Kafka on the Shore (Contemporary Fiction)

Haruki Murakami

4.13

467,909 ratings by Goodreads

9789626344057: Kafka on the Shore (Contemporary Fiction)

ISBN 10: 9626344059 ISBN 13: 9789626344057

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks, 2006

Kafka on the Shore is the latest novel by Japan's leading literary novelist, who developed a world-wide cult reputation with Norwegian WoodIn Kafka on the Shore Murakami continues with his remarkable combination of profound insight into humankind, with a totally credible touch of the fantastical - a unique tour de force. The teenager Kafka Tamura goes on the run, and holes up in a strange library in a small country town. Concurrently, Nakata, a finder of lost cats, goes on a puzzling odyssey across Japan. Only gradually do we find how these stories interweave. An engaging but moving novel. Sean Barrett and Oliver Le Sueur read the parts of the two major characters.

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Review:

`His books are very moving and poetic' --Red Magazine

Haruki Murakami is the David Lynch of literature; everything doesn t always make sense, but it's so compelling you can't stop listening or trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Such is the case with Murakami's mind-bending Kafka on the Shore, which follows the lives of 15-year-old Kafka and an old man named Nakata, who might be aspects of the same person... or maybe not. What we do know is that Kafka runs away from home to find his lost mother and sister and winds up living in a library in the seaside town of Takamatsu, where he spends his days reading literature. Then he's suspected of being involved in a murder. In alternating chapters, we also hear the story of Nakata, who makes a living as a 'cat whisperer,' searching for lost pets. He embarks on a road trip searching for a particularly hard to find cat, traveling far away from his home for the first time, and the narrative suggests he's fated to meet Kafka. But does he? Oh, and there's also truly bizarre appearances by Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders. Oliver Le Sueur as Kafka and Sean Barrett as Nakata both give hypnotic readings of the main and supporting characters. Le Sueur performs double duty for Kafka and the teen's inner voice, Crow, reading with such gravitas that you might find yourself leaning forward a bit with expectancy for the next line of dialogue or intricate detail. Barrett's deep, warm voice is perfectly grandfatherly as Nakata, whose uncertain destination and deep wonder at the world he has never seen is the lynchpin of the novel. Barrett's voice is a national treasure in Britain having voiced Shakespeare, Dickens, and Beckett and you'll wish he narrated just about every book once you hear how he commits to Nakata. As Kafka prepares to leave home, his alter ego tells the boy that he's about to enter a metaphysical and symbolic storm. 'Once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure if the storm is over, but one thing is certain when you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in.' That can also be said of any listener who chooses to explore Murakami's beautiful, enigmatic world --Audible

From the Publisher:

The most unusual and mesmerising novel yet from Japanese cult author, Haruki Murakami

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