Plot Summary: Starred Review. Previous books such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood have established Murakami as a true original, a fearless writer possessed of a wildly uninhibited imagination and a legion of fiercely devoted fans. In this latest addition to the author's incomparable oeuvre, 15-year-old Kafka Tamura runs away from home, both to escape his father's oedipal prophecy and to find his long-lost mother and sister. As Kafka flees, so too does Nakata, an elderly simpleton whose quiet life has been upset by a gruesome murder. (A wonderfully endearing character, Nakata has never recovered from the effects of a mysterious World War II incident that left him unable to read or comprehend much, but did give him the power to speak with cats.) What follows is a kind of double odyssey, as Kafka and Nakata are drawn inexorably along their separate but somehow linked paths, groping to understand the roles fate has in store for them. Murakami likes to blur the boundary between the real and the surreal—we are treated to such oddities as fish raining from the sky; a forest-dwelling pair of Imperial Army soldiers who haven't aged since WWII; and a hilarious cameo by fried chicken king Colonel Sanders—but he also writes touchingly about love, loneliness and friendship. Occasionally, the writing drifts too far into metaphysical musings—mind-bending talk of parallel worlds, events occurring outside of time—and things swirl a bit at the end as the author tries, perhaps too hard, to make sense of things. But by this point, his readers, like his characters, will go just about anywhere Murakami wants them to, whether they "get" it or not.
Personal Opinion: The plot at first sight doesn´t seem very interesting but the author has a way to describe things and carry the plot that is just amazing. I love some of the dark themes he touches but sometimes they can get a bit weird if you don´t understand the meaning of them. Personally I laugh at all the inside jokes he adds about many great author. You can also find mentions of great classical music and their composers so it´s really interesting in that way. The author also mentions some classical japanesse authors so it´s very educational. I loved some of the descriptions of the excentric characters and beautiful places, also the different ways they perceived life and how they changed some of this perceptions. But it´s just the first that comes in my mind because I´m pretty sure you can find more meanings in the mysterious words in this books.
Final Rating: 7/10
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