I was a bit disappointed by this book. If you are a Murakami fan I encourage you to read it and make up your own mind – but borrow, don’t buy this book. If you are not already a fan please start with his earlier work.

Kafka on the Shore is missing something – it may be due to poor translation but my opinion is unqualified since I can only read in English. There was something interesting about sentence structure and rhythm in translations of earlier Murakami, namely ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’. ‘Kafka’ uses too many phrases and sentence structures from North American English that give the book the wrong feeling. I compare it to watching Disney’s English dubs of “Princess Mononoke” using American voice actors.

It may simply be that Murakami’s style has changed significantly since his earlier works (late 1980s-1995.

There were aspects of “Kafka on the Shore” that I enjoyed but it does not compare favourably with his earlier novels.