Like much of Murakami's work, Kafka on the Shore deals with the mysteries of consciousness, experience, morality, and truth. The novel alternates between two storylines, that of Kafka Tamura, a bookish runaway escaping from the oppressive presence of his father, and Satoru Nakata, an elderly man who was left disabled after a childhood incident that also gave him the ability to talk to cats. The two characters are drawn by their separate yet intertwined fates that bring them to the borders of the physical world.
The novel was originally published in Japanese in 2002, then published in English in 2005. The English translation was named one of "The Top 10 Best Books of 2005" by The New...
