Book of the Week

Welcome back! We hope you've all had a fabulous summer, with plenty of time to relax (and read). It's the start of a new term, and here to kick off this year's posts is our first book of the week.  

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Recommended by Austin Burks

I recently finished reading Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, and it is certainly a journey. I did not know what to expect, and initially thought I was in for another tale of a slightly insufferable teenager running away from home. However, my perception of the novel was immediately warped by its unpredictable nature, directed by Murakami's style of blending the real with the surreal. 

The protagonist, Kafka Tamura, and his journey, seem to be 'normal', or at least his story could fit into our own world seamlessly, with geographical specifics even being pointed out. That is until Murakami brings in Nakata: a character who can talk to cats and make fish fall from the sky. We also meet a villain who plays the souls of cats in a flute, and a ghostly version of Colonel Sanders, who happens to be a hustler, deploying Hegel-spouting escorts. This list sounds ridiculous, which it is, and it does not even cover half of the strange events or characters. 

However, there is reason behind the ludicrous. Murakami's unsettling mix of the normal, even mundane, with the metaphysical, creates a dreamy effect, which I find reminiscent of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, in its hazy and unclear style. Interestingly both came out around the same time, and deal with similar elements of Japanese culture, but that is a comparison for another day. Primarily though, I believe that Murakami uses the abstract to create striking commentary on fate and mortality, and that is what I will explore in this review.

Murakami's narrative style is very fun to follow as a reader. The story is told via two parallel journeys which alternate chapters - that of Kafka and that of Nakata. The constant switch kept me entertained, as I was always eagerly awaiting the next character's chapter, and it made sure that the story as a whole didn't stagnate in one place for too long. Moreover, these two odysseys began to subtly weave together, before eventually crossing over each other, making the entire book fit together like a puzzle, and as a reader, there is possibly nothing more satisfying than this. 

The contrast in narrative voice was also interesting - Kafka's chapters were written in the first person, which brilliantly captured the mind of an arrogant teenage boy, mid-puberty, who is ultimately lost, afraid and at the mercy of his emotions, but tries to hide it. Nakata's sections are written in the third person, but Nakata in dialogue also refers to himself in the third person, making his journey extremely personal and making me feel connected to him as a reader.

In terms of major themes, the past is continuously referenced in this book. Kafka's life is rooted in a dark prophecy that he knows he will fulfil - an Oedipal curse. He is condemned to kill his father, and sleep with his mother and sister - a malediction placed on him by his father nonetheless. We see ghosts throughout the novel, and these are a constant reminder of the past. Kafka has inherited the sins of his father, and has no choice but to walk the path that has been paved for him. He begins by hiding his knowledge of the prophecy deep inside him - he is ashamed to be defined by it, and at times he does all he can to avoid his fate. Nevertheless, at a pivotal moment, Kafka decides to try and take the reins. But does he succeed in controlling his destiny? Murakami examines whether we can outrun our fate, or take charge of it, or must simply accept it - perhaps he suggests that pre-written destinies are as surreal as he writes them, and should be ignored. It is ambiguities such as this which make me personally find Murakami to be so compelling, as his writing lets on enough to make us use our own imagination, and question the concepts he gives us.

Finally, I believe an explanation for the ridiculous events that occur throughout the book can be found in the theme of liminality, which I think provides the overarching message in this story. After travelling to a mysterious forest where people of the past live in the present, and time is almost stopped, Kafka knows he must sacrifice this paradise, and return to the real world. This forest represents desire, an oasis, where he can stay with his beloved Miss Saeki forever - a liminal space. But Kafka knows that this illusion will not allow him to escape his traumatic past, and time will catch up to him. Near the end of the book he says, 'even if you go to the ends of the earth, you won't be able to escape it. Still, you have to go there - to the edge of the world. There's something you can't do unless you get there.' I see this line as Murakami's acknowledgement of the surreal journey he has taken us down, and his explanation for why. If we don't push ourselves to the edge of reality, we cannot experience our reality at all.