KAFKA ON THE SHORE

We've always tried to decipher the workings of the world by applying rules and laws, such as Newton's, Einstein's and so many others. I'm asking you, first, to drop this rule-bound way of understanding of the world and then sit yourself in front of a soothing breeze, a hint of sunlight, a cup of hot water, and then begin reading this book.

A review of KAFKA ON THE SHORE by every_thing_bookish.

This book begins with two stories in parallel. The stories are alike, yet different. The first story takes us on a journey of self-discovery of a barely-fifteen-year-old boy Kafka. He's given himself this name, and thinks it resonates better with his inner self. He's bound by a curse, and this is his journey to evade this prophecy whilst finding himself.

The second story is of an old man named Nakata. He lives in a divided world, one is the normal one, and the other world where doesn't want to be. He can talk to cats, understand stones and his predictions about the strange weather conditions are always on point. And they are, really, strange weather conditions. It would be better if you lose your sense of reality while reading.

I'm guessing by this time you might just bring some snacks for yourself, because Murakami has got you tightly in his grip and you're not leaving this book anytime soon.

Both Kafka and Nakata meet people, who're flawed, complex, and make you wonder whether it is them who are the main characters. They bring twists and humor in the tale, sprinkled with a generous amount of philosophy, talking about perfection, the human limit which just falls short of perfection and so much more.

The most interesting thing for you as a reader would be to find out when the stories are converging, i.e., the convergence points of the two different but alike tales. If you read Murakami and come and ask me about it, I might be able to explain, but I sure won't be able to make you feel it. That's where Murakami excels.

You might have realized that when we have an overflow of different feelings in our heads, they're random, messy, sometimes unsolvable, uncontrollable, and different from reality. There's no fixed order of the feelings, and we just give in to feel it, or block it altogether. Both ways, we experience something profound. That's what this book is. You'll have to give in. But you sure won't regret it.

I can't tell you the flaws because I was so immersed in the book I didn't find time to find them. I'm really intent upon re-reading it.

“Memories warm you up from the inside. But they also tear you apart.”

It's a world of itself. Pick it up.

Here's the link for that: https://amzn.to/2OhdDdN