Eva's book review: Kafka on the Shore

By Eva Bontas 

Kafka on the Shore is a 2002 magical realist novel written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In this book, he tells the story of two different individuals,15-year-old Kafka Tamura and 60-year-old Nakata Satoru by using parallelism and alternating their different stories, one chapter being about Kafka and the other about Nakata. The book is heavily inspired by Sigmund Freuds’ psychoanalytic theory of the Oedipus Complex, and covers multiple core themes such as prophecies, the supernatural, and interconnections between people.

Throughout the novel Kafka is actively fighting to escape the Oedipus prophet his father told him about, by running from home and ending up living in a library. At the same time, Nakata, who gained the ability to communicate with cats due to a supernatural event, is conducting the search for a missing cat, which ultimately leads him to start searching for the “entrance stone”. This entrance stone is only vaguely described in the book, with even Nakata not knowing what exactly it is and what is its purpose.

I think that Murakami has a very interesting and unique way of writing that I noticed while reading another trilogy of his, IQ84. The themes he addresses are generally philosophical and, in my opinion, very interesting. However, he also alludes to misogyny, sexual harassment and other questionable topics numerous times throughout his writings, which can definitely turn a pleasant and intricate reading into a failed attempt of understanding his pattern of thinking.

Nevertheless, if I were to focus only on the philosophical aspect of the book, I would definitely recommend it to people above 16, since I personally find it very entertaining. However, for the unpleasant sections of the book I wouldn't recommend them to anyone as I consider them to be unsettling and deranging.

TW: adultery, sexual harassment, paedophilia, animal cruelty.