Kafka on the shore - books.rhumbs.fr

English language

Published Aug. 27, 2005

ISBN:: 978-0-09-945832-6

(2 reviews)

Kafka on the Shore (海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka) is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Its 2005 English translation was among "The 10 Best Books of 2005" from The New York Times and received the World Fantasy Award for 2006. The book tells the stories of the young Kafka Tamura, a bookish 15-year-old boy who runs away from his Oedipal curse, and Satoru Nakata, an old, disabled man with the uncanny ability to talk to cats. The book incorporates themes of music as a communicative conduit, metaphysics, dreams, fate, the subconscious. After the release of the book, Murakami allowed for questions about the novel to be sent in, and responded to many of them. The novel was generally well-received, with positive reviews from John Updike and The New York Times.

16 editions

hsubu reviewed Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Review of 'Kafka on the Shore' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is my first Murakami book. And I really liked his style of writing. Murakami has a knack for capturing beauty, mood, and scenery perfectly. And that is what stood out for me among all the magical realism and philosophical ideas in the book. Just like how reality can be modeled by mathematics in a much better way if imaginary numbers are used, with skillful writers like Murakami, magical worlds can convey the truth and real feelings better than hyper-realism. I do not claim to have solved all the riddles the plot posed, but I doubt that is the point of the book. Unlike his mastery of building and conveying the mood and beauty, Murakami's attempt at conveying philosophical ideas is not as successful. Some of the philosophical ideas unintentionally felt like funny philosophical arguments written by Douglas Adams. But that is just a minor gripe I have in an …

This is my first Murakami book. And I really liked his style of writing. Murakami has a knack for capturing beauty, mood, and scenery perfectly. And that is what stood out for me among all the magical realism and philosophical ideas in the book. Just like how reality can be modeled by mathematics in a much better way if imaginary numbers are used, with skillful writers like Murakami, magical worlds can convey the truth and real feelings better than hyper-realism. I do not claim to have solved all the riddles the plot posed, but I doubt that is the point of the book. Unlike his mastery of building and conveying the mood and beauty, Murakami's attempt at conveying philosophical ideas is not as successful. Some of the philosophical ideas unintentionally felt like funny philosophical arguments written by Douglas Adams. But that is just a minor gripe I have in an otherwise wonderful book. This book reminded me of the narrative style of the movie 'Mulholland Drive' by David Lynch. It has the same dreamy, interwoven narrative.

Recommended! I look forward to reading more Murakami books.

henri reviewed Kafka sur le rivage by Haruki Murakami

Review of 'Kafka sur le rivage' on 'LibraryThing'

4 stars

Les aventures parallèles de Kafka Tamura, jeune garçon fugueur de 15 ans et de Nakata vieil homme devenu analphabète suite à un bizarre accident de jeunesse, mais sachant parler aux chats ou prévoir les chutes de poissons. En fait Nakata semble vivre de manière réelle une métaphore de la vie de Kafka, lui même reproduisant le mythe d'Oedipe à travers une malédiction lancée par son père artiste avant-gardiste. Kafka est aussi le double d'un amour (absolu) de jeunesse de sa propre mère, amour qui semble la source des interpénêtrations des métaphores dans la réalité.returnreturnC'est un apperçu de la complexité du roman qui ressemble le plus au genre policier parmis les oeuvres d'Haruki Murakami.returnLe fin dosage de fantastique/surréalisme est ce que réussit le mieux l'auteur. Par contre il y a toujours ces passages inutiles et naïfs constitués de phrases que l'on croirait écrites par un enfant de 10 s'essayant à l'écriture …

Les aventures parallèles de Kafka Tamura, jeune garçon fugueur de 15 ans et de Nakata vieil homme devenu analphabète suite à un bizarre accident de jeunesse, mais sachant parler aux chats ou prévoir les chutes de poissons. En fait Nakata semble vivre de manière réelle une métaphore de la vie de Kafka, lui même reproduisant le mythe d'Oedipe à travers une malédiction lancée par son père artiste avant-gardiste. Kafka est aussi le double d'un amour (absolu) de jeunesse de sa propre mère, amour qui semble la source des interpénêtrations des métaphores dans la réalité.returnreturnC'est un apperçu de la complexité du roman qui ressemble le plus au genre policier parmis les oeuvres d'Haruki Murakami.returnLe fin dosage de fantastique/surréalisme est ce que réussit le mieux l'auteur. Par contre il y a toujours ces passages inutiles et naïfs constitués de phrases que l'on croirait écrites par un enfant de 10 s'essayant à l'écriture et qui dévaluent d'un coup l'impression que donne le livre.