Thursday 16 November 2017

Kafka on The Shore- Book review.

Kafka On the Shore- An impressive account journey of existential angst.

Writer- Haruki Murakami
Translated to English from Japanese by
Phillip Gabriel


Haruki murakami is one of those names in world literature  that echoes in the hearts of the readers for centuries, with the glories of the true quintessential spirit of literature.
His words don’t have meanings rather they have music and poetry.

The words that don’t convey the very soul of a writer are ephemeral and charmless. And Murakami’s stories try to find the depth of readers’ soul while exposing the very cores of his own intrinsic being.

Sometimes we feel, while reading his short stories, as if the light of his genius helps us explore the dark corners of our hearts. In this way reading him is painful and hence therapeutic.

“Kafka on the shore” explores this truth little more sharply. Death, love, passion and quest for the existential angst are itched on every leaf of these 505 pages mystery ride.
The story starts with Kafka Tamura, a fifteen year boy, who runs away from home and takes refuge in a library in Tokyo. He has the passion for reading. He thinks the every event has the meaning, and is the part of the bigger climax.

The story of Kafka goes parallel with the story of Nakata. Nakata, in his school years when on an excursion has met up with a strange accident in which he has lost  his logical mind and earned a peculiar ability- he can talk to cats, yes literally.

The most striking thing about this novel is the vivid characters. The novel ends but it seems the journey of those characters is eternal.

While reading this story i always felt that Murakami hasn’t chosen those characters but the characters have chosen this prodigiously able writer to tell their stories.

And we must hats off to Philip Gabriel who has translated this complex and fascinating read into English. He has brought Haruki to us and enriched our live

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