Magical Realism: An Introductory Reading List - hosted by bibliothecolle
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2002)
Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.
All books added
fiction
contemporary
literary
magical realism
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
408 pages | first published 2002
Libro.fm (audio)
The StoryGraph is an affiliate of the featured links. We earn commission on any purchases made.
Libro.fm (audio)
The StoryGraph is an affiliate of the featured links. We earn commission on any purchases made.
fiction
contemporary
historical
literary
magical realism
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
704 pages | first published 2019
Libro.fm (audio)
The StoryGraph is an affiliate of the featured links. We earn commission on any purchases made.
Libro.fm (audio)
The StoryGraph is an affiliate of the featured links. We earn commission on any purchases made.
More...