982. Kafka on the Shore

Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami
2002
Around 505 pages

Heavens to Betsy, we are getting close to ending a 10 year plus project. You might find me wandering the street with no purpose after this, in which case I ask that you gently steer me the nearest library. In the meantime, I'm happy to enjoy my last moments of sanity with this masterpiece.

The odd numbered chapters tell the story of 15-year-old Kafka, who is attempting to escape an Oedipal curse and finds refuge in a library run by the aloof Miss Saeki and the not so aloof Oshima. The even numbered chapters tell the story of Nakata who has uncanny abilities and uses them to find lost cats. I have to say, as a cat lady/human being, the cat stuff was very upsetting to read.

Okay, I know I throw around the term "masterpiece" around a lot, but dammit, there are many masterpieces in this world. Murakami is at his best here, creating a strange and quirky world and structuring the novel like a riddle. Usually, dreamlike novels irritate me, but somehow Murakami's universe makes sense to me. So it's a good dream.

This is one of those books that feels like a guide for navigating the universe, and deserves at least a couple rereads. And now, the official Murakami ranking:

1. Kafka on the Shore

2. After the Quake

3. Sputnik Sweetheart
4. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

John Updike described it as a "real page-turner, as well as an insistently metaphysical mind-bender."

UP NEXT: Unless by Carol Shields