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Haruki Murakami: Kafka On The Shore

Murakami is my favorite writer right after Tennessee Williams...

Kafka on the Shore was just as great as all his previous work!
 
I saw Kafka on the Shore in my local bookshop. It looked interesting.

If anyone here has read it, what did you think of it?
 
I just finished it two days ago. Amazing book, up there with any of Murakami's best stuff (from what I've read of him).
 
Cool, it did look like something that should go on my TBR list immediately. I just didn't know of the author at all (have spent a bit of time reading up on that now) so I needed to look for opinions. :)

Thanks.
 
I have mixed feelings about Murakami...I quite liked After the Quake, and about the first 80 or so pages of Norwegian Wood, but then it seemed to transform into this pseudo pattern, its protagonist bearing far too much resemblance to Holden Caulfield. It seemed to fake to me, ultimately.
 
You could almost call me a Murakami dork, well go ahead and say it outright because it's true. Kafka on the Shore reminded me a whole lot of Hard Boiled Wonderland because of it's duel narratives. But I liked KotS a whole lot more. I wouldn't say it his best, but if you already like his novels, you'll enjoy it. But don't make it your first.
 
Just ordered this from Amazon and am looking forward to it's arrival. I've not yet read anything by this author.
 
Haruki Murakami

I have a choice between starting off with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles or Kafka on the Shore.


Which one should I read first, do you think?
 
StillILearn said:
I have a choice between starting off with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles or Kafka on the Shore.


Which one should I read first, do you think?
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Of those two, I think I enjoyed Kafka on the Shore more. Most people say you should never start with Kafka on the Shore. But, I don't think any Murakami book lets you ease slowly into his style, so you may as well jump in with both feet and see if he appeals to you.
 
Gem said:
Of those two, I think I enjoyed Kafka on the Shore more. Most people say you should never start with Kafka on the Shore. But, I don't think any Murakami book lets you ease slowly into his style, so you may as well jump in with both feet and see if he appeals to you.
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I'm laughing, Gem, but (unless I see signs instructing me to do otherwise) I will certainly jump into Kafka on the Shore with both feet! :D
 
I'll weigh in here as I've just finished Kafka on the shore ....

Take the Oedipus story, mix in a murder mystery a whole lot of Japanese myths and apply to a modern setting and you have "Kafka on the Shore".

The story traces the life of two seemingly unconnected characters as they follow their own paths. It's only towards the end that the connection becomes clear.

Along the way we meet some thoroughly interesting characters including a famous brand of whisky a fast food outlet (or concept of) and some talking cats.

It may sound bizarre but Murakami's wonderful story telling weave it all together into a compelling web which is difficult to put down.
 
I LOVE Murakami, though I've only read Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore, I adored both and am certainly going to read more.
Kafka on the Shore left me a LITTLE empty at the end in terms of Kafka's story (although not Nakata's), but overall I thoroughly enjoyed. I'd be interested to know other people's views/ideas about the ending of this novel?
 
kafko on the shore and lots of advertising?

hey this is a simple question. i am currently reading kafka on the shore and i enjoy it thoroughly, but i keep getting distracted by brand names showing up. for example, his friend is drinking a nescafe and he has a new york yankees hat and things like this. i simple would like to know if this has to do with japanese to culture to drop a lot of names, or if like any movie with bruce willis someone paid the author to put little ads in the book. if not, they should.... the book is awesome though... morgan
 
hey this is a simple question. i am currently reading kafka on the shore and i enjoy it thoroughly, but i keep getting distracted by brand names showing up. for example, his friend is drinking a nescafe and he has a new york yankees hat and things like this. i simple would like to know if this has to do with japanese to culture to drop a lot of names, or if like any movie with bruce willis someone paid the author to put little ads in the book. if not, they should.... the book is awesome though... morgan
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Apparently, it's simply the author's writing style. He likes to incorporate popular culture as a theme in his works.
 
mpeckosh said:
hey this is a simple question. i am currently reading kafka on the shore and i enjoy it thoroughly, but i keep getting distracted by brand names showing up. for example, his friend is drinking a nescafe and he has a new york yankees hat and things like this. i simple would like to know if this has to do with japanese to culture to drop a lot of names, or if like any movie with bruce willis someone paid the author to put little ads in the book. if not, they should.... the book is awesome though... morgan
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hmm i think its more like a criticism of the capitalism that has ocurred in japan. many of his works portray the authors disallusionment with capitalist society, especially at the japanese peoples calm intergration into the capitalist system after the massive student demonstration of the 70's(or 60's). there always seems to be an underlying current of cynicism and mockery at what murakami saw as the japanese people selling out to capitalism. Perhaps this was an element of that... its easier to see in norweigian wood, dance dance dance, and some of his short stories; the rise and fall of sharpie cakes.
 
One of the reasons I appreciate Murakami is that he does not explain those sorts of things, and you can make of them what you will.

Personally, I think he is referencing the veneer of society, and the Japanese superconsciousness of brand names, only to create one layer in a layered piece. Because brands are such a commonplace in Japanese modern culture, and because they are not, IMO, revered, so much as used as symbols, I think Murakami is doing something similar. It's hard to understand his use of these things if you are not Japanese.

He said in an interview once that he did not understand why Americans and English-speaking people always were looking at his works to analyze various elements, when the thing just is what it is.

That made me like him more.
 
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