71 pages • 2 hours read
Kafka on the Shore
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book Brief
480
Novel • Fiction
Japan • Contemporary
2002
Adult
18+ years
Super Short Summary
Kafka on the Shore follows the journey of Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old runaway who leaves Tokyo to escape a curse and finds refuge in a library in Takamatsu, where he encounters Oshima and Miss Saeki. Simultaneously, Nakata, an older man with unique abilities resulting from a childhood accident, embarks on a parallel quest that intersects with Kafka's fate, involving mystical events and introspective discoveries. Themes include violence and incest.
Mysterious
Contemplative
Melancholic
Fantastical
Reviews & Readership
510,634 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
Review Roundup
Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore melds surreal elements with a coming-of-age narrative, offering readers a rich, layered experience. Praised for its imaginative storytelling and profound themes, some find its ambiguity and complexity challenging. The novel's dreamlike quality captivates many, while a few readers feel disconnected from its abstract nature.
Who Should Read Kafka on the Shore?
A reader captivated by Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami likely enjoys surreal, thought-provoking narratives with rich, metaphysical undercurrents. Comparable to fans of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez or The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami himself, they appreciate complex characters and intertwining plotlines.
510,634 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
480
Novel • Fiction
Japan • Contemporary
2002
Adult
18+ years
Continue your reading experience
Subscribe now to unlock the rest of this Study Guide plus our full library, which features expert-written summaries and analyses of 8,000+ additional titles.