Kafka on the Shore |
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Haruki Murakami
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Pages: 512 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0099458322
Pub: Vintage
Pub date: 2005-10-06
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3365
Reader Reviews:
Good book, bad voice acting (0/0 people found this helpful)
I'd give the story itself 4/5 stars but as this is an audio book, the narrators are also being reviewed. First off I'm English, not American, but despite this I still found the American accent on this audio book probably the worst fake accent I've ever heard, it's like the voice actor was taking revenge for Dick Van Dyke in 'Mary Poppins'. It really ruined half the story for me.
Beguiling, interleaved, but never confusing. (0/0 people found this helpful)
The book seemed to have 2 quite different personalities; both in a literal sense and in that the first half read so differently from the second.
In setting the themes up, the story is more or less a traditional telling of 2 tales that it is clear will intertwine later - although we don't know how.
The second half, whilst retaining a strong narrative drive, is far more mystical and sometimes threatens to become too philosophical.
There are quite a few questions left unanswered by the end, but enough is done to make the overall experience highly rewarding and a satisfying read.
As my first venture into the works of a Japanese author, I was pleasantly surprised. I will certainly read more by the same author and am about to read "Spring Snow" by Yukio Mishima having been given a taster of a fascinating and different culture.
Interesting (1/1 people found this helpful)
This book starts soooo strong. It immediately draws you into 2 different stories.
The first story about a young teenager - Kafka - who decides to run away from home. Whilst trying to discover who he is and what his mysterious past contains, he encounters a number of complex characters on his journey.
The second story surrounds a magical event that occurred years earlier in the mystic mountains of Japan.
I was unable to put the book down, complete mesmerized by its creativity and energy.
However, at the midway point of the book, I started getting a bit exhausted. The amazing beginning had died down and some of the story lines became too abstract and too predictable. I feel the author kinda of lost his way...
The ending drew me in again, returning to the magic of the start of the book - fantasy, imagination and in-depth character studies.
It is quite hard to write a review of this book without revealing too much of the plot. What I can say is that I would recommend people read this book, if anything for the amazing start and the wonderful and tangible picture it paints of Japan.
This is the first book by Murakami I've read. I have a funny feeling this probably isn't his best work and there is more (and better) where this came from. Therefore, I will definitely give his books another go, but nonetheless, am glad I picked this one to start!
Mesmerising Murakami (1/1 people found this helpful)
Having read this book and another of his I have to say that Murakami is a genius with words. The way he writes about day to day life I find to be completely awe-inspiring. True it might not be everybody's cup of tea the way he moves back and forth between surrealism and reality, but it's clever writing. Addictive. He seems to write those books that you race through because you just need to see what happens next - only to leave you sad when you reach the last page because it's all over. Murakami makes me happy to be alive. Spectacular.
An Addictive and Moving Story (1/1 people found this helpful)
The delight about Kafka on the Shore is its continual ability to surprise and draw you into the quests of its main heroes. I can understand the interplay between daily life and a mysterious world of talking cats, shifts in temporal/spacial zones may not be to everyone's taste. However, if you like things a little out of the ordinary, where the story will make you reflect upon a range of deeper philosophical issues, then this book will deliver. For me, it was one of those rarer books which became a good companion and whose ending was sadly too soon in coming.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Literary Fiction
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Popular Fiction
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)