Kafka on the Shore

Author: (Japanese) Haruki Murakami
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-08-01
Features: Haruki Murakami's first novel, part of the "Youth Trilogy" — "Everything Begins by Accident." "I" accidentally picked up a drunk girl in a bar, and then accidentally saw her working as a salesclerk in a record store. There's no need to ask more: holding hands, we came to the seaside, smelled the fragrance of the tide, heard the distant whistles, drowned in the evening breeze, and recalled the dreams of summer. With this, what more could youth ask for? Of course, in the end, everything cannot be regained: returning from winter break, the girl was gone, leaving only "I" sitting alone in the old place, gazing at the sea in longing. The melancholic tone not only fills this small book but also runs through all of Murakami's literature... Haruki Murakami began his literary career with the novella Kafka on the Shore. The plot of Kafka on the Shore is not very complicated. "I" drink at a bar, goes to the bathroom, and finds a drunk girl lying on the ground. I take her home to look after her. The next day, the girl discovers she is completely naked and accuses "I" of humiliating her. "I" has no defense. But a few days later, the two of them become increasingly close. Unbeknownst to me, when I return for winter break, the girl is nowhere to be found. I can only sit alone at the place where we used to sit and gaze longingly at the sea. Kafka on the Shore won the 22nd Akutagawa Prize. A judge commented: "Every line is not excessively worded, but every line carries subtle charm!" This is Murakami's breakthrough work, which has sold over 1.4 million copies in Japan.