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Kafka on the Shore cover art

Kafka on the Shore

Written by: Haruki Murakami
Narrated by: Sean Barrett, Oliver Le Sueur
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Publisher's Summary

With Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami gives us a novel every bit as ambitious and expansive as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which has been acclaimed both here and around the world for its uncommon ambition and achievement, and whose still-growing popularity suggests that it will be read and admired for decades to come.

This magnificent novel has a similarly extraordinary scope and the same capacity to amaze, entertain, and bewitch. A tour de force of metaphysical reality, it is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle - yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.

Extravagant in its accomplishment, Kafka on the Shore displays one of the world's truly great storytellers at the height of his powers.

©2005 Haruki Murakami (P)2013 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"As powerful as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.... Reading Murakami ... is a striking experience in consciousness expansion." ( The Chicago Tribune)
"An insistently metaphysical mind-bender." ( The New Yorker)
"If he has not achieved that status already, Haruki Murakami is on course to becoming the most widely read Japanese writer outside Japan, past or present." ( The New York Times)

What listeners say about Kafka on the Shore

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This book is such a good find

Always wanted to read this book but I'm too busy to read an actual book. Good thing it's on audible! Nice narration overall

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So Weird, SO GOOD!!

This is the second book I've read by this author, and wow - such an incredible, weird, intriguing, compelling, and thoughtful story. This is an absolute must-read, I will be recommending to everyone I know. The narration is superb, the two narrators have very distinct voices that lend perfectly to the tone of their respective characters. I don't want to say too much about it as to keep the story for you to discover on your own, but this is one of my top 5 audio books of all time. Give yourself the gift of discovering this story.

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Unforgettable journey

I’ve read multiple books by Murakami, but nothing touched me more than this one. A constant tasteful mix of reality with unlimited range of theories and possibilities. The book is a metaphor, a poem about youth, search of love and tying to make sense of this world.

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Quietly Mind-blowing

I am a huge fan of Murakami. I find all his writing intriguing but after reading Kafka on the Shore I am shocked to find it competing with the perfection of 1Q84 for number one in my heart. Unforgettable characters. Throat-grabbing stories. Mind-bending ideas that I will puzzle over in my dreams for some time to come. I will have to ask my neighbour’s cat to help me decide which one I love best.

I would highly recommend anything by Haruki Murakami and Kafka on the Shore is an excellent place to begin.

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Well Written and Well Performed

If you are looking for something unique, deep and entertaining, this is the book for you.

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If you know Haruki murakami

I really like the way is was written. The characters and the plot is awesome as always with this amazing writer, i have to say it reminds me a little bit of other books from him. I would recommend this book to someone who has experience listening to audio books but just starting to like them, because I have to say it’s long but the story is very engaging.

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Loved the message from one of the main characters

There were aspects of this story I loved and those I could do without. At any case it's a unique story you could some how relate to or at least wish you encounter such characters or situations.

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Strange and beautiful book.

For me, the key to reading/listening to Haruki Murakami’s books is to forget analyzing what’s going on and just enjoy it in small chunks. The story starts to reveal itself as you become attached to the central characters. I can’t begin to outline the story but there are talking cats, visitations from a beautiful and mysterious ghost, mackerels falling from the sky like rain and a terrifying murderer. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it. In fact 1Q84 and Kafka on the Shore have changed my reading preferences. I rarely read fiction of any kind, preferring history, mostly. Now, thanks to HM, I head for the fiction section.
I suspect that this review won’t be much help to prospective readers but you might be pleasantly surprised.

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One of the best books I have ever read!

This is an amazing book and an amazing narration as well. I can’t recommend this enough.

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A warm hug… then a fever dream

It’s alllll about the journey. Stop and smell the roses - exemplified. The narrator is also amazing.

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