https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz My review of the book 'Kafka On The Shore' by Haruki Murakami en-us 2022-12-21 05:54:21 UTC 2025-11-01 23:05:30 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f5fb.png alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3 https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426424509 Kafka On The Shore was published by Haruki Murakami in 2002. It was published by Shinchosha publishing and was later translated to English from Japanese to be sold internationally. The book is 505 pages long. The genre of the book is fantasy fiction as well as magical realism. The book follows two main characters and their two respective storylines. Kafka Tamura, is 15 and runs away from home to escape his father's prophecy. Meanwhile, an elderly man named Nakata who is a cat whisperer sets out to find a lost cat. ]]> 2022-12-21 06:05:34 UTC https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426424509 alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3 https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426443103  The book takes place in Tokyo, Japan. It is told through alternating point of views by the two main characters. Aside from Kafka and Nakata, the librarian Kafka meets named Oshima who provides Kafka with wisdom and becomes his friend. Oshima also represents the split between mind and body as he believes his body is unable to fit his mind. Kafka also meets Miss Saeki, the woman who runs the library. Miss Saeki wrote the song Kafka on the Shore to express her love for her first love who passed away. Another character is The Boy Named Crow who is a projection of Kafka's thoughts. The Boy Named Crow is wiser, braver and more tough than Kafka and appears in his moments of doubts and fear.

The tone of Kafka on the shore is surreal. magical and seemingly impossible events occur throughout the novel as it progresses. the tone also shifts between ominous and lighthearted throughout different chapters of the book. For example, in the first chapter when we learn about the strange incident that Nakata was exposed to when he was a child, the tone is ominous and dark. However when Oshima and Kafka meet, the tone is lighthearted and warm as they share ideas of philosophy and discuss the library.

Kafka runs away from home to escape the prophecy his father informs him about which is oedipal. Kafka is destined to fall for his mother, murder his father and fall for his sister. He runs away and ends up staying near a library where he spends his days trying to learn about Miss Saeki, the aloof caretaker , talking to Oshima the librarian and reading books. Nakata is an elderly man who can locate cats due to his surreal ability to talk to them. Nakata ends up stumbling upon a cat murder while tailing a cat. This leads to him running away to escape the madness and travelling to unlock a mysterious portal to another world. 

Sequence of major events: 
1. Nakata's incident
2. Kafka runs away from home
3. Nakata stumbles upon the cat murder and runs away, shocked by what he's seen
4. Kafka finds the library and meets Oshima
5. Nakata befriends Oshima
6. kafka reaches the cabins
7. Kafka meets the ghost soldiers
8. Nakata passes his task to Hoshino

The climax of the book is when two very separate things happen. Firstly, Nakata rediscovers his purpose in life. Secondly, Kafka runs into the woods where he finds a place between life and death. The book ends with Hoshino closing the gateway after it opens and Kafka decides to return home.


]]> 2022-12-21 06:40:00 UTC https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426443103 alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3 https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426445777 Personally I found the book very moving. The book itself is filled to the brim with metaphors and symbolism which may be hard to understand on one's own without a guide or analysis provided. Hence, I wouldn't recommended it to anyone younger than 15 who may not understand the symbolism in the text. I also sometimes found myself lost while reading and had to quickly google the reasoning behind the metaphor. By doing so, it made the experience more meaningful as I was able to understand the themes and meaning of the novel while also developing my own opinions and interpretations. Overall, I believe it is about fate vs freewill, a theme also explored in the literature text im studying. I found the novel very interesting for it's use of unnatural imagery such as fish raining from the sky and the use of time and space for example different the worlds existing. I believe the only weakness of the book is that at times I found it too fast paced as there was so much going on for both stories and they alternated back and forth which made it harder to process. ]]> 2022-12-21 06:45:02 UTC https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426445777 alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3 https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426485936 Murakami's use of metaphors and his brilliant command of the English language is exactly what allows a surreal story such as Kafka On The Shore flow smoothly. Murakami likens fate to a sandstorm saying:
"Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine."  Murakami's argument is that no matter what, you cannot escape fate. 
This analogy is greatly relevant in my literature studies as the theme it applies to is also apparent in Macbeth. The theme is one that has been studied and used in various novels across history. In argumentative essays or cross referencing in literature, this analogy is highly useful. If the argumentative essay topic was about , for example, fate or belief systems, then it would be a useful quote to start off my argument.]]> 2022-12-21 07:53:29 UTC https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426485936 alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3 https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426489511  Overall, Kafka On The Shore was a remarkable read. I found it very stimulating because of the deep metaphors hidden in plain sight. I truly did enjoy researching the symbolism and researching the theme in greater detail. The book was so interesting that it prompted me into reading more of Murakami's works. After finishing the book, I remember the goosebumps I had gotten. No, the book had not ended on a cliffhanger or a sudden action scene. Rather, it was so impactful and meaningful to me that it's ending washed over me. Not many books are able to evoke such readings and reactions in a reader. I strongly suggest reading this book with an analysis or guide close at hand. It makes the experience much more enjoyable and engaging. Kafka On The Shore is a breathtaking novel about the human experience that everyone should read at least twice in their life. Once to read it and the second time to understand it fully. ]]> 2022-12-21 07:59:50 UTC https://padlet.com/alyeesha_kaif_khairul_nizam3/633f46ztgo67gjxz/wish/2426489511