This week I've just finished reading
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I actually bought the book before Christmas but it's been languishing in a Waterstones bag under a pile of other stuff at the foot of my bed until I got round to doing some tidying earlier this month.
I can now say I wish I'd tidyed up sooner! I've been a big fan of Murakami's since I read his
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World back when I was a student. His writing is clear and uncomplicated - or I should say the translations are - yet the books generally feature ordinary (if sometimes over-imaginative) people in extra-ordinary situations, and we're not contained by mere physical reality here. Oh, and cats, usually several of them.
Very real characters in very unreal situations are a feature of
Kafka on the Shore, in a plot which deals with dreams, reality and destiny. And cats. If you like slightly off-beat fiction then you'll find this an excellent read.
