What could be better as a first post than talking about about the last Haruki Murakami novel, Kafka on the shore. By the way, for the new ones arriving on this blog, Murakamai is one my favorite writers.
As usual in Murakami books, the story is based on a fantastic thread, a stone which has the ability to open or close a door and an elder who can talk to cats. This story is the support to the initiation quest of a teeanager, called Kafka, running away from the familial house and quickly all the characters are orbiting around a library. That library is finally the only stable element of this story, the only thing which is what it looks like, it means a library and an haven of peace, but also a place where time is slowing down.
We can recognize the usual half comforting, half disquieting atmosphere of Murakami's novels, characters who choose to disengage from the natural pace of life, make a step backward and choose in a more or less aware way to change themselves (From a writer used to create such metamorphosing characters, it was finally natural to write a book called Kafka !). And this transformation is done in our world but also in a oneiric world, but anyway the limit between these two worlds is so thin and fuzzy that it is not possible anymore to separate them, to say where is the reality and where is the dream, to say who is who. But finally why should we separate these two worlds, if, like a character says, responsability begins in your imagination.
If the book is still mysterious for you, do not worry it is normal and part of the pleasure to read Muraami books. However some want to resolve all the enigma making the thread of the novel. Here is what I found on the
wikipedia page about the secrets of Kafka:
After the novel's release, Murakami's Japanese publisher set up a website allowing readers to submit questions regarding the meaning of the book. 8,000 questions were received and Murakami responded
personally to about 1,200 of them. In an interview posted on his English language website, Murakami stated that the secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times. Murakami: "Kafka on the Shore
contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write."
