Kafka on the Shore

This is a very literary novel, except it is perhaps a little too explicit in the sex parts. Our hero has gained more finesse at it than one would expect of a 15-year-old high-school misfit. Oedipus on the Shore would have been a good title for this novel. It involves a boy killing his father (Did he?) and making love to his mother. (Was she?) The style is magical realism and it does get a little odd in places, but there's never a dull moment. It's a most engaging page turner.

I was a very mildly disappointed in the end when Kafka didn't end up coupling with Oshima or possibly Sakura, or both. The implication was never really resolved that when Nakata murdered Johnny Walker, was it really Kafka's father? Or was it Colonel Sanders in another guise? or both? There were lots of implications that were left unresolved. Maybe a rereading is in order? I was amused when Hoshino acquired Nakata's capacity of conversing with cats. So, now that I have made these cryptic allusions, you'll just have to read the book to find out what the heck I'm talking about.