Umibe no Kafka (Kafka on the Shore) by Haruki Murakami
1. A fifteen year old boy named Kafka Tamura is on a runaway from home seeking his lost mother and older sister. As Kafka meets many new people in Shikoku, Japan, he starts unveiling mysteries about his father's death and his mother and sister's whereabouts. A concurring story is about a senior citizen, Nakata, who has the ability to communicate with cats and who is not very bright. When the story continues at a mystifying pace, these two protagonists get closer for a fateful encounter.
2. Stupid as this may sound, I do not, or cannot come up for a major theme for Kafka on the Shore. Sure, I understand the plot and the characters' actions, however I cannot decipher/ figure out the theme for this odd book. Perhaps "life is a journey" is a typical cliche for themes. A book filled with magical realism and glimpses of reality is surely perplexing.
3. The author's tone is puzzling and mystique (just like the story itself). Some parts of the book is genuine genius, for example, his quotes and personal reflection. Sometimes I wonder if this book is some sort of philosophy.
'With a jolt of panic I remember my backpack. Where could I have left it? No way I can lose it -- everything I own's inside. But how am I going to find it in the dark?...'
'Sometimes fate is like s small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You can change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again but the storm adjusts."
'Over and over you play this out, like some omnious dance with death before dawn. Why? ... Something inside of you. .. There's not sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time.'
4. Through syntax, diction, mood, <countless> metaphors and similes, I sensed a bit what the theme is, although I'm clueless right now.
"No matter how metaphysical of symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too."
' "You got your restrooms and your food. Your fluorescent lights and your plastic chairs. Crappy coffee. Strawberry jam sandwiches. It's all pointless-- assuming you to find a point. We're coming from somewhere heading somewhere else." '
'It wasn't even a metaphor, even. If you trace it back further, it wasn't even a correlation. Until Edison invented the elcetric light, most of the world was toally covered in darkness. The physical darkness outside and the inner darkness of the soul were mixed together, with no boundary separating the two. They were directly linked.'
I really like the way you tried explaining the theme. I agree in that there is no universal theme, just because the plot is so crazy. I'm sure we could figure out a few sub-themes for this novel.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love Murakami. (this is rather unhelpful.) Secondly, I think a major theme or at least idea that is toyed with is reality. Murakami loves to speculate on such ideas. "What is reality?" "Where is the bridge between dreams and reality." "Do the two ever mesh?"
ReplyDeleteHis themes to me are more like philosophical contemplations.
Similarly, in the "South of the Border, West of the Sun" Murakami plays with the idea of memory and poses such ideas as, "Does memory really exist or do we create it?" He demonstrates this by pointing out that we can forget memories, we can change memories, and thus we can even make memories that never really happened! Murakami is very puzzling and leaves his contemplations open ended, which, I think, makes labeling a theme difficult.
Just thought of this on reading more:
ReplyDelete'Sometimes fate is like s small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You can change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again but the storm adjusts."
This theme, if I remember correctly, re-occurs through out the novel. Perhaps fate is a big theme of the novel. Also, Kafka is put under the fate of Oedipus Rex. Murakami alludes to Oedipus by giving Kafka the same "fate." I think this, itself, makes fate a theme in the novel. In fact, Kafka runs away from home to try to escape this fate, but he still ends up killing his dad, sleeping with his mom, and sleeping with his sister. Just like Oedipus. What theme Nakata represents, I have no idea.
@Trevor,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thanks for giving me a second chance to reflect back on what possible theme Kafka on the Shore might have. It's quite hard to understand what his central message is and sure enough, he might have just left it ominous for the readers to find out. I'm pretty sure that Fate is a reoccurring feature of the story; it's more of a motif in my opinion. Everything happens by fate, the encounter between Kafka and Ooshima (and his brother, (gee, I forgot his name), Miss Saeki, Sakura and also the encounters between Nakata, Johnny Walker, Miss Saeki, Ooshima...etc. Perhaps each character symbolizes a part of fate or a part of reality.
Anyway, [have you read The Elephant Vanishes? Super interesting, it's one of those short story compilations-- but it's just Murakami's writing.] Now that I think back, Fate does have large effects on Murakami's stories. The Elephant Vanishes is a must read if you haven't read it yet. (It's not as long as Wind up Bird Chronicle or Kafka on the Shore.)
Sorry for replying a month late!
ReplyDeleteNo, I have not read the Elephant Vanishes, however, on researching Murakami's writings a while back I did encounter this one's mention.
IF you have't read, "South of the Border, West of the Sun," you definitely should. It is about 230 pages or so. I read it in a day and I read slow! It sucks you in. I began reading both, "Hard-boiled WOnderland and the End of the World," and, "After Dark," which were both very fascinating. The first has a science fiction feel to it and the second, to me, felt very raw and realistic in the opening, but it, of course, gets metaphysical and awesome. You should look into those two. They're both at the Santa Maria Public Library.
-Trevor
No worries. I don't check my blog frequently.
ReplyDeleteSouth of Border....I'm trying to think whether or not my sister has that book. I'll definitely read it if I do have it somewhere in my bookshelf which I don't keep track of. I do have the Hard Boiled wonderland but, I just didn't seem to get sucked in. I stopped around page 50 or so. I probably should have just kept reading because Murakami sometimes takes a while to developthe exposition.