Kafka on the Shore

467 pages

English language

Published Nov. 6, 2006

ISBN:
9781400079278
Goodreads:
4929

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4 stars (5 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

un voyage initiatique rempli de mystère

5 stars

Wouaaaah ce bouquin m'a vraiment emmené loin très loin, dans un autre monde même. J'ai adoré le rythme, premièrement. Dès qu'on commence à s'ennuyer, on est pris de court par un événement inattendu. Je suis allée de surprises en surprises. Ce roman est très philosophie, on y questionne beaucoup de concepts telles que le destin, la responsabilité, la mort, l'amour aussi.

Je n'ai jamais lu kafka, peut-être que cela aurait pu m'aider à répondre à quelques interrogations qui subsistent après ma lecture. En effet, il y a des événements que je ne m'expliquent pas... le mystérieux langage des chats, le portail de la pierre, l'enquête du début du livre, la forêt labyrinthe, etc. Tant de choses qui trottent encore dans ma tête et qui font aussi le charme de cette aventure magique.

La plume est d'une poésie sans fin et les personnages sont si beaux, si intéressants, si complexes ! …

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 …

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