This month my bookclub read the book “Kafka on the Shore” by Haruki Murakami. Early on in the reading, I knew that it was poised to become one of my favorite books. It did not disappoint.

“Kafka on the Shore” is a beautifully written and crafted novel. It tells the story of a 15 year old boy who runs away from home to try and escape an Oedipal curse that was placed on him by his father. It also tells the tale, in alternating chapters, of an old man on a journey that he can’t explain, being pulled towards a goal that he doesn’t understand and won’t until he reaches the end. It is a story about fate in our lives and how we must accept it. It is a story about how, “as long as there is time, we all end up damaged in the end”. It is a story about what it means to be part of a family and having a place to retrace your steps to.

It is a story about many things. About other dimensions, memories, life, death, love, and beauty. Transformations of the self and transformations of reality.

Most of all, it is a story that is complex. At the end the reader is left with more theories than answers, which made it an excellent book for discussion. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all memorable and relatable. When we discussed the book as a group, everyone had a different favorite character and everyone related to them differently. But, everyone also thought that each character was well developed and understandable.

The book is full of irony. At one point, the characters discuss the story of Oedipus and how it is the irony that makes it tragic. In the story of Oedipus, the characters are not drawn deeper into tragedy by their flaws, but by their virtues. The characters are all just trying to get along and find their ways and it drags them deeper and deeper into their strange fate. There were many plot points that followed Oedipus, but it was not a tragedy. Murakami took inspiration from the story, but it was not a direct following. In fact, many facets of literature, philosophy, history, folklore, and music are drawn from and discussed throughout the tale.

The book left me wanting to read it again to find all the clues and learn the answers. But, Murakami himself said that there were riddles in the book that even he did not know the answer to. Each reader has to decide on the truth themselves. I am left wanting to read more of his work. He is the premiere author of Japan and has many books that have been translated into English and dozens of other languages around the world.

I don’t often come across books that I think will stick in my head like this one has. I will be heartily recommending it to people in the future.