Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore is the third Haruki Murakami Book that I have read, the two being IQ84 which I did not finished and then Norweigan Wood. That said, I really do not know much yet about Murakami’s style. A friend- the one who lent me Kafka on the Shore- told me that the author almost always has cats in his novels, people who love to cook, and passive protagonists. I have also noticed that Murakami employs the concept of parallel worlds and incorporated metaphysical events in the book again as in 1Q84.

Kafka on the Shore has its chapters written in parallel with each other or alternating between the story of the two main characters: Kafka Tamura and Satoru Nakata. Kafka Tamura is the fifteen year old boy who ran away from home to search for his sister and mother who abandoned him when he was four. He went to Shikoku and there met other interesting characters: Sakura- the girl Kafka met on the bus to Shikoku. Kafka thinks of her as possibly his sister; Oshima- the smart assistant librarian at the Komura Library who helped Kafka while on the run. He gives the young lost Kafka advices and insights and lent his cabin in the woods as refuge for the boy; and the enigmatic Ms. Seiki- head librarian and possibly Kafka’s mother. On the other hand, Nakata is the victim of an undescribed phenomenon when he was a child which left him devoid of feelings, memories, and the ability to read and write. He can talk to cats and is recognized in his neighbourhood as a great cat finder. An incident led him to murder a man named Johnnie Walker- a man who kills cats for their soul. He ran away and met truck driver Hoshino who helped Nakata find the “Entrance Stone”.

I am not good in novel or story analysis. Someone always has to explain to me concepts about a certain book, the sysmbolisms used, and how characters developed or degenerated. There are times where I liked the story but I have this feeling that I did not truly understand the novel because I cannot grasp underlying metaphors and themes. In Kafka on the Shore, I felt lost. The phrase “everything is a metaphor” was mentioned many times in the novel and I feel that all things I am reading and the whole book itself is a metaphor about something I cannot grasp or name. However, though I felt lost, I feel that I understood everything at the same time. The book made me more aware, it made me grew in a way I cannot explain.

Maybe I cannot know the real meaning of the whole book ( and I wonder if others will because in the book’s reviews, reviewers were lost as well) but its “meaningfulness” or the book’s personal meaning made it one of the books that truly impacted me. I was searching for something and I found it here in this book. Maybe that’s what important-meaningfulness over meaning.

Here are some of the parts that either made me look far away to think deeply, sent me away to daydream land, or made me understand whatever it is I need to understand:

Oshima brought Kafka to his cabin inside the woods. He said to Kafka that being alone in the woods is overwhelming for some, to which Kafka replied that he is used to being alone. Oshima then said “solitude comes in different varieties”.
From Oshima again: In dreams begin responsibility.
Another from Oshima: “ there is another world that parallels our own, and to a certain degree you’re able to step into that other world and come back safely as long as you’re careful. But go past a certain point and you’ll lose yourself.”

I was able to identify with what Oshima was saying very deeply as I once got lost inside a mossy forest. Remembering that incident, I think I really stepped into another world that time. I looked around me saw that the landscape was repeating itself over and over again: tangled branches and gnarled roots covered in many shades of green moss everywhere I turned. The trail is gone and I don’t know where to go.

I cannot explain it before but again, Oshima shed some light to my experience. He said Further, he said,

Basically, that maze like sea of branches and roots is just myself and everything I was seeing is a projection of the things I know, things I have no knowledge about, all my fears. If our guide during the hike was in my place, I know he will not be as scared as I was because that forest is an extension of himself- he knows it. He knows the lie of the land, the differences of each branch. He’ll find his way easy because a map of the land is inside him.

I am lost inside myself- though I did not know it that time. I just know that I have to trust the forest because it will lead me out. Luckily I was able to find my way but until now it is still the scariest, most meaningful and profound experience I ever had while hiking. Though it scared all the hell out of me, I am glad I experienced it.

Hoshino on suddenly liking Beethoven’s music: “ Pretty amazing developmet!”

Hoshima was amazed at himself that he suddenly like classical music, especially that of Beethoven. His statement at his development, for me, symbolizes a turning point in his life. A major change is happening with him and it is all because of Nakata and how he sees the world.

When Nakata started searching for the stone he doesn’t know where to look for it or how the stone looks like. He just knows where he is going until he get there and will know the stone when he sees it. This search could be our own personal “searches”. Most of the time we are too occupied by thinking about reasons, pros, cons and we forget our “gut feel” which is also important. Nakata doesn’t use logic ( because he can’t) and just relies on his instincts which ultimately lead him to where he’s supposed to go.

Reading Kafka on the Shore is almost a magical experience. Like Kafka when he went inside the “town” in the forest and went back, I cannot put into words what happened as I step in and out of the book. One really has to read it because it is hard to explain. It left me hanging- there are so many loose ends and questions with no answers. But I don’t want to think about question anymore. Nakata wouldn’t ask for further explanations when he has already found what he’s looking for. J

Just for the sake of writing them, here are some of my questions anyway.

Is Ms. Seiki really Kafka’s mother? When they met at the town she said that Kafka already knows the answer to that.
Is Sakura really his sister?
What really happed to Nakata? Where are his memories?
Who is Kafka’s father? Why does he calls himself Johnnie Walker and collects cat souls for a flute?
Is Kafka also something of a reincarnation of Ms. Seiki’s dead lover?
Where will the magical flute be used?
Who is the boy named Crow? Is he merely Kafka’s alter-ego? If he’s only in Kafka’s mind how can he be seen by Johnnie Walker?
What is that thing that Hoshino killed- the thing that is trying to get to the entrance stone?
Why was the concept “Johnnie Walker” and “Colonel Sanders” used in the novel?
Is the entrance stone a symbol to something?