小説も長く読み続けられていくことになるだろう。

この優れた新作小説も過去の作品と同じく、驚異的な拡張性と、読者を仰天させ、楽しませ、魅了する力をもっている。メタフContinue

この優れた新作小説も過去の作品と同じく、驚異的な拡張性と、読者を仰天させ、楽しませ、魅了する力をもっている。メタフィジカルな現実を描いたこの力作を動かすのは、2人の人物だ。1人は10代の少年、田村カフカ。彼は、オイディプス王と同じ恐ろしい予言（父親を殺し、母親と交わるだろうというもの）から逃れ、長い間行方の分からない母と姉を探すために家を出る。もう1人は、戦時中の苦悩から立ち直ることのできないナカタという頭の弱い老人。日常生活の基本的な営みさえ理解することができない彼は、理由も分からないまま、カフカの方に引き寄せられていく。2人の長い冒険は、読者にとっても当事者たちにとっても謎めいているが、生き生きとした共演者たちと夢のような出来事により、一貫して中味の濃いものになっている。たとえば、猫と人間の会話、ヘーゲルの言葉を引用する売春女を雇っている亡霊のような客引き、森をさまよう第2次世界大戦のころままの兵士、空から降ってくる魚の雨。犠牲者、加害者ともにその正体が謎に包まれている殺人事件。これについては、その他諸々のことがらと同様、最後に答えが見えてくる。カフカとナカタさんの絡みあった運命はしだいに明らかにされていき、1人は完全に自分の宿命から脱出し、もう1人は自力で新たなスタートを切ることになる。

大傑作『Kafka on the Shore』は、世界が誇る真に偉大な作家のひとりである村上春樹の力量が、最高に発揮されている小説だ。

Critics

Kill me or the cat gets it

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, translated by Phillip Gabriel 656pp, Harvill, £12.99 When the English translation of Haruki Murakami's bestselling A Wind-Up Bird Chronicle transformed one of Japan's best-kept literary secrets into the world's ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

The implosion of truth

Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami Vintage £7.99, pp505 Haruki Murakami has often been described as a surrealist writer. But his latest novel is less a search for truth in the imaginary than a Kafkaesque implosion of truth. Kafka on the Shore follows ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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23 Reviews

8 people find this helpful

my all times fav

Last time like 3 years ago I read the Chinese translation and this time I just thought, why don't I try to read the English translation? I'm glad that I did make a change. I prefer the Eng one.
Anyway, the mood during the course of reading is basically the same. First you felt dizzy, then you' ... (continue)

Last time like 3 years ago I read the Chinese translation and this time I just thought, why don't I try to read the English translation? I'm glad that I did make a change. I prefer the Eng one.
Anyway, the mood during the course of reading is basically the same. First you felt dizzy, then you're wrapped up in a kind of profound lost, at the end you see the light spill in the real life through a crazk, and you're as powerful as the toughest fifteen year old. This book is neither a fantasy nor a labyrinth; it is as if a dose of drugs to intensify your sensations. It is very much painful but you know you need it.
A character in the book says, if you can't put it into words then better not even try. So I better stop here. But before that, I'd like to type you a paragraph here, it is not the main theme but it grasps the main feelings,
They walked through the pines, up over a breakwater, and down to the beach. The Inland Sea was calm. They sat down side by side on the sand, not speaking for a long time, watching the waves rise up like sheets being fluffed into the air and then, with a faint sound, break apart. Several small islands were visible offshore. Neither of them had been to the sea very often in their lives, and they feasted their eyes on the scene.
"Mr. Hoshino?" Nakata said, breaking the silence.
"What is it?"
"The sea is a really nice thing, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. Makes you feel calm."
"Why is that?"
"Probably 'cause it's so big, with nothing on it," Hoshino said, pointing. "You wouldn't feel so calm if there was a 7-Eleven over there, or a Seiyu department store, would you? Or a pachinko place over there, or a yoshikawa pawn-shop? but as far as the eye can see there's nothing - which is pretty darn nice."

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fruit said on Jun 14, 2007 | 1 feedback

5 people find this helpful

Reading Kafka on the Shore

A complex, intertwined narrative featuring two key players, Kafka on the Shore meanders back and forth between a 15-year-old Japanese runaway who calls himself Kafka and an elderly man, Nakata, who is "slow" due to an accident suffered in childhood. While each story is basically an entity into itsel ... (continue)

A complex, intertwined narrative featuring two key players, Kafka on the Shore meanders back and forth between a 15-year-old Japanese runaway who calls himself Kafka and an elderly man, Nakata, who is "slow" due to an accident suffered in childhood. While each story is basically an entity into itself, Kafka and Nakata are connected through a very significant incident that eventually leads them to the same city.
Kafka sets on his path as he is hoping to avoid a fate his father has predicted. Never able to connect to the man, Kafka's opinion deteriorates when his father predicts he will be murdered by Kafka, and then Kafka will go on to sleep with his mother and sister. It all sounds a lot like any number of Greek tragedies, which is probably no mistake as Murakami references these throughout the book.
Kafka ends up finding shelter at an unsual library, which becomes his home and refuge for a period. Meanwhile, Nakata is on his own path. Able to exist thanks to a government subsidy arranged by his family, Nakata earns a little money on the side by finding lost cats. He is able to do this because he is one of the few people - perhaps the only person - who can speak their language. His occupation eventually leads him to a man who calls himself Johnny Walker. Their encounter directly links him to Kafka, and puts Nakata on a quest of his own.
Kafka on the Shore relies heavily on a variety of dream worlds, so that at times even the "real world" story has an ethereal feel to it. It's difficult to describe without revealing too much, but the book is quite entrancing.

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moogle said on May 29, 2007 | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

This whole magic realism thing is not really my cup of tea... From about three-quarters through - once everything started getting exponentially weirder - I found myself ploughing on just to finish the damn thing.

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annemarie said on Aug 12, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

A parallel world, not a higher level

Life in reality is strangely ordinary. The presence of a parallel world, an after-life world, opens the door to a world bigger than our ordinary presence. A bigger world, as reflected in our day-to-day ordinariness. Fascinating presentation of the door, a pathway to go beyond mundane affairs in o ... (continue)

Life in reality is strangely ordinary. The presence of a parallel world, an after-life world, opens the door to a world bigger than our ordinary presence. A bigger world, as reflected in our day-to-day ordinariness. Fascinating presentation of the door, a pathway to go beyond mundane affairs in our dull life.

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Willis Koo said on Jan 6, 2012 | Add your feedback

Kafkaïen...

For the moment, it's very different from the other books I've already read. I'm almost at the end but could not say how it would come out...

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Ramzi Bouzerda said on Oct 19, 2011 about the Paperback edition | 1 feedback

a mess

At the beginning I thought it was interesting, those reviews about the strange accident, the fact that this man developed the skill to understand the language of cats (probably because I love cats) and the story about the boy running away from home...it could have been an interesting story. But as i ... (continue)

At the beginning I thought it was interesting, those reviews about the strange accident, the fact that this man developed the skill to understand the language of cats (probably because I love cats) and the story about the boy running away from home...it could have been an interesting story. But as it continues, it gets stranger and stranger. Too many strange things going on and too many unnecessary descriptions repeatedly. It is supposed to be a modern tragedy, I read, but for me it was just a big mess. I couldn't wait to finish it.

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Marty said on Sep 17, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback