Kafka on the Shore

Brief Overview

"Kafka on the Shore" is a novel by Haruki Murakami that tells two parallel stories. The first story follows a fifteen-year-old boy named Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home to escape his father's curse and to find his mother and sister. The second story is about an elderly man named Satoru Nakata, who lost his memory and ability to read after a mysterious incident in his childhood but gained the ability to communicate with cats. The fates of Kafka and Nakata intertwine through mystical and surreal events, including encounters with ghosts, strange phenomena, and the search for truth. The novel explores themes of fate, memory, loneliness, and self-discovery.