Kafka on the Shore

About

Fifteen-year-old Kafka Tamura runs away from home to escape an Oedipal prophecy. Nakata, an elderly man who can talk to cats but cannot read, is drawn toward Kafka by forces neither of them understands. Their paths converge in a narrative that crosses the boundary between the real and the metaphysical with the ease of stepping through a doorway — because in Murakami's world, that's exactly what it is. This is Murakami at his most expansive: a novel that contains libraries as portals, fish falling from the sky, a forest that exists outside of time, and two protagonists who are mirror images of each other separated by decades. The prose moves with dreamlike confidence, each impossibility presented as naturally as a weather report. A novel about fate, free will, and the mysterious forces that connect people across time — Murakami's most purely enchanting work and one of his most profound.

Awards

• ★World Fantasy Award(2006 - Winner)