From the Reviews:
- "(T)hough it will leave his long-term fans feeling slightly
disappointed, there's no reason to suspect that the dauntingly prolific
Murakami is in danger of going permanently off the boil. (...) Philip
Gabriel's English-language text is also pretty clunky in places" -
Christopher Tayler, Daily Telegraph
- "Kafka on the Shore is undoubtedly a very readable book.
Although the resolution is weak, Murakami builds suspense skilfully and
draws you inexorably into a convoluted, fantastical storyline. (...) It
may seem idiotic to complain about lack of plausibility in a meandering
narrative featuring talking cats and ghostly spirits, especially one
featuring a running commentary about metaphor and allegory -- but that
is Kafka on the Shore’s main flaw, and one that makes it a more
insubstantial experience than its weighty appearance suggests." -
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, Financial Times
- "Die Mysterien und die rätselhaften Beziehungen nehmen kein Ende.
Murakami spielt mit dem Mythos-Material, und man spürt, welche Freude er
daran hat. Er ist ein freundlicher Erzähler. Selbst die Toten sind
glückliche Tote. Das Böse ist eine dunkle Macht, die besiegt werden
kann, und wir, die Leser, sind auch dann auf der Seite des Guten, wenn
wir nicht verstehen, was vor sich geht." - Jörg Magenau, Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung
- "Unless I am being particularly dim-witted, loose ends remain far
looser than in any Murakami novel to date. (...) The mythic motifs also
remain frustratingly shady. (...) Murakami's style is rarely less than
seductive and I read Kafka on the Shore in one non-stop feeding
frenzy. (A second reading, with more reviewerly table-manners, was
necessary.) For sheer love of a thumping narrative, the novel delivers
gloriously." - David Mitchell, The Guardian
- "Kafka on the Shore contains more than enough mystery to
delight fans, and will also entrance newcomers. Murakami has suggested
it is a book that needs more than one reading to comprehend fully, and
it may also be true that some scenes that will seem baffling to a
Western audience make more sense to Japanese readers. If you return to
the beginning of the book after completing it, the prologue actually
works best as an epilogue." - Matt Thorne, The Independent
- "Brilliantly conceived, bold in its surreal scope, sexy, and driven
by a snappy and often comical plot, Murakami's new work delves into the
congested inner workings of our selves with characteristic brio. I would
recommend it to anyone, but with a word of caution for the uninitiated.
If you have not read Murakami before, you will enjoy this doorstop of a
novel a whole lot more if you start, like this novel's protagonist,
with a bit of circuit training from this author's earlier work." - James
Urquhart, Independent on Sunday
