Kafka on the shore is a story of two unique characters. Kafka Tamura, a young boy of fifteen runs away from home to escape an Oedipal curse set upon him by his father. Nakata, an ageing man in his sixties who hasn’t recovered from a childhood mishap which led him to become autistic. The narrative keeps alternating between the two, slowly revealing the connection between them.

Belonging to the genre of ‘magical realism’, weird things keep happening in the story. People talking to cats, fishes falling from the sky, all play their role in gluing you to the book. Its quite unlike anything I have ever read, being intensely mysterious while being easy to read at the same time.

I’m hooked to Murakami now, already halfway through my second one (South Of The Border, West Of the Sun) and loving it. All his books seem to have very positive reviews… so anyone looking for a new read is recommended to go get one by him.