The Boy named Crow

The thoughts and musings of a college-going bookworm on reading ‘Kafka on the shore’.

He scares you, thrills you, instigates deep emotions in you, and makes you laugh; all at the same time. Haruki Murakami is not just an author, for me, he is a legend; a legend that woke me from my deep slumber, pushed me into a pool of ice-cold water, revitalized my brain and made my life beautiful.

My journey began with Tinkle, Champak and Jataka tales; moved on to Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie (whose books I still enjoy) and then when I finally understood Ayn Rand’s ‘The Fountainhead’ after reading it for the 2nd time, I started picking up random books at bookstores. That’s when I came across ‘Kafka on the Shore’, the name intrigued me but I decided not to read it for the time being, I was 15 then (and I think I made a very wise decision). I picked it up again when I was 17, and I’ve read it 3 times since then; not because I didn’t understand it, but because I couldn’t get over it. I’m still not over it! I eased the author in, I first read ‘After Dark’ and then I read ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’; I loved ‘After Dark’ and I had mixed feelings about ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’, but contrary to my belief, they did not prepare me for the journey that was ‘Kafka on the Shore’.

Haruki Murakami is known for his ambiguity and this book serves as the epitome of ambiguousness! (I’m a big fan of lose endings.) You gasp, cringe and shudder throughout the book. Talking cats, UFO sightings, fish and leeches falling from the sky, a maniac “magician”, a giant grey slug and many other elements make the novel seem like an enigma. But like any other book, all you need is an open mind.

The book has two strands, one that follows Kafka Tamura, a 15 year old, mature beyond his years runaway, and another that follows Nakata, an old man who is “not very bright “and can talk to cats! The author alternates between the story of Kafka and Nakata, though their lives run parallel throughout the book, they intertwine because of the writing style. It’s almost annoying how engrossing the book is. Murakami has a distinct quality; his protagonists are almost always lost souls seeking fulfillment. I think that’s what makes his characters tick. We all are, in some way or another, seeking fulfillment; we all have that voice inside us that persuades us to find the meaning behind our existence. Kafka runs away from a broken home, one which is mother and sister left when he was very little, he is on a quest for truth and meaning.

There are parts where the characters seem so messed up that you want to shut the book and never open it again. One such part was the Oedipus’ tragedy like quality that emerged about halfway through the book. Kafka starts working at a library and he meets Mrs. Saeki, his employer, who might be his mother (we never find out). And then he has an affair with her. From heart-warming to prompting a gag-reflex, like snap! But you read on, and you really read between the lines. Murakami’s love for music shines through and Kafka falls in love with Mrs. Saeki’s love song ‘Kafka on the shore’. Murakami, as Kafka, describes the music so beautifully that even though you may have not heard any of the songs mentioned in the book, you fall in love with them, you can hear them and you can feel the music reverberating around you!

Nakata remains a puzzle throughout the book. If you think you have him all figured out, No you don’t. Murakami plays with your imagination. Here you have an old man who can talk to cats, who has been disowned by his family, who’s profession is finding stray cats, who is “not very bright” because of an X-file-ish incident that took place when he was a little boy, who murdered an evil “magician” because he was threatening to murder cats and steal their souls, who tried to ‘fess up to the cops but was driven away, who will drive you to the point of insanity trying to figure out what he’s saying and, you love him. His child-like nature gets to you. He is drawn towards Kafka. There is very deep connection between them, which you try to figure out using Murakami’s philosophical, historical, mythological, musical, and literary references, but you get nowhere. 

On one hand, Kafka is trying mighty hard to avoid his father’s prophecy, i.e. he will kill his father and sleep with his mother and sister, and on the other hand Nakata seems to be bent on making it come true. At some point you will think “Is it the same person????”

Solving a Sudoku puzzle is easier than coming to a satisfactory conclusion in Murakami’s books. (Spoiler alert! Satisfaction seems pointless after you are done reading any of his books) He loves riddles, that one. And by the end of the book, after you are done doubting your mathematical abilities of adding two and two, and you think you have the right conclusion, you realise that Murakami has been trolling you all along. You imagine the guy slapping his thigh, laughing uncontrollably and saying “No you moron! It’s not four! Its 10898464!”

 My favourite part in the book: When Kafka is alone in a cabin near the woods and everything that happens in the woods. This is the part where everything is revealed, but nothing is. This, according to me, is the crux of the novel. It’s scary, amusing, crazy, confusing and surreal. This is the part that changed me. I don’t want to oversell it, so I’m going to stop here.

Everything, every little detail seems important and we hungrily gobble it up! Only to realise, in the end, that nothing matters. We are left perplexed, speechless, awed. It’s hauntingly beautiful.