The odd-numbered chapters tell the 15-year-old Kafka's story as he runs away from his father's house to escape an Oedipal curse and to embark upon a quest to find his mother and sister. : 64–65 Plot summary Ĭomprising two distinct but interrelated plots, the narrative runs back and forth between both plots, taking up each plotline in alternating chapters. Psychoanalyst Hayao Kawai saw special meaning in the name 'Kafka', as its Japanese version, Kafuka ( Japanese: カフカ), could be a combination of 可 ( ka, meaning possible or good) and 不可 ( fuka, meaning the opposite), thus giving the book liminality. He compares it to titles such as Genji on the Hudson. The title of the book, according to Alan Cheuse of NPR, is suggestive and mysterious to Japanese readers - Franz Kafka is categorized as a Western writer who is well-known by Americans but is not so in Japan. The novel was generally well-received, with positive reviews from John Updike and the New York Times. The book incorporates themes of music as a communicative conduit, metaphysics, dreams, fate, the subconscious.Īfter the release of the book, Murakami allowed for questions about the novel to be sent in, and responded to many of them. 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. 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. Kafka on the Shore ( 海辺のカフカ, Umibe no Kafuka) is a 2002 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

Murakami on the shore