Kafka on the Shore

A new dimension of fiction and sleep

I always find it hard deciding which titles to make my next listen as I like the idea of listening to something relatively unknown to me. This time I decided to search by Narrator as I tend to get quite attached to them given that they are always the last voice I hear in my ear before drifting off to sleep each night.

I?d recently listened to Troubles by J.G Farrell, superbly narrated by Sean Barrett so it was him that led me to Kafka on the Shore and what a treat it is. I love this book, it?s like entering a whole new world of fiction. It?s like going on a wonderful mysterious journey and having absolutely no idea what?s around the next corner. There's no formula here, no expected outcomes. I was worried before I started that it may be a bit too off par for me, but maybe its the way its written or narrated I?m not sure, but somehow Haruki Murakami makes some very unusual events such as a man capable of talking to cats seem completely acceptable and not at all distracting.

The only problem (if you can call it a problem) with this book is that it does have quite a soothing effect and is somewhat dreamlike so it may take you longer than you?d hoped to finish it but you?ll have plenty of good sleep in the process!

48 of 50 people found this review helpful

Simply wonderful.

I can honestly say I was absolutely bowled over by this book. I had never read any Murakami before and this came as an utter delight and surprise. It is an extraordinary mix of all sorts of genres, but is ultimately nothing like anything else I have read. It is intellectually and emotionally thoroughly satisfying, ad well as having a totally gripping plot. The two readers are wonderful, and I suspect this is even better to listen to, than to read on the page. I envy anyone who has not read this book, because the journey ahead of you is truly wonderful.

23 of 24 people found this review helpful

The surreal world of Murakami

What did you like most about Kafka on the Shore?

I've enjoyed a few Murakami books now, I love them all for the surreal view he gives into the world. I come away from each book feeling like the real world might be a facade to some underlying game that this author pulls the curtain back on.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main self named Kafka character is the toughest 15 year old on the planet, and what an odd planet. So many odd things happen to him, but he keeps it all together. I could read another book on his life now, it feels like as the book starts he has a back story that should be written somewhere else.

Any additional comments?

Murakami as an Author seems to enter the same odd world in each of his books. They each feel like a puzzle that is hinting at a larger truth, and I love each glimpse, but in-between I read something trashy to take away the feeling of oddness! Can't recommend more.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Strange other-worldly trip.

Two storylines entwined in alternate chapters that come together at the end. Very difficult to describe what happens in the story as it is very surreal, but it definitely keeps you interested throughout. Do not expect a complete explanation of everything that happens in this book - it leaves a lot of puzzles for the reader/listener to mull over and from talking to people who have also read it, it seems some points of interpretation are particularly personal. For this reason, the open strands of the story work very well which is a tribute to the author?s deft manipulation of the storyline and the reader. Do not be put off if you like 'closed' stories - I do too, but in this case I make an exception as it was so well done. This was my first HM but won't be my last.

19 of 20 people found this review helpful

Marmite

This is the first novel by Murakami that I have experienced, and there is no doubting Murakami's talent as a narrator but after some 200 pages one begins to ask oneself where his skills have led him and us. I suppose one way of reading this sort of magical realist text is to assume that the happenings it describes are in someone's mind and not necessarily part of any human history, actual or imagined. Or one might think of each chapter as a sort of thought experiment dealing with such topics as abandonment, incest, murder, the life of cats etc. Certainly, Murakami's philosophical moments are fun...

But somehow the whole does not add up, especially as the ending is rather weak hence the 3 stars. I would be wary of recommending this book, as I think that his style is probably an acquired taste - but I will definitely try out another of his novels.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

A delight.

From being initially unconvinced by the narrators voice (I am particularly picky on this, which is why this was my first choice - as a few of the others had more American clich? accents), it certainly grew on me. The characters come alive so beautifully that it really is completely immersing. This is the first Murakami novel I have listened to, and it certainly won't be my last. It's a wonderful entwining story which bounces around between so bitterly real and amazingly fantastical ideas, and yet flows so well.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Strange and captivating

Any additional comments?

Loved this. HM writes so differently to any other author I've come across, it's beautifully refreshing. His story telling just draws me in - the characters come to life, he breathes so much reality into them; which seems absolutely bizarre when also considering the surreal world he actually creates the characters in...
The narrators for this book are perfect. Although their tone and the dreamlike nature of much of the story did send me off to sleep a few times, which isn't too bad a thing, nice and restful!
If you've not tried HM before, go for it, you're in for a wonderful experience.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Not much time for this but....

Not really a review more a rave. I think Murukami works even better on audio than on the page. Not all authors do - but if you've ever been even slightly hypnotised by an author's style, then surely this book will do it to you as well.

I tend to listen somewhere in between dreaming and waking - and Kafka on the Shore fills that space entirely.

Once aquired, the taste of Murakami is unbeatable.

30 of 35 people found this review helpful

Great Production of a Fascinating Story.

The reasons I bought this title was that it popped up on the screen while I was searching for one of Franz Kafka's books. I count myself very lucky that I stumbled upon it.
It tells the story of a 15 year old boy who runs away from home. Although there is endless scope in what could lie in front of him the book mainly deals with the complicated past of the boy and those around him. I found the story fascinating, compelling, surreal and endlessly enjoyable.
The production seems perfect to me. Even though I am listening to the voice of an adult his tone and pace match the writers style to convince me; at every corner, that it is the story of a 15 year old boy. Yes a 15 year old boy without much childhood left, thrown into a strange world of older people and there difficult pasts, but a 15 year old none-the-less. Indeed, the toughest 15 year old in the world.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Remarkably Good

Magically mysterious, mysteriously captivating, ”Kafka on the Shore” was my first Murakami, after which I just had to read/listen for more. I continued to the rather extensive ”1Q84”, which I didn’t get from Audible so I won’t be able to review it, but after that needed a breather. I’m gearing up for the release of the English translation of his latest novel, ”Colorless Tzukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” in a few weeks’ time by readying this review/reflection.

”Kafka on the Shore” is such a brilliant novel I couldn’t stop listening. I even had to listen to it in bed at night, which I shouldn't do, since I always fall asleep and spend the next morning finding the place I drifted off. But Murakami’s ability to show the past and present, dreams and phantasmagoria and life and death as if through a prism is of such great talent that it’s a joy throughout. The way he’s able to describe the young adolescent struggle of identity, and sexuality, is remarkably alive, as well as the simple-seeming yet infinitely rewarding life of Nakata.

I think I’ll need to revisit this sooner rather than later, since I just have to see whether it has that magnetic pull in it, now that it’s familiar ground. And then I think I’ll have to use my credits to get some more Murakami after ”Tzukuru Tazaki”.

10 of 12 people found this review helpful