Book Review- Kafka On The Shore (2002) by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore (2002), is a fascinating read with a weird story, atypical characters and bizarre situations. When you’ve actually read it, you feel complete even though many story arcs have been left hanging mid-air. That is probably the best thing about Kafka On The Shore. The story builds on its fantastical happenings and mysticism without having to rely on the reader to be able to understand it fully. And as readers, we are also able to delve deep into this surreal dream without necessarily trying to de-tangle this whole mish-mash of suspense in the narrative.

The Story

The plot majorly revolves around the quests of multiple characters, mainly circling back to the inevitably entwined lives of Mr. Nakata, a very old but not-so-bright guy who can talk to cats; and Kafka Tamura, the 15 year old kid who wants to run away from his home and his father. Both of them do things they’ve never done before, meeting the right people and ending up just where they need to be. Rather evidently, as they both suspect, there is some higher power or fate at play here. They give in to the capricious inklings of fate and reside to play their part without anyone trying to comprehend things much. Hence the reader is left just as clueless and is expected to reside in the happenings of fate as well without questioning anything or asking for an explanation.

The plot is filled with colourful and almost unbelievable characters like Miss Saeki, Oshima, Sakura, and Hoshino. Each of which ends up being a favourite without any ill feelings towards anyone. But in a story like Kafka, belief and the reliance on facts seems somewhat illogical. The story is about losing yourself and your sense of being in a dream, in a song, in a painting with meaning beyond what words can explain. So it’s best not to question anything at all and just enjoy this peculiarly sentimental odyssey of confused yet committed characters.

The characters

Miss Saeki- If composure and elegance had a face, they’ll probably look like Miss Saeki. She is painted in such a manner that you cannot associate certain characteristics with her like impulsiveness, loudness, rudeness; even if you wanted to. She exudes class, mesmerising everyone who ever lays eyes on her. No matter how old is she in a particular scene, 15/19 or over 50. She is almost ageless in her splendour.

Mr. Nakata- He is gifted in ways more than he can count probably. Even though Nakata considers himself to be very stupid, he does have a special ability to talk to cats. He is devoid of any complex emotions and cannot read/write due to an accident in his childhood. He is on a quest he is unaware of. Yet he does what is required of him when the situation calls for it and just mysteriously knows when what has to happen.

Kafka Tamura- The wannabe toughest 15 year old in the world. Kafka is somebody who is independent and only ever finds solace in reading. He does not speak much, he is careful and keeps on encountering good people who care about him. You could say that in a twisted sense of the word, he is quite lucky but the unknown keeps on tormenting him throughout, until he accepts and embraces his true self.

Oshima- A fan favourite character who is densely packed with knowledge and virtues but never once seems to be ostentatious. He does his job with pride and deals with all the patrons rather humbly unless somebody particularly picks at his ideals. He helps Kafka and forms a strong bond with him throughout the story and acts as the guide to lead Kafka from the darkness of obscurity to lights of the known world, to his roots. 

Hoshino- The only regular human being in the entire narrative, it seems. Sporting a ponytail, chunichi dragons cap and aloha shirt; Hoshino is the camaraderie of Mr. Nakata, who comes to put absolute faith in his quest and actions. He doesn’t always understand what is happening around him or why is it happening but never shies away from a daunting task and stays by Mr. Nakata’s side, till the very end.

The novel is filled with many more utterly interesting characters like Sakura, Johnny Walker, Colonel Sanders, The boy named Crow, Mimi the cat, etc. Each of them stands for the unique quirk they lend to the story aside from being the central figures in the fair play of destiny. They play their roles well in being the mediums assisting the protagonists getting closer to their end and sheltering them or providing information when required. They are like guides or auxiliary companions who may not have a set position in the arena but it will fall apart without them.

Themes

Kafka on the Shore is all about individual experiences of each of the characters. It is not an adventure story. It isn’t exactly about the suspense or explanations about why things happened the way they did. Kafka at the end of it all, is about self-acceptance and moving ahead in life no matter how things in your past remain. It tries to reason with the ideologies that your past may not always be perfect, it may always pull you back into it, but you must strive forward and live out your natural life in the real world. There will be pieces of you torn away and kept locked in the past forever but that just makes you a new you who is more mature than the older one, capable of better things. Metaphors aside, the actual personification of this act is Mr. Nakata who loses half his shadow, his ability to read and write, his intelligence but gains the exclusive ability to talk to cats. Miss Saeki spends an entire lifetime mourning the death of her lover but still welcomes death rejoicing her time which she did get to spend with her lover. Kafka Tamura is plagued by the terrible oedipal curse put on him by his father but learns that this isn’t all that defines him and hence shouldn’t let this singular thing dictate his whole life.

Various thematic devices are touched upon throughout the novel. Music playing a catalyst in situations to complement the transition of characters from their earlier mundane selves to a deeper understanding and awe of the world around them. Art plays a major role in numerous forms. Classic films, paintings, home décor and the set-up of the dreams are all described to be aesthetically reminiscent of other-worldliness.

A particularly lovely scene when Mr. Nakata is looking a missing cat

The story spans ages but also reaches a point where time is of little consequence. And at such a point when even the most fundamental truths of human existence hold little to no significance, expecting the story to address materialistic concerns which held meaning earlier, seems a bit far-fetched. Kafka On the Shore is about finding meaning when there is none. It is about living; about dreaming and living in those dreams. They aren’t always pleasant. They aren’t always complete. But they are the toil of your pneuma, rising from the inmost fibres of your soul. They embody your desires, your fears and your aspirations. And with a tinge of magic, you see the reality Kafka experiences.

Reverberations

Kafka on the shore is shaped like a normal curve experiencing its highest point during the middle. If you are somebody excessively pragmatic who looks for a well-defined structure with a beginning and an end, if you are somebody who looks for logic and reason behind every action, then probably the book would leave you feeling betrayed and wanting for more as it doesn’t ever tie any lose ends. But if you’re somebody who believes in the power of imagination, and that all things might happen for a reason but aren’t always sensible; then you’ll enjoy the novel in its entirety for what it is. A surreal, dream-like fantasy to the brim, and the overflow marked by elements of reality which highlight the irrational in contrast with the believable. There are speaking cats, noiseless flutes, and immortal sentries to have us keep our sense of wonder intact, along with more mature themes of solitude, loss, and existentialism. Although what sets Kafka on The Shore apart from the rest, is the book’s innate ability to curb curiosity at every brink of discovery and yet coming up with newer surprises so as the pace is almost never lagging. And as for the more visceral parts of the novel, it’s as Sada said, “If you can’t get it across in words then it’s better not to try.”

The author purposefully left out commenting on certain events in the novel to preserve the first-hand experience feeling for people who haven't read it yet a.k.a 'no spoilers'. 

(the book was once a part of a strange thing which happened to the author, ironically enough, at a library)

Conflicting Objectives- As seen in 'The Bridge on River Kwai'

"Be happy in your work" -General Yamashita

A statement made by Colonel Saito while explaining the British war prisoners how should they must go about their slave duties of building the urgent and quite significant Bridge on the eponymous River Kwai-  a movie which seamlessly merges the elements of war with a flummoxing tale of human morality.

Directed by David Lean, the film shapes up from a prison camp where the allied soldiers from World War II are kept prisoners by the Japanese army. Led by the ruthless Colonel Saito, he is charged to make a bridge on river Kwai with a stiff deadline using the prison captives as slave labour which mostly comprises of British soldiers under the command of charismatic Colonel Nicholson. Every man in his company obeys his order despite knowing the harsh consequences. And General Saito is vexed beyond comprehension due to it. By the end the Colonel Nicholson becomes so obsessed with making the bridge that he forgets who he is and what is his purpose and so does his men.

At the same time, when british captive soldiers are tirelessly helping the Japanese build a bridge at the best of the tier ability because they think it gives their life purpose, the forces at home are hatching a plan of their own to destroy the bridge.

Now we come to our problem of two parties- The british soldiers and the captive british soldiers, with essentially the same purpose and motive but under different circumstances are somehow forced to work against each other.

Now this conflict is depicted in the movie in two different scenarios.

• ·         Firstly, when the prisoners knew where their true objective lies and that is in impeding the Japanese. So initially they worked in disorganized parties which were somehow against each other and the work wouldn't have ever gotten completed but in this case, that's a good thing.
• 
  
• ·         Secondly, when the Colonel realized that in order to keep morale and discipline maintained in the company, he must make sure that his soldiers do the duty assigned to them diligently. Now from a manager's point of view, that is the right decision but keeping in mind the long term objective, this might hurt them as they are afterall not on Japan's side. Prisoners infact! Yet they start doing the task of building the bridge assigned to them to the best of their ability and actually end up helping the enemy.

Now at the same time, the allies know that the Japanese are building a bridge to complete the pathway so are naturally inclined to destroy that bridge. A bridge, they do not know, made by their own soldiers.

At the end Colonel Nicholson gets so much attached to the bridge that he is ready to fight british troops sent to blast away the now complete bridge.

What happens next is quite interesting but I'm gonna leave that part out because it may not be so relevant to this article and also to encourage the readers to watch the movie instead.

But we must focus and understand on a crucial point here- Was Colonel Nicholson right in doing the task at hand, the best he could, with no judgement how it will affect the long term interests of the party he represents (UK) or should he have done the task halfheartedly?

This raises a striking dilemma. Some of us are in the habit of just doing each and every task assigned to us in the best possible manner without once giving any thought to the consequences. Because most of us think what role do we have in the implications and should just stick to what we do best, for what our superiors rely on us for. Nicholson was following objective set by Saito which was his duty as he was a war prisoner. But making a bridge better than anyone was his own initiative. He even took his sick and wounded to work again.

I totally understand the sentiment behind either doing something right or not doing it at all. But in such extreme and unfortunate cases, such as one depicted in the movie, one must question his actions often.

Another extreme example would be Adolf Eichmann, one of the major Nazi organizers of the holocaust. At his trial, he claimed he was just following orders and making plans to kill as many Jews as he could because that's what his job required and he tried to make sure how it can be done best.

The eventual destruction of the bridge by his own country's soldiers was not only an eye opener for him but a crucial tactic for the audience to understand afterall how wrong the whole dedicated construction was in its entirety.

Thus, when given a task which requires your brain and skills, which also makes you feel worth your while on this earth, should still be approached with caution and due consideration to the implications. Hence, before committing your heart, make sure it's in the right place.

 (Colonel realizing the grave error in his steadfastness)